# British Weekly

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/British_Weekly
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/British_Weekly.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Weekly
> Source revision: 1303162609
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

British newspaper

A 1929 *British Weekly* edited by John A Hutton

The ***British Weekly: A Journal of Social and Christian Progress*** was a significant publication from its founding in 1886 well into the 20th century. One of the most successful religious newspapers of its time, it was published by [Hodder & Stoughton](/source/Hodder_%26_Stoughton). It was "a central force in shaping and promoting the '[Nonconformist conscience](/source/Nonconformist_conscience)'", according to the *Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland*.[1]

## Foundation and influence

The founder and nominal editor was [William Robertson Nicoll](/source/William_Robertson_Nicoll) till his death in 1923, but the *de facto* editor was really his assistant [Jane T. Stoddart](/source/Jane_T._Stoddart). Her entry in the *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* was prepared by the *DNB*'s overall editor [Colin Matthew](/source/Colin_Matthew), who wrote that she:

in 1890, became a full-time journalist, working as assistant editor on Nicoll's very successful paper, the *British Weekly*, the chief London nonconformist paper. Stoddart became the paper's main interviewer at a time when the interview was becoming a prominent feature of British weeklies; many of her interviews were published under the byline Lorna. In politics Stoddart was a strong [Liberal Imperialist](/source/Liberal_Imperialist) and quite influential on nonconformity in that respect.[2]

The biography of Nicoll in the [1911 *Encyclopedia Britannica*](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition) describes his publication as "a Nonconformist organ which obtained great influence over opinion in the free churches",[3] i.e. those Christian denominations which are neither the [established church](/source/Established_church) (the [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England)) nor the [Roman Catholic church](/source/Roman_Catholic_church). Nicoll intended it to be the main vehicle for "liberal nonconformist opinion" and he succeeded in as much as the circulation numbers reached 100,000.[4]

A 2011 book entitled *Voices of Nonconformity: William Robertson Nicoll and the British Weekly* from [The Lutterworth Press](/source/The_Lutterworth_Press) sets out how Nicoll founded the paper in order to "introduce Nonconformist readers to the best in contemporary culture as well as promote a liberal political agenda". He followed stylistically in the footsteps of the *[Pall Mall Gazette](/source/Pall_Mall_Gazette)*, "including interviews of prominent personalities, use of line illustrations and photographs, special supplements, investigative reporting, sensationalist headlines, and serialised debates". Nicoll "gave expression to the moderate '[Nonconformist conscience](/source/Nonconformist_conscience)', promoting religious equality and popular education." A review of this book in the *[Journal of Scottish Historical Studies](/source/Journal_of_Scottish_Historical_Studies)* describes the *British Weekly* as "one of the most successful religious newspapers of its time" and Nicoll as "a remarkable proponent of the 'New Journalism' and a major voice of the 'Nonconformist Conscience' in late Victorian Britain"[5] (The phrase "[New Journalism](/source/New_Journalism#First_usage)" had been coined by [Matthew Arnold](/source/Matthew_Arnold) in 1887[6] to describe the sensational style of the *Pall Mall Gazette* and its [muck-raking](/source/Muck-raking) editor [W. T. Stead](/source/W._T._Stead).[7][8][9])

The biographer of [Christian socialist](/source/Christian_socialism) and publisher [Arthur Mee](/source/Arthur_Mee) judges the *British Weekly* to have been the most influential of all of Britain's many religious newspapers.[4]

## Aftermath

The author of the 2011 book asserts that "*The British Weekly* acquired the *Christian World* in the 1960s, but in the 1970s, it passed into the ownership of the Christian Weekly Newspapers, the publishers of the [Church of England Newspaper](/source/Church_of_England_Newspaper)."[10] Another source mentions that its editorship moved from Edinburgh to London's [Fleet Street](/source/Fleet_Street) in 1967, and in 1970 was sold. (Church of England newspaper 7 February 2014) [11]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *Dictionary of nineteenth-century journalism in Great Britain and Ireland*. Gent: Academia Press. 2009. p. 456. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789038213408](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789038213408).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Matthew, H. C. G. (2004). ["Stoddart, Jane Thompson (1863–1944), journalist and author"](https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-53271). *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/53271](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F53271). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-861412-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-861412-8). Retrieved 15 January 2022. (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Nicoll, Sir William Robertson"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Nicoll,_Sir_William_Robertson). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 663. see lines 5 and 6

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Arthur_Mee_:_a_biography_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Arthur_Mee_:_a_biography_4-1) Crawford, Keith (2016). *Arthur Mee: A Biography*. Cambridge, United Kingdom. p. 53. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780718844622](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780718844622).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Brown, Stewart J. (1 November 2012). ["Keith A. Ives, Voices of Nonconformity: William Robertson Nicoll and the British Weekly (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2011. Pp. 323; illus. Paperback ISBN 978-0-7188-9222-7, £23.00)"](https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/jshs.2012.0051). *Journal of Scottish Historical Studies*. **32** (2): 213–215. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3366/jshs.2012.0051](https://doi.org/10.3366%2Fjshs.2012.0051). Retrieved 15 January 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Hampton, Mark (2004). *Visions of the Press in Britain, 1850–1950*. University of Illinois Press. pp. 35–37. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0252029462](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0252029462).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Mathew Arnold, "Up to Easter" (The Nineteenth Century, May, 1887) | W. T. Stead Resource Site"](https://attackingthedevil.co.uk/related/easter.php). *attackingthedevil.co.uk*. We have had opportunities of observing a new journalism which a clever and energetic man has lately invented. It has much to recommend it; it is full of ability, novelty, variety, sensation, sympathy, generous instincts; its one great fault is that it is feather-brained

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Conboy, Martin (19 January 2011). [*Journalism in Britain: A Historical Introduction*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ra78R5tZ2IkC&pg=PA14). [SAGE Publications](/source/SAGE_Publications). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1847874955](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1847874955).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Morison_9-0)** Morison, Stanley (1932). [*The English Newspaper: Some Account of the Physical Development of Journals Printed in London Between 1622 & the Present Day*](https://archive.org/details/englishnewspaper0000mori). [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press). p. [284](https://archive.org/details/englishnewspaper0000mori/page/284). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780521122696](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521122696). It was the first sign of the coming of the 'New Journalism', and Stead was its prophet. When Arnold wrote his article in *The Nineteenth Century* for May 1887 he had W. T. Stead in mind. {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#invalid_isbn_date))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Keith's Histories | Religious Newspapers in the Nineteenth Century"](https://www.keithshistories.com/extra-pages-to-wrn/religious-newspapers-in-the-nineteenth-century.php). *www.keithshistories.com*. Retrieved 15 January 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-church-of-england/20140207/281513634042241](https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-church-of-england/20140207/281513634042241). Retrieved 15 January 2022 – via PressReader. {{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: Missing or empty |title= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#citation_missing_title))

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [British Weekly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Weekly) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Weekly?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.