Alexander, Dame Helen Anne (1957–2017), businesswoman, was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 10 February 1957, the youngest of three children of Bernard Gustav Alexander (1913–1990), a British barrister, and his wife Tatiana (Tania), née von Benckendorff (1915–2004), a translator and theatrical adviser born in ...
Article
Alexander, Dame Helen Anne (1957–2017), businesswoman
Bill Emmott
Article
Bagford, John (1650/51–1716), bookseller and antiquary
Theodor Harmsen
Bagford, John (1650/51–1716), bookseller and antiquary, was born in Fetter Lane, London, the son of John Bagford. Very little is known about his early life and family background. He was trained and worked as a shoemaker and wrote a little tract about this trade (...
Article
Batsford, Bradley Thomas (1821–1904), bookseller and publisher
Jonathan Rose
Batsford, Bradley Thomas (1821–1904), bookseller and publisher, was born in Hertford, the fifth of the nine children of James Batsford (1791–1835), a tailor, and his wife, Mary, née Bradley. When his father died he left for London, where he lived with his cousins above their ...
Article
Beeton [née Mayson], Isabella Mary (1836–1865), writer on household management and journalist
Janette Ryan
Beeton [née Mayson], Isabella Mary (1836–1865), writer on household management and journalist, was born on 14 March 1836 at Milk Street, off Cheapside in the City of London, the eldest in the family of three daughters and a son of Benjamin Mayson (1801–1840)...
Article
Blackah, Thomas (1828–1895), poet and miner
Kirstie Blair
Blackah, Thomas (1828–1895), poet and miner, was born at Hardcastle, near Greenhow Hill, Bewerley, north Yorkshire, on 27 April 1828, the eldest son in the family of six sons and one daughter of Joseph Blackah (1794–1873), a lead miner, and his wife, ...
Article
Blackmore, Richard Doddridge (1825–1900), novelist and fruit farmer
Charlotte Mitchell
Blackmore, Richard Doddridge (1825–1900), novelist and fruit farmer, was born on 7 June 1825, at the vicarage, Longworth, Berkshire, the third but second surviving son of the Revd John Blackmore (1794–1858) and his first wife, Anne Basset Knight (1794–1825). Anne was the eldest daughter of the ...
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Blackwell, Sir Basil Henry (1889–1984), bookseller and publisher
John Brown
revised by Clare L. Taylor
Blackwell, Sir Basil Henry (1889–1984), bookseller and publisher, was born on 29 May 1889, at Blackwell's bookshop, 51 Broad Street, Oxford, the only son and younger child of Benjamin Henry Blackwell (1849–1924), bookseller, and his wife, Lydia (Lilla) (1848–1928), daughter of John Taylor...
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Blackwell, Richard (1918–1980), bookseller and publisher
John Brown
revised by Clare L. Taylor
Blackwell, Richard (1918–1980), bookseller and publisher, was born on 5 January 1918 at 1 Frenchay Road, Oxford, the eldest in the family of two sons and three daughters of Sir Basil Henry Blackwell (1889–1984), bookseller, and his wife, Marion Christine (1888/9–1977), daughter of ...
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Cadell, Thomas, the elder (1742–1802), bookseller
Catherine Dille
Cadell, Thomas, the elder (1742–1802), bookseller, was born in Bristol and baptized on 12 November 1742, the son of William Cadell and his wife, Mary. On 7 March 1758 he was apprenticed by his father to the eminent London bookseller and publisher Andrew Millar...
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Day [Daye], John (1521/2–1584), printer and bookseller
Andrew Pettegree
Day [Daye], John (1521/2–1584), printer and bookseller, may have been born in Dunwich, Suffolk. The capital investment that he brought to his work as a printer and publisher has led some to suppose that he came of a prosperous family, but this may equally be attributed to his business acumen, innovative spirit, and ruthless pursuit of pious opportunity. By 1540 he seems to have been in ...
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Dobell, Bertram (1842–1914), bookseller and literary scholar
Anthony Rota
Dobell, Bertram (1842–1914), bookseller and literary scholar, was born on 9 January 1842 at Battle, Sussex, the eldest son of Edward Dobell, a journeyman tailor, and his wife, Elizabeth, née Eldridge (d. 1899). The family moved to London, where Edward Dobell was stricken with paralysis. In the ...
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Dodsley, Robert (1704–1764), bookseller and writer
James E. Tierney
Dodsley, Robert (1704–1764), bookseller and writer, was born on 13 February 1704 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the eldest of seven children of Robert Dodsley (bap. 1681, d. 1750), a master of the free school in Mansfield, and his first wife. Robert's early efforts at poetry suggest that he learned something of the art from his schoolmaster father, as well as a smattering of major authors, both classical and contemporary. However, in a practical-minded move, his father apprenticed ...
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Elliott, Ebenezer [called the Corn Law Rhymer] (1781–1849), poet and bar-iron merchant
Angela M. Leonard
Elliott, Ebenezer [called the Corn Law Rhymer] (1781–1849), poet and bar-iron merchant, was born on 17 March 1781 in the new foundry of Masbrough in the parish of Rotherham, Yorkshire, one of eleven children (of whom eight reached maturity) of Ebenezer Elliott (...
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Foulis, Robert (1707–1776), printer and bookseller
Richard Ovenden
Foulis, Robert (1707–1776), printer and bookseller, was born in Glasgow on 20 April 1707, the son of Andrew Faulls (Faulds; c.1690–1742), maltman of Glasgow, and Marion Paterson. He was brought up in Glasgow, and was apprenticed there to Alexander Leggatt, barber, in 1720, and in 1727 was made free as maltman, barber, and wigmaker. In 1730 he matriculated at ...
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Freeth, John [pseud. John Free] (1731–1808), innkeeper and political ballad writer
John Horden
revised by Nicholas Benbow
Freeth, John [pseud. John Free] (1731–1808), innkeeper and political ballad writer, was born at the Bell Tavern, Philip Street, Birmingham, the second of three sons of Charles Freeth, landlord of the Bell, and his wife, Mary. All three sons were trained for a trade: ...
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Galignani, (John) Anthony (1796–1873), bookseller and publisher
Marie-Françoise Cachin
Galignani, (John) Anthony (1796–1873), bookseller and publisher, and his partner, William Galignani (1798–1882), were the two eldest sons of Giovanni Antonio Galignani (1757–1821), a bookseller and publisher presumably born in Brescia, and his wife, Anne Parsons (1776–1822), the daughter of a ...
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Haskins, Minnie Louise (1875–1957), author and industrial welfare promoter
K. D. Reynolds
Haskins, Minnie Louise (1875–1957), author and industrial welfare promoter, was born at 2 Kingswood Hill, Oldland, near Bristol, on 12 May 1875, the second child and eldest daughter of Joseph Haskins (1842–1891), a grocer who acquired a pottery works at Warmley where he manufactured clay drainpipes, and his wife, ...
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Hatchard, John (1768–1849), publisher and bookseller
Mark Pottle
Hatchard, John (1768–1849), publisher and bookseller, was born on 17 October 1768. He is thought to have been the youngest among the three sons of Thomas Hatchard and Sarah Clarke, of St Margaret's, Westminster. Educated at Grey Coat Hospital, on 7 January 1782 ...
Article
Heath, Ambrose (1891–1969), writer on cookery and journalist
Paul Levy
Heath, Ambrose (1891–1969), writer on cookery and journalist, was born Francis Geoffrey Miller (the second forename was later changed to Gerald) on 7 February 1891 at 16 Broadhurst Gardens, Hampstead, London, the son of Francis Miller (1866–1935), electrical engineer, and his wife, ...
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Hutton, James (1715–1795), Moravian minister and bookseller
C. J. Podmore
Hutton, James (1715–1795), Moravian minister and bookseller, was born on 3 September 1715 in College Street, Westminster, the son of John Hutton (bap. 1676, d. 1750), a nonjuring clergyman who took in Westminster School boarders, and his wife, Elizabeth, née Ayscough (...
