A history of The Tablet

Complete first edition of The Tablet (1840)
Example of The Tablet from 1896

The following account is a summary of "1840-1990 A Commemorative History, The Tablet" by Michael Walsh

The Tablet was founded in 1840 by Frederick Lucas, a Quaker convert to Catholicism at the age of twenty-seven. Lucas was brought to Catholicism by Thomas Anstey, a member, like Lucas, of the Middle Temple and also a convert. On his conversion in December 1838 he published a pamphlet entitled "Reasons for Becoming a Catholic"; it ran to three editions in the year. It took him a week to convert his fiancée to Catholicism. On his return from a tour of Belgium he became a contributor to the quarterly, the Dublin Review , which, despite its name, was published in London.

A number of leading Catholics felt the need for a weekly publication and Father R. Lythgoe SJ, the priest who had converted Lucas, suggested that he take the task on. Lucas chose the name, The Tablet, and the first edition came out on 16 May 1840. The title piece was very modern in style and a quotation from Edmund Burke adorned the masthead: "My errors, if any, are my own: I have no man's proxy". Lucas made clear in the third issue just what he meant:

"With the exception of the Irish the world has exhibited hardly an instance of long-enduring passive courage to be compared with that of the British Catholics. Every class has displayed this quality most admirably in a manner which its peculiar position required. There has been but one thing wanting, and that is that they should know when and how to lay aside the defensive tactics which their former situation compelled them to adopt …."

The Catholic community in England at this time was sharply divided between the largely urban poor, many of whom were Irish immigrants, and the "old" Catholic families, often of considerable wealth. Because the latter were comparatively few in number, converts like Lucas strengthened them both numerically and intellectually. It was this group that The Tablet served: selling at 6d, it was expensive. However, Lucas swiftly showed himself a champion of the underprivileged.

The paper carried a wide mix of news, both political and legal as well as religious. Politically, The Tablet's readers were mostly supportive of the Whigs because they had campaigned for the full emancipation of Catholics, even though, when it arrived the Tories were actually in government. Catholics on the whole preferred moderation, not wishing to draw attention to themselves. This was not Lucas's editorial style.

When the paper began Lucas had two principles: first that the paper should be properly financed, and second that he should have full editorial control. The paper was initially backed by two leather merchants, the Keasley brothers. But when they were declared bankrupt in 1841 Lucas went into partnership with his Protestant printer, John Cox, who already printed pamphlets for a number of Catholic organisations. Cox paid £100 for his stake. At the time of the deal, with a number of subscribers, profit looked inevitable.

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