The Oxford Times Centenary Supplement, September 7, 1962
The editors and company
Although he was not the founder, George Rippon, who took over the newspaper in 1868 when it seemed to be dying, was the man who made The Oxford times a success. When he acquired the paper he became its editor and was in control until his death in 1901.
He was a man of restless energy and a tough constitution. When he was 18 he went to America in a sailing ship, which took 44 days and he drove a four-in-hand on the prairie. He came back to England, worked on the Daily Telegraph, and then became editor and proprietor of the Tiverton Gazette. When he acquired The Oxford times it was in “a struggling and almost moribund condition.” As he afterwards said, but he was soon able to boast that the circulation of his newspaper was bigger than that of its rivals, the Oxford Journal and Chronicle, put together. In 1881, when The Oxford Times Company was formed, he became managing director.
He was succeeded by his son, Claude, who died in 1944. H. O. Hartley was editor from 1926 to 1953. and he was succeeded by the present editor, C. H. Hudson.
As for the company, the original shareholders included George Herbert Morrell., A. W. Hall and Percival Walsh, and subsequent directors included Sir Walter Gray.
The original announcement specified that any newspaper “of a political character” published by the company should “advocate the cause of Conservatism in such a manner as the Board of Directors may deem to be most advantageous for the Conservative cause in Great Britain.” When the Board agreed to change to a non-political basis in 1929 all the share were bought by the Starmer Group, now the Westminster Press.
The present company is the Oxford Mail and Times Ltd, of which the chairman is R. P. T. Gibson.
