Allied Newspapers
1924 Public company incorporated, controlled by the William Ewert Berry, Gomer Berry and Sir E. M. Iliffe. Acquired various publications from The Sunday Times Ltd (which the Berrys owned) which had acquired them from E. Hulton and Co[1]:
- The Daily Dispatch
- The Evening Chronicle
- The Sporting Chronicle
- The Sunday Chronicle
- The Empire News
- The Athletic News
also acquired the Sunday Times and the Manchester Evening Chronicle.
During the years up to 1928 Allied Newspapers acquired more newspapers in Glasgow, Sheffield, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and Aberdeen. They also bought the Daily Sketch and Illustrated Sunday Herald from Lord Rothermere's Daily Mail Trust. In Cardiff, where they already held the Western Mail and the Evening Express, they acquired the South Wales Daily News and the South Wales Echo, merging the two morning and the two evening papers.
To consolidate what was intended to be a fully integrated publishing operation Allied Newspapers acquired Edward Lloyd Ltd, then one of the largest paper mills in the world.
1937 The partnership of the Berry brothers was amicably dissolved. Each partner needed a distinct raft of holdings to pass on to his heirs; Lord Camrose assumed sole control of the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, and Amalgamated Press; Lord Kemsley became proprietor of the Sunday Times. Iliffe acquired a raft of provincial newspapers.
This was still the largest newspaper empire in Britain, boasting no fewer than six morning, seven evening, six weekly, and four Sunday titles nationwide. These included some of the provincial press's most popular newspapers, notably the Daily Record in Glasgow and the Daily Dispatch in Manchester.
1943 Name changed to Kemsley Newspapers [2]
Late 1950s: gradual break-up of Kemsley Newspapers, culminating in the sale of the Sunday Times in August 1959.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Biography of James Gomer Berry, ODNB