Cecil Chesterton Cecil Edward Chesterton ( 12 November 1879 – 6 December 1918 ) was an English journalist and political commentator , known particularly for his role as editor of " The New Witness " from 1912 to 1916 , and in relation to its coverage of the Marconi scandal . Life . He was the younger brother of G . K . Chesterton , and a close associate of Hilaire Belloc . While the ideas of distributism came from all three , and Arthur Penty , he was the most ideological and combative by temperament . His death , according to his wife , removed the theorist of the movement . He was born in Kensington , London , and educated at St Paul ' s School , then worked for a small publisher for a time . He then qualified as surveyor and estate agent , with a view to entering his father ' s business , which is still flourishing today . In 1901 he joined the Fabian Society , with which he was closely involved for about six years . From 1907 he wrote for A . R . Orage ' s " The New Age " . In 1908 he published an anonymous biography of his better - known brother , " G . K . Chesterton , a Criticism " , but his authorship was quickly discovered . He had been one of the ' Anti - Puritan League ' of the 1890s , with Stewart Headlam ( who stood bail for Oscar Wilde ) , Edgar Jepson and his brother ; and then a member of Henry Holland ' s Christian Social Union . While Chesterton was writing from a socialist point of view for Orage , he was also moving to an Anglo - Catholic religious stance . In 1911 he started editorial work for Belloc , with whom he wrote in " The Party System " , a criticism of party politics . In 1912 he formally became a Roman Catholic . That same year he bought Belloc ' s failing weekly " Eye - Witness " ; Charles Granville who published it had been made bankrupt . He renamed it " The New Witness " , editing it for four years before enlisting in the army , and turning it into a scandal sheet . His persistent attacks on prominent political figures involved in the Marconi scandal ( such as Lloyd George ) , and his public defence of his position in terms of a ' Jewish problem ' , have left him with a reputation as an anti - Semite . He was successfully brought to court by Godfrey Isaacs , one of those attacked , although the damages awarded were nominal . A government investigation revealed that high government officials had engaged in insider trading in the stock of Marconi ' s American subsidiary , but the quantity of stocks they were known to have purchased was relatively small . In 1916 he married Ada Elizabeth Jones ( 1888 - 1962 ) , later known as a writer , after a long courtship . He joined the Highland Light Infantry as a private soldier . His brother Gilbert took over the paper , with Ada as Secretary and Business Manager . Eventually in 1925 Gilbert , with great reluctance , allowed it to be renamed " G . K . ' s Weekly " because his name was very well - known and likely to attract interest . He was three times wounded fighting in France , and died there in a hospital of nephritis on December 6 , 1918 . Although sick , he had refused to leave his post until the Armistice . On December 13 , G . K . Chesterton would report his death in the " New Witness " , noting that " He lived long enough to march to the victory which was for him a supreme vision of liberty and the light . "