Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/214

 studies of Australian life in 'A Lost Endeavour' (1895), 'Bushigrams' (1897), and 'Billy Binks, Hero, and other Stories' (1898). His best known novel, 'A Bid for Fortune, or Dr. Nikola's Vendetta' (1895; 2nd edit. 1900), first appeared as a serial in the 'Windsor Magazine,' Its success led Boothby to prolong his hero's mysterious adventures through many subsequent volumes, including 'Dr. Nikola' (1896), 'Dr. Nikola's Experiment' (1899), and 'Farewell Nikola' (1901).

On 8 Oct. 1895 Boothby married Rose Alice, third daughter of William Bristowe of Champion Hill. She survived him with two daughters and one son.



BORTHWICK, ALGERNON, first  (1830–1908), proprietor of the 'Morning Post,' born at Cambridge on 27 Dec. 1830, was elder son in the family of two sons and a daughter of  [q. v.], editor of the 'Morning Post,' who belonged to a Midlothian branch of the ancient Borthwick family of Selkirkshire. His mother was Margaret (d. 1864), daughter of John Colville of Ewart, Northumberland. After education at a school in Paris and at King's College School, London, Algernon in Sept. 1850, before he was twenty, was sent to Paris as foreign correspondent of the 'Morning Post.' The finances of the paper were at a low ebb and compelled the utmost economy. Algernon's work was controlled by his father, but he quickly proved himself a journalist of ability and resource. He witnessed the coup d'état of 1851, and gained access to the Emperor Napoleon III and the leading public men in Paris. His later letters were warmly praised by Lord Palmerston, whose intimate connection with the 'Morning Post' was a matter of common knowledge and who, after reading one of Algernon's letters, declared that the young correspondent was the only man besides himself fit to be foreign secretary. On the death of Algernon's father on 18 Dec. 1852 the proprietor, Mr. Crompton, appointed Algernon, then twenty-two, his father's successor as editor. The ensuing years were full of labour and anxiety. Great efforts were needed to render the paper secure and profitable: and upon Algernon devolved the care of his mother and her younger children. In 1858, on Crompton's death, the ownership of the paper passed to Mr. Rideout, Crompton's nephew. Borthwick made an offer of purchase, which was not accepted, and he remained editor, with a share in the profits and the promise of first offer in the event of a sale at Rideout's death. Borthwick quickly acquired full control of the paper. Foreign affairs specially interested him. He kept in close communication with ministers and diplomatists whose acquaintance he had made in Paris, and he maintained the intimacy with Palmerston which his father had begun. In 1864 Borthwick varied his serious editorial work by joining [q. v. Suppl. II], Lord Wharncliffe, and James Stuart Wortley in producing a periodical called the 'Owl.' The experiment, which ran on somewhat frivolous lines, was a forerunner of 'society' journalism. The writers dealt freely and anonymously with private and personal matters. Amongst the many regular or occasional contributors were Lord Houghton, Bernal Osborne, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, Sir George Trevelyan, and Mr. Gibson Bowles. The paper only appeared when the editors found it convenient usually once a fortnight during the summer, and the profits were spent mainly on dinners. In an early number an imaginary letter from M. Mocquard, secretary to Napoleon III, drew from him an official repudiation. The comments on foreign politics usually mingled gravity with caricature. The 'Owl,' which proved unexpectedly successful, lived for six years, and only died in 1870, when Borthwick was deprived of the leisure necessary to its conduct.

In 1872 Borthwick, while retaining full direction of the 'Morning Post' and maintaining and extending in the paper's interest his interviews with leading men at home and abroad, installed Sir William Hardman (d. 1890) in his place of working editor of the 'Morning Post.' In 1876, on the death of Rideout the proprietor, with the aid of a loan which he was able in a few years to repay, he became the owner. Although the paper was producing a good income, he in 1881, against the advice of his friends and with personal misgivings, reduced the price from 3d. to 1d. In the event he was amply justified. At the end of seven years the revenue had been multiplied tenfold.

Meanwhile Borthwick was playing a prominent part in public life. With the family of Napoleon III, Borthwick continued intimate relations after the fall of the Empire, and he was a very active