Thomas Chenery

Thomas Chenery (1826 - 11 February 1884) was an English scholar and editor of the British newspaper "The Times".

He was born in Barbados and educated at Eton and Caius College, Cambridge. Having been called to the Bar, he went out to Constantinople as "The Times" correspondent just before the Crimean War, and it was under the influence there of Algernon Smythe (afterwards Lord Stranglord) that he first turned to the philological studies in which he became eminent.

After the war he returned to London and wrote regularly for "The Times" for many years, eventually succeeding John Delane as editor in 1877. He was then an experienced publicist, particularly well versed in Oriental affairs, an indefatigable worker, with a rapid and comprehensive judgment, though he lacked Delane's intuition for public opinion. It was as an Orientalist, however, that he earned the highest reputation, his knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew being almost unrivalled and his gift for languages exceptional. In 1868 he was appointed Lord Almoners professor of Arabic at Oxford, and retained his position until he became editor of The Times. He was one of the company of revisers of the Old Testament. He was secretary for some time to the Royal Asiatic Society, and published learned editions of the Arabic classic The Assemblies of Al-Hariri and of the Machberoth Ithiel.

He died in London on 11 February 1884 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.

References

*1911