George Samuel Measom

{{Short description|British engraver and publisher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|right|Portrait of Measom, ca.1860s '''Sir George Samuel Measom''' (3 December 1818 – 1 March 1901) was a British engraver and publisher who compiled guides to railway travel in Great Britain in the mid-19th century. In later life he became involved in charitable works, and was knighted in 1891.

==Biography== Measom was born in Blackheath, Kent, the son of Daniel Measom, a carver and gilder.<ref name="rnobit">{{cite journal |journal=Railway News| title = (obituary)|date=March 9, 1901 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xo1AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA418 |volume =75|page = 1901}}</ref>

In 1842, he married Sarah Hillman. During the 1840s, he developed his skills as an engraver and in 1849 published ''The Bible: its Elevating Influence on Man'', a moral tale in illustrated form.{{sfn|Martin|2007|loc=para.1}} From the 1850s onwards much of Measom's work related to descriptions of railways; his first railway work was the 1852 ''Illustrated Guide to the Great Western Railway''. His railway works described the railways from the practical standpoint of a traveller, and all publications after the first took a title of the form ''The Official Illustrated Guide to ... ''. By 1867 his books covered the entire British network.{{sfn|Martin|2007|loc=para.2}}

Sarah died in 1867, after which he remarried to Charlotte Simpson.{{sfn|Martin|2007|loc=para.4}}

From the 1880s, Measom became involved in charity work. He was treasurer of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and promoted a related effort that later became the Battersea Dogs' Home, and supported the Royal Marsden hospital.{{sfn|Martin|2007|loc=para.4}}

He was knighted in 1891, for his public work. George Measom died on 1 March 1901 at home, Isleworth, Middlesex. He left no children.{{sfn|Martin|2007|loc=para.4}}

==Works==

*{{citation| title = The Bible: its Elevating Influence on Man| year = 1849}} *{{citation| title = Illustrated Guide to the Great Western Railway| year = 1852}} * {{Citation |publisher = H.G. Collins |location=London |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yWzXAAAAMAAJ |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Brighton and South Coast Railways |date = 1853 }} * {{Citation |publisher = W.H. Smith and Son |location = London |url = https://openlibrary.org/works/OL13150343W/The_Official_Illustrated_Guide_to_the_South-Eastern_Railway_and_All_Its_Branches |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the South-Eastern Railway |date = 1853 |oclc = 25963337 }} *{{ citation|title = The Crystal Palace Alphabet: A Guide for Good Children|year = 1855}} *{{citation| title = Light from the East: Tales Moral and Instructive of Oriental Origin and Character| year =1856 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Light_from_the_East_Tales_Moral_and_Instructive_of?id=_bEBAAAAQAAJ&hl=en-IN }} * {{Citation |publisher = W.H. Smith and Son |location = London |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Northern Railway |date = 1857 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006908758 }} * {{Citation |publisher = W.H. Smith and Son |location = London |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Lancaster and Carlisle, Edinburgh & Glasgow, and Caledonian Railways |date = 1859 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9goHAAAAQAAJ }} * {{Citation |publisher = W.H. Smith and Son |location = London |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the North-Western Railway |date = 1859 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6goHAAAAQAAJ }} * {{Citation |publisher = Richard Griffin and Co. |location = London |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Bristol and Exeter, North and South Devon, Cornwall, and South Wales Railways |date = 1860 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006832104 }} * {{Citation |publisher = Griffin, Bohn |location = London |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Northern Railway |date = 1861 |oclc = 12433505 |ol = 20523968M }} * {{Citation |publisher = C. Griffin and Co. |location = London |title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Eastern Railway |date = 1865 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GAoHAAAAQAAJ }} * {{Citation |publisher = C. Griffin |location = London|title = Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway |date = 1866 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Official_Illustrated_Guide_to_the_Gr/_ksB59lcIe0C?hl=en }} *{{citation| title =Official illustrated guide to the Midland Great Western, and Dublin and Drogheda Railways|year = 1867| publisher = C. Griffin and Co.|location = London |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details/The_Official_Illustrated_Guide_to_the_Midland_Grea?id=UzUjjfK04AYC&hl=en-US }}

==See also== * George Bradshaw, publisher of railway timetables and guides.

==References== {{reflist}}

===Sources=== *{{Cite ODNB | first = G. H. |last = Martin |title = Measom, Sir George Samuel (1818–1901), publisher and philanthropist | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/89945 | year = 2007 | pmid = | pmc = }}

==External links== {{Commons category|George Samuel Measom}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110204053427/http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/victorian/greatwestern/large102531.html Cover image], Great Western Railway, 1860

Category:1818 births Category:1901 deaths Category:19th-century English non-fiction writers Category:English travel writers Category:Knights Bachelor Category:RSPCA workers