Horatio Bottomley and the Far Right Before Fascism

191 Pages·2022·3.617 MB·English

by  Dave Renton

ENDORSEMENTS
‘Renton writes with the range and forensic eye that has made him such a vital
commentator on the political right and its history’.
Lawrence Black, Professor of Modern History,
University of York, UK
‘In a refreshing reversal of leftist histories that seek primarily to celebrate, David
Renton’s study is based on the premise that “we cannot understand the history
of English socialism without understanding the people who resisted that form
of politics”. He encourages socialists to reflect on how they communicate and
engage with those they seek to persuade or overcome’.
Matthew Worley, Professor of Modern History,
University of Reading, UK
‘Detailed, well-researched and authoritative’.
Paul Jackson, Professor in the History of Radicalism &
Extremism, University of Northampton, UK

HORATIO BOTTOMLEY AND THE FAR
RIGHT BEFORE FASCISM
Horatio Bottomley and the Far Right Before Fascism examines Bottomley’s life and
politics, and what made him one of the great figures of Edwardian life.
During the First World War, his magazine John Bull sold two million copies
a week. Bottomley addressed huge crowds urging them to wage a war of exter-
mination against ordinary Germans. The first chairman of the Financial Times,
the inspiration for Toad in The Wind in the Willows, Bottomley was also a major
figure in post-1918 politics, urging Conservative voters to dump their leaders and
try something new. This carefully researched biography, the first new life of Bot-
tomley for 50 years, shows how he began on the centre-left of Edwardian politics
and then moved to the margins, becoming a leading figure on the Edwardian far
right, and pre-empting the non-fascist far right of our own days.
This book will appeal to scholars and students with interests in political his-
tory, fascism and the far right.
David Renton is a British historian and barrister. His other books include
Labour’s Antisemitism Crisis: What the Left Got Wrong and How to Learn From It
(Routledge 2022), No Free Speech for Fascists: Exploring “No Platform” in History,
Law and Politics (Routledge 2021) and Never Again: Rock Against Racism and the
Anti-Nazi League 1976–1982 (Routledge 2019).
Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right
Series editors
Nigel Copsey, Teesside University, UK and Graham Macklin, Center for Research on
Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo, Norway.
This book series focuses upon national, transnational and global manifestations
of fascist, far right and right-wing politics primarily within a historical context
but also drawing on insights and approaches from other disciplinary perspec-
tives. Its scope also includes anti-fascism, radical-right populism, extreme-right
violence and terrorism, cultural manifestations of the far right, and points of
convergence and exchange with the mainstream and traditional right.
Titles include:
Anti-Fascism, Gender, and International Communism
The Comité Mondial des Femmes contre la Guerre et le Fascisme, 1934 – 1941
Jasmine Calver
Horatio Bottomley and the Far Right Before Fascism
David Renton
The Fascist Faith Of Romania’s Legion “Archangel Michael” in
Romania, 1927–41
Martyrdom To National Purification
Constantin Iordachi
Foreign Fighters in the Ukraine
Kacper Rękawek
The Nature of Identitarianism
Göran Dahl
Nazi Occultism
Between the SS and Esotericism
Stéphane François
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Studies-in-Fascism-and-the-Far-Right/book-series/FFR
HORATIO BOTTOMLEY
AND THE FAR RIGHT
BEFORE FASCISM
David Renton
Cover image: © Sophie Carapetian
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 David Renton
The right of David Renton to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Renton, Dave, 1972- author.
Title: Horatio Bottomley and the far right before Fascism / David Renton.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Series:
Routledge studies in Fascism and the far right | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022022063 (print) | LCCN 2022022064 (ebook) | ISBN
9781032306537 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032304373 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003306085 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Bottomley, Horatio, 1860–1933. | Bottomley, Horatio,
1860–1933—Political and social views. | Great Britain–Politics and
government—1910–1936. | Capitalists and financiers—Great
Britain—Biography. | Journalists—Great Britain—Biography.
Classification: LCC DA566.9.B6 R46 2023 (print) | LCC DA566.9.B6 (ebook)
| DDC 328.41/092 [B]—dc23/eng/20220509
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022022063
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022022064
ISBN: 978-1-032-30653-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-30437-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-30608-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003306085
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
CONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 Fathers, Real and Imagined 5
3 First Steps in Business and Politics 27
4 Proprietor, Politician, Defendant 47
5 Company Promoter, Bucket-Shop Keeper 68
6 Sensualist 85
7 The Gospel of Humanity 95
8 The Spell of Words 120
9 Patriot 127
10 Thief 145
11 Variety Artist 171
12 In Retrospect 176
I ndex 181

1
INTRODUCTION
The subject of this book is 19th- and 20th-century political life, and the part
in it played by one person, celebrated in his time but almost forgotten today:
the journalist, politician and businessman Horatio Bottomley. Bottomley has
drifted out of our collective memory, and we are the poorer for this. He was a
press magnate, and his magazine John Bull was the best-selling news weekly of its
time,1 with two million readers during the Great War. The English Review called
him a “Prince of Fleet Street”, and wrote: “He owned a racing stable. To quite a
million of good people he shone like a star”.2 The music-hall singer and come-
dian Mark Sheridan dedicated a song to him: “Who’s the wisest man in town? Who’s
the judge without a gown? Mr Bottomley – John Bull!”3 An anonymous pamphleteer
described him as the “finest orator in the Kingdom… the first lay lawyer in the
land… a fine sportsman… a fearless and independent politician”. And the effect
of the prose is not altogether diminished when we reveal that these compliments
appeared in a document printed by Bottomley himself.4
On Bottomley’s telling, the most remarkable part of his life story was the speed
of his rise from penury to plenty. In his memoir Bottomley’s Book, published in
1909, he made repeated proud allusion to his harsh upbringing, despite seeming
ashamed of its particulars. When he tells of his uncle Austin Holyoake’s funeral5 –
where he first encountered his mentor Charles Bradlaugh – he describes himself
as coming up from “school”, and talks later of leaving this school to travel up to
London.6 But the school goes unnamed – it was in fact an orphanage. Nor did
things improve with any speed: the solicitor who employed Bottomley at the age
of 14 was a drunkard whose managing clerk was sentenced to hard labour for
fraud.7 Elsewhere in the memoir Bottomley chides one-time Liberal leader Lord
Rosebery for subsequent disloyalty to his party: “Come amongst us and do your
work. You have all the advantages of name and wealth and power”.8 Readers
were intended to contrast all these advantages – name and wealth and power –
DOI: 10.4324/9781003306085-1