George Samuel Measom

Portrait of Measom, ca.1860s

Sir George Samuel Measom (1818-1901) was an English engraver and publisher who compiled guides to railway travel in Great Britain in the mid-19th century. In later life he became involved in charitable works, and was knighted in 1891.

Biography

George Samuel Measom was born 3 December 1818, in Blackheath, Kent, son of Daniel Measom, a carver and gilder.[1]

In 1842 he married Sarah née Hillman. During the 1840 he developed his skills as an engraver and in 1849 published The Bible: its Elevating Influence on Man, a moral tale in illustrated form.[2] From the 1850s onwards much of Measom's work related to descriptions of railways; first railway work was the 1852 Illustrated Guide to the Great Western Railway. His railway works described the railways from the practical standpoint of a traveller, and all publications after the first took a title of the form "Th Official Illustrated Guide to ... ". By 1867 his book covered the entire British network.[3]

Sarah died in 1867, after which he remarried to Charlotte née Simpson.[4]

From the 1880s Measom became involved in charity work, he was treasurer of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and promoted a related work that later became the Battersea Dogs' Home, and supported the Royal Marsden hospital.[4]

He was knighted in 1891, for his public work. George Measom died on 1 March 1901 at home, Isleworth, Middlesex. He left no children.[4]

Works

  • The Bible: its Elevating Influence on Man, 1849
  • Illustrated Guide to the Great Western Railway, 1852
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Brighton and South Coast Railways, London: H.G. Collins, 1853
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the South-Eastern Railway, London: W.H. Smith and Son, 1853, OCLC 25963337
  • The Crystal Palace Alphabet: A Guide for Good Children, 1855
  • Light from the East: Tales Moral and Instructive of Oriental Origin and Character, 1856
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Northern Railway, London: W.H. Smith and Son, 1857
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Lancaster and Carlisle, Edinburgh & Glasgow, and Caledonian Railways, London: W.H. Smith and Son, 1859
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the North-Western Railway, London: W.H. Smith and Son, 1859
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Bristol and Exeter, North and South Devon, Cornwall, and South Wales Railways, London: Richard Griffin and Co., 1860
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Northern Railway, London: Griffin, Bohn, 1861, OCLC 12433505
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Eastern Railway, London: C. Griffin and Co., 1865
  • Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway, London: C. Griffin, 1866
  • Official illustrated guide to the Midland Great Western, and Dublin and Drogheda Railways, London: C. Griffin and Co., 1867

See also

References

  1. ↑ (obituary). Railway News. 75. March 9, 1901. p. 1901.
  2. ↑ Martin 2007, para.1.
  3. ↑ Martin 2007, para.2.
  4. 1 2 3 Martin 2007, para.4.

Sources

  • Martin, G. H. (2007), "Measom, Sir George Samuel (1818–1901), publisher and philanthropist", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/89945


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