Thomas Chenery

Thomas Chenery
Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1879.
Born	1826 Barbados
Died	11 February 1884 (aged 57–58) London, England
Education	Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Occupation	Editor of The Times
Spouse(s)	None

Thomas William Chenery (1826 – 11 February 1884) was an English scholar and editor of the British newspaper The Times.

Biography

Chenery was born in Barbados to John Chenery, a West Indies merchant. He was educated at Eton and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.^[1] Immediately after taking an ordinary degree in 1854, he was recruited by Mowbray Morris to work for The Times, and was sent to Istanbul. Arriving in March 1854, he soon proved himself an excellent diplomaric correspondent, covering the Crimean War mainly from Istanbul but occasionally from the front, where he relieved William Howard Russell. It was while he was in Istanbul that Chenery met Percy Smythe, who first sparked Chenery's interest in philological studies, a field in which he would subsequently gain prominence.^[2]

After the war Chenery returned to London, where he worked as a leader writer for The Times for many years. During this time he continued his studies of the Orient. Among the languages he spoke was Arabic, Hebrew, modern Greek, and Turkish, and was one of the panelists involved in preparing the Old Testament portion of the Revised Version of the Bible.^[3] His translation of the first twenty-six chapters of the Arabic classic The Assemblies of Al-Hariri^[4] led to his appointment as Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford, and he also served as secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society.^[5]

In 1877 John Walker selected Chenery as John Thadeus Delane's successor as editor of the paper. He was then an experienced publicist, particularly well versed in Oriental affairs, an indefatigable worker, with a rapid and comprehensive judgment, though he lacked Delane's sociability and intuition for public opinion.^[3] Despite this, he brought about a number of innovations, bringing in more writers with scholarly backgrounds to employ their respective expertise. His background as a diplomatic correspondent and his choice of capable reporters for foreign postings revived the paper's reputation for international news coverage.

Despite his position as editor, Chenery was unable to prevent the increasingly partisan slant of the paper imposed by Walter, a member of the Conservative Party. This shift was furthered in 1880 by the appointment of George Earle Buckle, Walter's hand-picked candidate, as assistant editor. Buckle assumed more duties in 1883 as ill health reduced Chenery's ability to play an active role as editor, though he continued in the post until his death on 11 February 1884. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery.^[6]

Notes

1. "Thomas Chenery (CHNY849T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. Matthew & 2004 p. 300.
3. Chisholm 1911.
4. The Assemblies of Al-Ḥarîri. Translated from the Arabic with Notes Historical and Grammatical, trans. by Thomas Chenery and F. Steingass, Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, 3, 2 vols (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1867-98), https://archive.org/details/assembliesofalha015555mbp (vol. 2).
5. Matthew & 2004 pp. 300-301.
6. Matthew & 2004 p. 301.

References

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chenery, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
•  Lane-Poole, Stanley (1887). "Chenery, Thomas". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Matthew, H. C. G. "Chenery, Thomas (1826–1884)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5215. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

• Works by or about Thomas Chenery at Internet Archive
• Works by Thomas Chenery at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)