{{Short description|English newspaper owner (1816–1894)}} {{bots|deny=Citation bot}} {{Use British English|date=January 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox writer | embed = | name = Robert Ackrill | image = Robert Ackrill (3a).jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = Victorian, middle-aged man with large, fluffy sideburns | caption = Ackrill {{circa|1878}} | birth_date = 1816 | birth_place = Worcester, England | death_date = {{Death date and given age|1894|06|22|77|df=y}} | death_place = Harrogate, England | resting_place = Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate | occupation = {{cslist|Newspaper editor|proprietor|publisher|author}} | education = Apprenticeship at ''The Worcester Herald'' | subjects = News and local affairs | movement = Liberalism | notable_works = {{cslist|''The Harrogate Herald''|''The Harrogate Advertiser''|''The Ripon Gazette''|''The Bedale and Northallerton Times''|''The Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald''|''The Knaresborough Post''}} | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Emma Day|1839|1842|end=d}}|{{marriage|Caroline Day|1845}}}} | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = {{circa|lk=no|1838–1890}} | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc.; or omit --> }}
'''Robert Ackrill''' (1816 – 22 June 1894) was an English journalist, newspaper proprietor, founder of newspapers, printer and writer, working for most of his career in Harrogate, England. During the 19th century he owned six newspapers in the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire,{{Refn|County borders have changed since Acrill's lifetime. His newspapers served some areas which were then in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and are now in North Yorkshire, and some areas which were then in the West Riding of Yorkshire but are now in North Yorkshire.|group=nb}} via his company Ackrill Newspapers, having founded three of them. Ackrill's descendants and relatives continued to run or be involved with Ackrill newspapers for at least a hundred years, the final incarnation of the company under that name being dissolved in 2020.
Ackrill was involved in the initial stages of the setting up of Harrogate Borough Council, and as Charter Mayor he met the train bringing its Charter of Incorporation from London, as part of a local celebration. He was a Provincial Grand Officer of the Freemasons for the West Riding. He was a public speaker who influenced local affairs, having some effect on decisions concerning the construction of Harrogate's railway lines and stations. He was a Liberal, involved in the Corn Laws agitation and the Chartist Movement. His funeral was a significant event in Harrogate, with local worthies, Freemasons, tradesmen and others accompanying the coffin to Grove Road Cemetery.
==Background== Ackrill's father was clock and watch maker Samuel Ackrill of Worcester ({{circa}}1776 – 11 September 1853),<ref>{{cite news |title=Died |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000350/18530914/082/0008 |access-date=31 December 2022 |work=Worcestershire Chronicle |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=14 September 1853 |page=8 col. 5}}</ref>{{Refn|GRO Index: Deaths Sep 1853 Ackrill Samuel Worcester 6c 143|group=nb}} and his mother was Margaret Louisa ({{circa}}1779 – 14 April 1861).<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000350/18610424/068/0003 |access-date=31 December 2022 |work=Worcestershire Chronicle |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=24 April 1861 |page=3 col.3}}</ref>{{Refn|GRO Index: Deaths Jun 1861 Ackrill Margaret Louisa Birmingham 6d 3|group=nb}} Ackrill was born in 1816 on The Tything, a road in Worcester, England.<ref name="Victorian Professions" /> He was baptised on 11 November 1816 in Claines, Worcester.<ref>{{cite web |title=England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/188683552:9841?tid=&pid=&queryId=f93da10ebe14f39fb0111c066adbbc53&_phsrc=ZpY1502&_phstart=successSource |website=ancestry.co.uk |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=1 March 2023 |date=1816}}</ref> Ackrill's nephew was Joseph Ackrill, a journalist on ''The Times''. Ackrill's great nephew and son of Joseph, Charles Ackrill (d. 27 June 1894), was the war correspondent of ''The Madras Times''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000500/18940627/017/0004 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=York Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive|page=4 col.2 |url-access=subscription |date=27 June 1894}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Mr Robt. Ackrill of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000632/18940623/055/0003 |access-date=24 December 2022 |work=Yorkshire Evening Press |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=23 June 1894 |page=3 col.4}}</ref> Joseph Ackrill was attending his uncle Robert Ackrill's funeral when news of Charles' death in India was received.<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" />
In 1839, Ackrill married Emma Day ({{circa}}1819 – 24 May 1842).<ref name="Victorian Professions" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8978/images/WORCHO107_1209_1209-0194 |title=1841 England census HO/107/1209/5C |last= |first= |date=1841 |website=ancestry.co.uk |url-access=subscription |publisher=His Majesty's Government |access-date=30 December 2022|quote= Moor Street, in the Tything, Worcester. Ackrill was a printer.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000150/18420526/045/0003 |access-date=30 December 2022 |work=Worcester Journal |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=26 May 1842 |page=3 col.6}}</ref>{{Refn|GRO Index: Deaths Jun 1842 Ackrill Emma Worcester 18 374.|group=nb}} At Claines on 1 January 1845 he married Caroline Day ({{circa}}1824 – 1901) who was from Pershore.<ref name="Victorian Professions" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/6598/images/WRYRG12_3518_3520-0420 |title=1891 England Census p.7, RG12/3519, schedule 146, 6 Swan Terrace |last= |first= |date= |website=ancestry.co.uk |url-access=subscription |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=30 December 2022|quote= Ackrill was a newspaper proprietor }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Marriages |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000150/18450109/051/0003 |access-date=30 December 2022 |work=Worcester Journal |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=9 January 1845 |page=3 col.6}}</ref>{{Refn|GRO Index: Deaths Dec 1901 Ackrill Caroline 78 Knaresbro' 9a 84. Marriages Mar 1845 Ackrill Robert, and Day Caroline, Droitwich XVIII 269|group=nb}} He had three children with Caroline: John William "Jack" (1849–1915),<ref name="Victorian Professions" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8860/images/YRKHO107_2321_2321-1975 |title=1851 England Census HO/107/2321, page 37, 74 St Mark Street, Woodhouse, Leeds |last= |first= |date= |website=ancestry.co.uk |url-access=subscription |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=30 December 2022|quote= Ackrill was a reporter and sub-editor}}</ref> Ellen (1851–1932) and Thomas Samuel, who was born in Leeds.<ref name="Victorian Professions" >{{cite web |title=Robert Ackrill |url=http://www.victorianprofessions.ox.ac.uk/person.html?id=768 |website=victorianprofessions.ox.ac.uk |publisher=Victorian Professions |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref> In the 1830s or 1840s, Ackrill moved from Worcester to Leeds or Harrogate spa, for the sake of his wife's health, although his newspaper obituaries do not specify which wife.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> By 1861, Ackrill and his wife Caroline were living in Royal Parade, Low Harrogate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8767/images/WRYRG9_3205_3207-0382 |title=1861 England Census, RG9/3206, page 15, schedule 79, Royal Parade, Lower Harrogate |last= |first= |date= |website=ancestry.co.uk |url-access=subscription |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=30 December 2022|quote=Ackrill was a journalist, printer and stationer }}</ref>
==Career== ===Worcester=== Ackrill was apprenticed to the owner of ''The Worcester Herald'', where he was trained as a compositor,<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /><ref name="Worcester Journal 30 June 1894 4-4" >{{cite news |title=Death of a newspaper proprietor |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000150/18940630/036/0004 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Worcester Journal |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=30 June 1894 |page=4 col.4}}</ref> and printer. On completion, the apprenticeship earned him freedom of the city of Worcester, because in that era the freedom of the city could be inherited from a master who had that freedom.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> During Ackrill's working life, that practice ceased, but ''The Worcester Journal'' reminisced on how it worked:<ref name="Worcester Journal 30 June 1894 5-1" >{{cite news |title=The death of Mr Robert Ackrill |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000150/18940630/048/0005 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Worcester Journal |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=30 June 1894 |page=5 col.1}}</ref>
<blockquote>In former times, a workman became a freeman by virtue of being apprenticed to one who was a freeman, and by himself taking up his freedom before the Mayor. Before the borough franchise was lowered, a working man thus often obtained a vote to which he would not have been entitled by his tenure of property. There was no dual vote. Then, of course, there was the distinction of being an accredited citizen of no mean city [i.e. Worcester], besides certain mundane privileges in the form of grazing rights on Pitchcroft, and of preference in application for certain almshouses.<ref name="Worcester Journal 30 June 1894 5-1" /></blockquote>
Before he had completed his apprenticeship, "[Ackrill] had developed such qualities as a newspaper reporter" that he was given a permanent job as a journalist, and he "became well known in the Worcester district".<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" />
===Leeds=== When Ackrill arrived in Leeds in the 1830s or 1840s, he met, and was influenced by, Samuel Smiles who was then employed by the ''Leeds Times'', and was later to write ''Self Help'' in 1859.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> After working on various newspapers in the North of England,<ref name="York Herald 23 June 1894" >{{cite news |title=Obituary. Death of Mr Robert Ackrill of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000500/18940623/033/0005 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=York Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=23 June 1894 |page=5 col.4}}</ref> Ackrill was hired as a journalist on the ''Leeds Mercury'',<ref name="Worcester Journal 30 June 1894 4-4" /> where "he was a colleague of some of the best known and most successful writers of the time. He followed the late John Bright and Richard Cobden throughout the Corn Law agitation, and was in the thick of the Chartist Movement". He had the chance of a "desirable position" on ''The Times'' and other "flattering offers" emanating from London, but had to decline them due to his wife's health.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" />
===Harrogate=== When stationer and printer William Dawson started up Harrogate's first newspaper, ''The Harrogate Herald'', in May 1847, Ackrill was hired as editor, although he was still living in Leeds.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /><ref name="Neesam Wells & Swells 2022" /> He was "the first shorthand writer to give reports of local proceedings".<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" /> He was then aged 30 years, and it was not long before he bought the paper from Dawson.<ref name="Neesam Wells & Swells 2022" />{{rp|633}} It was a humble beginning for a newspaper owner, with the paper being transported to Harrogate from its printer in Leeds by mule and cart. On one occasion the mule "went lame" and the drivers had to pull the cart.<ref name="HHS 2004" /> He subsequently founded the Herald Printing Works in Harrogate.<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Mr Robert Ackrill, a Yorkshire newspaper proprietor |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003631/18940623/003/0003 |access-date=24 December 2022 |work=North Star (Darlington) |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=23 June 1894 |page=3 col.6}}</ref>
By 1871, Ackrill was describing himself as a letterpress printer, and master of eight men and five boys.<ref>{{cite web |title=1871 England Census, RG10/4289, page 9, schedule 7, Montpelier Gardens or Hyde Terrace |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/7619/images/WRYRG10_4288_4291-0289?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=ZpY1382&_phstart=successSource&pId=25424327 |website=ancestry.co.uk.|url-access=subscription |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=30 December 2022 |quote=Robert was a letterpress printer, and master of 8 men and 5 boys}}</ref> Ackrill was a Liberal who took part in local political activity, so when he purchased the ''Herald'' from Dawson, that newspaper' began a rivalry with the town's other paper, the Conservative ''Harrogate Advertiser'', which was founded 1836 and run by Thomas Hollins. When the ''Advertiser'' became too successful in the 1870s, Ackrill bought it as a sister paper to the ''Herald'', and founded Ackrill Newspapers.<ref name="HHS 2004" /> He expanded the business and bought ''The Ripon Gazette'', and also founded ''The Bedale and Northallerton Times'', ''The Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald'', and ''The Knaresborough Post'', "all of which newspapers became ... the recognised local organ of their respective districts".<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> Of those newspapers, the ''Harrogate Advertiser'' (incorporating ''The Ripon Gazette'', ''The Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald'' and ''The Knaresborough Post'') still exists.<ref>{{cite news |title=News headlines |url=https://www.harrogateadvertiser.co.uk/ |access-date=30 December 2022 |work=Harrogate Advertiser |publisher=National World Publishing}}</ref> As of 2018, ''The Bedale and Northallerton Times'' still existed as ''The Thirsk, Bedale and Northallerton Times'', a weekly with a tiny circulation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gazette – the story behind the stories |url=https://transdiffusion.org/2018/07/29/yorkshire-television-presents/ |website=transdiffusion.org |publisher=Transdiffusion |access-date=30 December 2022 |date=29 July 2018}}</ref>
Ackrill was a benefactor to Harrogate, and "did good service to Liberalism as a journalist during the Corn Law agitation, and for many years afterwards".<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 7 July 1894" >{{cite news |title=The late Mr Robert Ackrill |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001273/18940707/071/0004 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=7 July 1894 |page=4 col.5}}</ref> For a long time before the end of his career, he was "designated the "father of reporters" in Yorkshire,<ref name="Bradford WT 30 June 1894" /> and ''The Athaenium'' called him "one of the oldest of provincial journalists".<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 7 July 1894" />
Robert Ackrill spawned a dynasty which kept Ackrill Newspapers running for a long time. In 1878, Ackrill's editor for the ''Herald'', William Hammond Breare, married Ellen, Ackrill's daughter. Breare edited the ''Herald'' for fifty years, and members of the Breare family remained involved with the paper for at least a hundred years. Ackrill's son Jack was proprietor of Ackrill Newspapers by 1881,<ref name="HHS 2004" /><ref>{{cite web |title=1881 England Census, RG11/4327, page 20, 1 Hyde Villa, Bilton cum Harrogate |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/7572/images/WRYRG11_4324_4327-0851 |website=ancestry.co.uk|url-access=subscription |publisher=H.M. Government |access-date=30 December 2022 |quote=John W. Ackrill was a newspaper proprietor}}</ref> and was involved with the business until 1915. Robert Ackrill Breare, son of W.H. Breare and Ellen Ackrill, ran Ackrill Newspapers until 1955, when his son William Robert Ackrill Breare took over. Robert Roddick Ackrill Breare was the last of the dynasty to run the company, from 1957 to around 1985, when the company was sold to United Newspapers.<ref name="HHS 2004" >{{cite web |title=Potted History of the Advertiser and Herald (taken from:The Harrogate Advertiser, 31st December 1999) |url=http://harrogatepeopleandplaces.info/ww1/breareletters/pottedhistory.htm |website=harrogatepeopleandplaces.info/ |publisher=Harrogate Historical Society |access-date=23 December 2022 |date=2004}}</ref> The company name survived under various ownerships until its last incarnation was incorporated on 12 May 1982, and dissolved on 5 November 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ackrill Newspapers Limited, no.01635068 |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01635068 |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk |publisher=Companies House |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>
<gallery class="center"> Robert Ackrill advertisement (2).JPG|Logo of Ackrill Newspapers, 1883 Robert Ackrill advertisement (1b).JPG|Ad for Ackrill's printing works, 1883 Harrogate Herald masthead (1).JPG|''Harrogate Herald'' masthead, 1857 Herald Building, Montpelier - geograph.org.uk - 632595.jpg|Herald Building: Ackrill's former printing works File:Prospect Square Harrogate (5e) 001.jpg|Herald Building between 1901 and 1910 </gallery>
==Other activities== ===Charter of incorporation=== thumb|right|Bust of Ackrill by A. Welsh Ackrill was involved from the beginning, in Harrogate's push for a charter of incorporation. The town had expanded to the extent that it needed its own mayor and corporation. Ackrill contributed to meetings and, alongside many of the town's worthies, signed the formal memorial of 12 March 1883 sent to the improvement commissioners, saying that the townspeople wanted to begin the process of obtaining the charter.<ref name="Neesam Wells & Swells 2022" />{{rp|345–347}} It was Ackrill who, in 1884, as one of its former promoters and as Charter Mayor,<ref name="Bradford WT 30 June 1894" >{{cite news |title=By the death of Mr Robert Ackrill |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002863/18940630/042/0004 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Bradford Weekly Telegraph |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=30 June 1894 |page=4 col.4}}</ref> met the train which brought Harrogate's Charter of Incorporation from London, allowing the town to form its own borough council. After a celebratory procession from the station, with decorated streets and the ringing of church bells, he gave a public speech from a stand in front of the New Victoria Baths.<ref name="Neesam Wells & Swells 2022" >{{cite book |last1=Neesam |first1=Malcolm G. |title=Wells & Swells, the golden age of Harrogate Spa, 1842–1923, vol.1 |date=2022 |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |location=Lancaster, England |isbn=9781859362389 |edition=1}}</ref>{{rp|347,633}} Ackrill's bust ''(pictured, right)'' by Leeds sculptor Anthony Welsh is undated,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Compton |first1=Ann |title=Facing the Future. Sculpture from the Harrogate Collection |date=2014 |publisher=Harrogate Borough Council |location=Harrogate |isbn=978-1-898408-11-6 |page=26 |edition=1}}</ref> but it is possible that it commemorates his time as Charter Mayor. "[Ackrill's] name stands upon that document prominently, and on him devolved the duty of carrying out some of the earlier preliminary stages connected with the Municipal Incorporations Act".<ref name="York Herald 23 June 1894" />
===Business and social=== Ackrill was a Provincial Grand Officer of the Freemasons for the West Riding. While the construction St Mary's Church in Low Harrogate was being developed, he was churchwarden there. He was a "speaker of acknowledged influence and fluency". He rendered "important service" when decisions were being made on the location and route of the local railway system, which was under construction during his lifetime, and that railway was to be the "turning point in Harrogate's prosperity".<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> He was "an active promoter of many of the institutions of Harrogate",<ref name="York Herald 23 June 1894" /> including the Northallerton Local Board of Health, of which he was chairman in 1870.<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 23 February 1889" >{{cite news |title=Death of Alderman Dawson |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001273/18890223/090/0004 |access-date=27 January 2023 |work=Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=23 February 1889 |page=4 col.6}}</ref> He was a director of the Knaresborough, Harrogate and Clare Building Society,<ref name="Bradford WT 30 June 1894" /> and one of the governors of the Bath and Cottage Hospital, Harrogate.<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" /><ref name="Worcester Journal 30 June 1894 4-4" /> Ackrill was also involved in a project for the town to fund a permanent band. This was to be Sidney Jones and his Harrogate Band, which in due course performed while the spa visitors drank the waters, thus encouraging visitor attendance and increasing receipts.<ref name="Neesam Wells & Swells 2022" />{{rp|432}}
===Local enquiries=== Ackrill gave "important evidence" on the Chartist Movement when it was the subject of a local enquiry, "and his cross-examination was regarded as a matter of interesting history".<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> Another enquiry to which he gave evidence was the 1845 trial at the Lent Assizes of eleven poachers from Pershore who were accused of murdering Thomas Staite, a watcher employed by the Earl of Coventry. They had left Staite "lying terribly wounded in a ditch", unable to speak, and he died within six days, at Worcester Infirmary. In spite of one poacher turning Queen's evidence, and another confessing, all the men were found guilty of manslaughter. Eight of the men were transported, and two were imprisoned.<ref name="Worcester Journal 30 June 1894 5-1" />
==Publications== ===Newspapers=== thumb|right|''Harrogate Advertiser'' masthead, 1877 Note: Ackrill bought ''The Harrogate Herald'', ''The Harrogate Advertiser'' and ''The Ripon Gazette'', and he was a journalist on ''The Harrogate Herald'' for half a century.<ref name="Neesam Wells & Swells 2022" />{{rp|633}}<ref name="HHS 2004" /> He founded and owned ''The Bedale and Northallerton Times'', ''The Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald'', and ''The Knaresborough Post''. All his papers were owned via his company, Ackrill Newspapers.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> * ''The Harrogate Herald'' (1847–1957).<ref>{{cite news |title=Harrogate Herald 1857–1947 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/harrogate-herald |access-date=1 March 2023 |work=Harrogate Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}}</ref> * ''The Harrogate Advertiser''.<ref name="HHS 2004" /> * ''The Ripon Gazette''.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> * ''The Bedale and Northallerton Times''.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> * ''The Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale Herald''.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" /> * ''The Knaresborough Post''.<ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" />
===Books=== thumb|upright|''The York and Ainsty Tragedy'' by Ackrill * {{cite book |last1=Ackrill |first1=Robert |title=The York and Ainsty Tragedy, the last of the Slingsbys |date=1869 |publisher=Robert Ackrill |location=Herald Office, Harrogate |quote=a narrative of the terrible hunting accident, in which the Master, the Huntsman, two members of the hunt and two Ferrymen were drowned in the river Ure, February 1869}} * {{cite book |last1=Ackrill |first1=Robert |title=A Scamper from Yorkshire to the United States, with a Glance at Canada |date=1878 |publisher=R. Ackrill |location=Harrogate, England |url=https://www.antipodean.com/pages/books/24412/robert-ackrill-charles-henry-knowles/a-scamper-from-yorkshire-to-the-united-states-with-a-glance-at-canada?soldItem=true }} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Ackrill |editor1-first=Robert |title=Harrogate Directory |date=1881 |publisher=Robert Ackrill, printer |location=Harrogate |quote=containing a list of residents, with their dwellings and occupations; a street guide, with the names of the residents}}
==Death== Ackrill retired a few years before he died, due to failing health. "The beginning of the end approached" about two weeks before he died at his home in Swan Road, Harrogate, on 22 June 1894, aged 77, leaving a widow, a son and daughter, and four grandsons.<ref name="York Herald 23 June 1894" /><ref name="Newcastle EC 23 June 1894" >{{cite news |title=The death of Mr Robert Ackrill |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000726/18940623/086/0004 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Newcastle Evening Chronicle |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=23 June 1894 |page=4 col.1}}</ref>{{Refn|GRO Index: Deaths Jun 1894 Ackrill Robert 77 Knaresbro' 9a 79.|group=nb}} ''The Bradford Weekly Telegraph'' commented: "By [Ackrill's] death ... Harrogate loses a townsman to whom it owed much, for his energy and foresight were due many of the improvements [to the town] effected during the past thirty years.<ref name="Bradford WT 30 June 1894" /> This sentiment was echoed by other papers, including ''The Times'', which said: "To his energy and forethought, Harrogate is indebted for many important improvements [to the town]".<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" />
===Funeral=== thumb|right|Horse-drawn hearse, of a type which might have been used in 1894 thumb|right|Ackrill's grave monument Ackrill was buried on 25 June 1894, "amidst general manifestations of regret and sympathy". The '''York Herald'' said, "His demise removes another landmark in the history and development of Harrogate".<ref name="York Herald 30 June 1894" /> Even before the funeral procession left Ackrill's home, there was already "a large concourse of friends of the deceased" who had gathered to show respect, and many of them went on to lead the procession.<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" >{{cite news |title=Funeral of Mr R. Ackrill |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001273/18940630/045/0004 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=30 June 1894 |page=4 col.1}}</ref>
As the cortège left Ackrill's home, all the blinds of the houses along the way were drawn, according to custom, and the bells of St Mary's Church "rung a muffled peal". On foot, at the front of the funeral procession, were "a large number of tradesmen" who had known him. Following the tradesmen were Ackrill's employees and journalists. After them, walked his Masonic friends, "wearing white gloves and sprigs of acacia". The American walnut and polished oak coffin was covered in flowers given by friends and relatives. Besides the hearse, the funeral procession included "seven mourning coaches and a large number of private carriages". In the common practice of the time, the official mourners were all male, so the chief mourners in the first coach were Ackrill's closest male relatives. Beside the procession, which included Thomas Holroyd, many other local people were walking to the graveyard.<ref name="York Herald 30 June 1894" /> The procession went from Swan Road, via Walker Road (now called King's Road), to Grove Road Cemetery, a distance of nearly {{convert|1|mi|km}}.<ref name="York Herald 26 June 1894" >{{cite news |title=Harrogate. Interment of Mr Robert Ackrill |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000500/18940626/011/0003 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=York Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=26 June 1894 |page=3 cols 3,4}}</ref>
The first part of the burial service was taken by the Reverend A.H. Rix, who met the hearse at the gate, and followed it to the cemetery's Anglican chapel.<ref name="York Herald 30 June 1894" /><ref name="York Herald 26 June 1894" /> Afterwards, the second part of the service took place at the graveside, and the coffin was placed in the family vault within the cemetery.<ref name="York Herald 30 June 1894" >{{cite news |title=Interment of Mr Robert Ackrill of Harrogate |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000500/18940630/082/0011 |access-date=23 December 2022 |work=York Herald |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=30 June 1894 |page=11 col.2}}</ref> The plate on Ackrill's coffin said: "Robert Ackrill. Died June 22, 1894. Aged 77 years".<ref name="Pateley Bridge & NH 30 June 1894" />
==Notes== {{Reflist|group=nb}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} * [https://www.harrogatecivicsociety.org/harrogatelibrary/ Harrogate Library: holdings of microfilmed newspapers: ''Harrogate Herald'' (1847–1980), ''Harrogate Advertiser'' (1836–2017) and ''Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald'' (1875–2006)] * [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/83b3282d-f715-4bb8-8d7a-2ae938afb289 North Yorkshire County Record Office: holdings of regional newspapers, including ''Harrogate Advertiser'', ''Harrogate Herald'', ''Knaresborough Post'', ''Northallerton, Thirsk & Bedale Times'', ''Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald''],
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackrill, Robert}} Category:1816 births Category:1894 deaths Category:People from Harrogate Category:English male journalists Category:Journalists from Yorkshire Category:English newspaper editors Category:English political journalists Category:English reporters and correspondents Category:English newspaper founders Category:19th-century newspaper founders Category:English Freemasons Category:19th-century British newspaper editors