The Times/1932/Obituary/Sidney James Mark Low



We announce with regret that Sir Sidney Low, the distinguished journalist and writer, died yesterday at his home in Kensington at the age of 74. He was about to write a weekly article, when he left his desk and collapsed in a chair. He had suffered from asthma, and recently his heart had been affected.

Sidney James Mark Low, the son of Maximiliam Low, was born on January 22, 1857. From King's College School, London, he went up to Oxford as a scholar of Pembroke College, but migrated to Balliol on election to a Brakenbury scholarship. He took a first class in modern history in 1879, and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple. He quickly made his mark in journalism, and was editor of the St. James's Gazette	from 1888 to 1897, a longer period than fell to the lot of some editors of that newspaper. Afterwards he became a regular leader-writer on the old morning Standard, and later literary editor. He also served as a special correspondent on such occasions as the visit of King Edward when Prince of Wales to India, the coronation of King Haakon of Norway, and The Hague Conference in 1907, and in America, Germany, and Egypt. During the War he was active in France and with the Italian Army, and was editor of the wireless service at the Ministry of Information. He was knighted in 1918.

As a writer Sir Sidney Low was distinguished by his keen historical sense, and his same and balanced views were recommended by a pleasant and lively style. His "Dictionary of English History," "The Governance of England," "The Political History of the Reign of Queen Victoria," and "The British Constitution" are valuable as disseminating sound views on subjects of great popular importance, and many readers found in them the guidance they needed. This was not less so with his books on India and Egypt, and his studies of Italy in the War and the spirit of the Allied nations. His last book, published in 1929, was concerned with the Indian States and Princes. He lectured regularly for some years on Imperial and Colonial history at King's College, London, and was a member of the Imperial Studies Committee. From 1901 to 1905 he was an alderman of the London City Council.

Sir Sidney Low married first, in 1887, Elsie (who died in 1921), daughter of Mr. John Davison, and secondly, in 1924, Ebba Cecilia, daughter of Captain G. H. Byström, of Stockholm.