page_title: Financial News (1884–1945)
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Financial News (1884–1945) / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: Men of the Day No. 428: Caricature of Harry Marks. Caption read "Financial News".
context_page_description: The Financial News was a daily British newspaper published in London. It was founded in 1884 by Harry Marks, who had begun on United States newspapers, and set up to expose fraudulent investments. Marks himself was key to the paper's early growth, when it had a buccaneering life fighting against corruption and competing with the Financial Times, but after Marks' death it declined. Bought by publishers Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1928 and run by Brendan Bracken, it eventually merged with its great rival in 1945.
context_section_description: The first four-page edition of the Financial and Mining News appeared on 23 January 1884; it adopted the shorter title that July. Founder Harry Marks imported techniques he had learned in the United States to target those offering questionable investment schemes, intending that his paper be known for campaigning.
  The newspaper scored an early significant success in exposing corruption in local government. Marks himself was one of the main authors of a series of articles that began appearing on 25 October 1886 and carried on for nearly a year. The newspaper uncovered the involvement of officials and members of the Metropolitan Board of Works, which ran local government services in London, in schemes to personally enrich themselves. However, the early years saw the company frequently summoned to the law courts to defend libel actions; there were three major cases between 1888 and 1890.
  The paper gained a rival when the Financial Times, published by Horatio Bottomley, appeared in 1888. The two papers frequently attacked each other's advertisers, and criticised the investment schemes the other promoted, until a truce was worked out after a bad-tempered dispute over "the Nitrate King" Colonel J. T. North who was developing the Nitrate Railway in South America. After then they continued to compete, but more in the nature of a friendly rivalry.
  It was a financially successful venture; Marks floated the company on the stock market in March 1898, with the understanding that he would continue as editor. Its success continued, and at the ordinary general meeting in January 1911, the company announced a dividend and bonus amounting to 35% on ordinary shares; the announcement brought cheers. The paper was among those that exposed the details of the Marconi scandal.
caption: Financial News founder Harry Marks as caricatured in Vanity Fair, June 1889
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