Alfred Harmsworth (barrister)

Alfred Harmsworth (3 July 1837 – 16 July 1889) was a British barrister, and the father of several of the United Kingdom's leading newspaper proprietors, five of whom were honoured with hereditary titles – two viscounts, one baron and two baronets. Another son designed the iconic bulbous Perrier mineral water bottle.[1]

Alfred Harmsworth
Alfred Harmsworth
Born(1837-07-03)3 July 1837
Marylebone, London, United Kingdom
Died16 July 1889(1889-07-16) (aged 52)
Brondesbury, London, United Kingdom
Resting placeEast Finchley Cemetery
NationalityBritish
OccupationBarrister
Spouse(s)Geraldine Mary Maffett

Early life

Alfred Harmsworth was born on 3 July 1837 in Marylebone, London, the only son of Charles Harmsworth and Hannah Carter.[2]

Family

On 21 September 1864, at St Stephen's Church, Dublin, he married Geraldine Mary Maffett, one of the eight children of William Maffett, a land agent in County Down, and his second wife Margaret Finlayson. They lived in Dublin until 1867, when they moved to London, initially to St John's Wood, and later to Hampstead when the family's fortunes declined, in part due to Harmsworth's "fondness for alcohol", although they were always short of money, in part due to having so many children.[2][3]

The Harmsworths had 14 children, three of whom died in infancy:[4]

In 1939, there were five women entitled to the style of Lady Harmsworth.[4]

Career
Alfred Harmsworth by Seymour Lucas, R.A.

Harmsworth was a barrister of the Middle Temple and one of the standing counsel for the Great Northern Railway.[5] He has been described as an "unsuccessful" barrister.[6] It was not until after his death that the press empire created by his sons "really took off".[4] Harmsworth was the founder of the Sylvan Debating Club, for which he served as Secretary for a number of years.

Death

Harmsworth died on 16 July 1889.[2] He is buried at East Finchley Cemetery. He died of cirrhosis of the liver, as did his son Hildebrand, both in their 50s.[3]

See also

References
  1. Philip E. LaMoreaux; Judy T. Tanner (6 December 2012). Springs and Bottled Waters of the World: Ancient History, Source, Occurrence, Quality and Use. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 108. ISBN 978-3-642-56414-7.
  2. Boyce, D. George. "Harmsworth, Alfred Charles William, Viscount Northcliffe (1865–1922)". ODNB. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. Bourne, Richard (2015). Lords of Fleet Street: The Harmsworth dynasty. Routledge. pp. 122–124. ISBN 978-1-317-40387-6.
  4. Thorpe, Andrew, & Richard Toye. (Eds.) (2016). Parliament and politics in the age of Asquith and Lloyd George: The diaries of Cecil Harmsworth, MP, 1909–1922. Camden Fifth Series Volume 50. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 2–4. ISBN 978-1-107-16245-7.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  5. Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1922). "Northcliffe, Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Visct." . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
  6. Magill, Frank N., ed. (5 March 2014). Dictionary of world biography: Volume 8 The 20th Century Go-N. Routledge. p. 1554. ISBN 978-1-317-74060-5.

Further reading
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