Category:The Union Jack

Title: The Union Jack

Editors: W.H.G. Kingston, G.A. Henty

Publisher: Griffith and Farran

The Union Jack was a periodical published weekly for British boys between the ages of 12 and 18. Founded by W.H.G. Kingston, it first appeared in January 1880 and was priced at one penny. The periodical was comprised of short fiction and serialized adventure tales emphasizing courage and morality. ^[1] In the preface to the first volume of The Union Jack, G.A. Henty explains the magazine as follows: “[The Union Jack’s stories] of heroic actions, of plucky deeds, of high-spirited, sturdy, natural boys, do an unsuspected amount of good to those who read them…True courage is one of the highest of virtues, and includes in itself many others.” ^[2] The Union Jack received contributions from many authors including Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe. ^[3] In addition to stories, The Union Jack included other features including prize competitions, riddles, full-page black-and-white illustrations, and an Editor’s Box in which Kingston or Henty would respond to queries from the periodical’s young subscribers. ^[4] Kingston served as the magazine’s editor until his resignation on April 29, 1880, announced in Volume 1 Issue 18. ^[5] He would later die in August of the same year. G.A. Henty, a regular contributor to The Union Jack, assumed the position of editor with great ambition to increase the periodical’s success. ^[6] In “Answers to Correspondents” in Volume 1 Issue 24 of The Union Jack, G.A. Hentry states: “The Editor can assure [his young friends] that he will spare neither trouble nor expense in making the Union Jack the boy’s paper of Great Britain.” ^[7] However, the magazine would never reach this desired level of success. After losing much of its readership to rival publications, The Union Jack ceased printing in September of 1883. ^[8]

Notes

1. ↑ WD
2. ↑ Henty, G.A. Preface. The Union Jack. Ed. W.H.G Kingston and G.A. Henty. Vol. 1. London: Griffith and Farran, 1880. Print.
3. ↑ WD
4. ↑ The Union Jack. Ed. W.H.G Kingston and G.A. Henty. Vol. 1. London: Griffith and Farran, 1880. Print.
5. ↑ Kingston, W.H.G. “To the Readers of ‘The Union Jack.’” The Union Jack. Ed. W.H.G Kingston and G.A. Henty. Vol. 1. London: Griffith and Farran, 1880. 288. Print.
6. ↑ WD
7. ↑ Henty, G.A. “Answers to Correspondents.” The Union Jack. Ed. W.H.G Kingston and G.A. Henty. Vol. 1. London: Griffith and Farran, 1880. 384. Print.
8. ↑ WD

Submitted by: Brutsch, Sarah: section 1, Winter 2011 and Evans, Jonathon: section 1, Winter 2011