[Sir Thomas Wemyss]. English journalist, born in Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1842. He was educated at Newcastle; became a journalist in 1861; in 1864 was appointed editor of the Preston Guardian, and in 1870–87 editor of the Leeds Mercury. He contributed largely to the leading reviews and magazines. He published Charlotte Brontë: A Monograph (1877); Gladys Fane: A Story of Two Lives (1883); Mauleverer’s Millions (1885); Life of the Right Hon. W. E. Forster (1888); Cabinet Portraits, sketches of leading statesmen of both parties (1872); Politicians of To-day (1879); and The Land of the Bey (1882), a narrative of a visit to Tunis during the military operations of France. He also contributed to the Leeds Mercury an extensive series of literary and social essays, under the title of The Rambling Philosopher, as well as letters descriptive of travel in various parts of the world. In 1887 he resigned the editorship of the Leeds Mercury and accepted the post of manager of the publishing-house of Cassell and Company. In 1890 he became editor of The Speaker, a weekly review. In 1891 he published a life of the late Lord Houghton, and in 1894 was knighted.
