The Clarion
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The Clarion was a weekly newspaper published by Robert Blatchford, based in the United Kingdom. For most of its history, it was a socialist publication.
Blatchford and Alexander M. Thompson founded the paper in Manchester in 1891 on a capital of just £400 (£350 from Thompson and Blatchford and the remaining £50 from Robert's brother Montague Blatchford) . In it, he serialised his book, Merrie England, and published work by a variety of journalists, including George Bernard Shaw and the cartoonist Walter Crane. A large number of clubs and societies (Cycling, Rambling, Choirs (Vocal unions), Handicraft, Field, Drama, and Cinderella clubs) connecting with the newspaper were created, of which the National Clarion Cycling Club still survives, likewise a number . As does the People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, which began its life in 1911 as the Newcastle Clarion Drama Club.
The Clarion Women's column was written initially by Eleanor Keeling Edwards and from October 1895 as the Women's letter page by Julia Dawson, pen name of Mrs Myddleton-Worrall.
It was Julia Dawson who pioneered the famous Clarion Van's which toured small towns and villages throughout England and Scotland from 1896 until 1929 spreading socialist propaganda.
The Clarion was also popular in many countries of the British Empire, especially New Zealand and Australia. A Clarion Colony was established in New Zealand in 1901 by Willam Ranstead 1859 - 1944.
At least one Clarion Cycling Club was established in New Zealand in the 1890's at Chch,
On June 27, 1904, three weeks before the King, Queen, opened the Liverpool Cathedral, Jim Larkin and Fred Bower the men composed a message "from the wage slaves employed on the erection of this cathedral" to a future socialist society, and, along with a copy of the Clarion and the Labour Leader, placed it in a biscuit tin deep inside the brickwork and covered it.
Emil Robert Voigt (1883-1973), an English born engineer,and Manchester Clarion movement activist was one of the foremost pioneers of the fledgling Australian broadcasting industry in the early 1920s and the genius behind the birth of the progressive radio station 2KY.
Enjoying sales of around 30,000 for many years, some readers left after it adopted stance in favour of the Boer War and against limited women's suffrage. They rose again as it became associated with the Labour Party, and by 1907 had reached 74,000.
The paper again lost readers when it supported World War I It folded in 1931.
Robert Blatchford stated in his book "My eighty years" that
"I will go as far as to say that during the first ten years of thr Clarion's life that by no means popular paper had more influence on the public opinion in this country than any other English journal, The Times included".
In the United States, the Clarion is also the name of the official student newspaper of the University of Denver. The DU Clarion was founded in 1892 and the current editor-in-chief is Daliah Singer '09. In addition, the "Clarion" is the name of the official student newspaper of Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin.
