The Field (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, having been published continuously since 1853.
The famous sportsman Robert Smith Surtees
Robert Smith Surtees
Robert Smith Surtees was an English editor, novelist and sporting writer. He was the second son of Anthony Surtees of Hamsterley Hall, a member of an old County Durham family.-Early life:...
, the creator of Jorrocks, was the driving force behind the initial publication. He saw a gap in the market for illustrated sporting literature, at a time when the rising wealth and leisure of the new Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
industrialists and their offspring swelled a ready market for gentleman’s literature. He envisaged a paper for sportsmen, landowners and farmers, as well as the haut ton, that gave the readers an overview of all that was important, including the unusual and eccentric. It was an instant success under the auspices of its first editor Mark Lemon
Mark Lemon
Mark Lemon was founding editor of both Punch and The Field.-Biography:Lemon was born in London on the 30 November 1809. He was the son of Martin Lemon, a hop merchant, and Alice Collis. His parents married on 26 December 1808 at St Mary, Marylebone, London...
.
Events of Significance
The Field had its own Crimean correspondent, trumpeting the view that the dashing deeds carried out on the field of battle were due in no small part to fieldsports and the following of manly country occupations. On November 18, 1854 The FieldThe Field
The Field is a play written by John B. Keane, first performed in 1965. It tells the story of the hardened farmer "Bull" McCabe and his love for the land he rents. The play debuted at Dublin's Olympia Theatre in 1965, with Ray McAnally as "The Bull" and Eamon Keane as "The Bird" O'Donnell. The play...
carried personal narratives of those involved in the Charge of the Light Brigade
Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. The charge was the result of a miscommunication in such a way that the brigade attempted a much more difficult objective...
.
J. H. Walsh initiated a series of field trials for guns from 1858 onwards, a catalyst to the production of the modern hammerless shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
.
In 1861 ‘Goalstick’ impressed through the pages of The Field the importance of encouraging the game of football into general use, and pressed for an amalgamation of the rules, The Field obtained rules from Rugby, Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury and Marlborough and helped create the modern game.
The Field was instrumental in instituting the first Field Trials and Dog Shows. In 1859 The Field
The Field
The Field is a play written by John B. Keane, first performed in 1965. It tells the story of the hardened farmer "Bull" McCabe and his love for the land he rents. The play debuted at Dublin's Olympia Theatre in 1965, with Ray McAnally as "The Bull" and Eamon Keane as "The Bird" O'Donnell. The play...
was present at the Newcastle Sporting Dog Show taking a warm interest in the establishment of the exhibition of dogs on the same principles as cattle and poultry shows, and later in 1865 present at the first Field Trials of Pointers and Setters.
In 1873 the rower’s sliding seat was tested extensively in The Field.
In March 1874 Gerald D. Fitzgerald wrote to The Field to inform readers about a new game called sphairstike, or Lawn Tennis. Over ensuing years the minutiae of the rules were subsequently thrashed out through the letters pages of the magazine, culminating with the printing of the rules of Lawn Tennis on June 16, 1877, followed by the inaugural Lawn Tennis Championship
Championship
Championship is a term used in sport to refer to various forms of competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.- Title match system :...
in 1877 where players competed for The Field Cup. The Field Cup is still on permanent display at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
Museum.
The Field covered the first Americas Cup in August 1879 and recommendations in The Field led to the official Lloyds classification of yachts in 1906.
Francis Francis campaigned against salmon netting and was a leading authority on hatcheries and today The Field still champions the cause of wild salmon and their rivers.
William Senior
William Senior
William Senior was an English-born Australian politician. Born in Yorkshire, he migrated to Australia as a child and was educated at state schools in Mount Gambier, South Australia. He became a shopkeeper and Methodist minister...
, an angling writer for The Field and later Editor, under his nom de plume “Red Spinner” was at the forefront of fishing advances and experimentation, primarily dry fly-fishing, although it was FM Halford – a Field contributor – who developed the dry-fly ethos.
During the 1920s the design of the modern golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
ball was formalised on designs agreed after tests by The Field, leading to The Field Long Driving Championship of the World.
The launch of the Field Distemper Fund in 1923 resulted in the inoculation of dogs against distemper.
During the 1950s The Field improved racecourse safety through its campaign against dangerous racecourses.
During the 1980s The Field campaigned against mismanagement of shooting leading to the widely recognised “Code of Good Shooting Practice”.
Today The Field is considered the premier field sports and country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
and champions rural pursuits, people and the environment.
Field Editors
1853 - 1857 Mark LemonMark Lemon
Mark Lemon was founding editor of both Punch and The Field.-Biography:Lemon was born in London on the 30 November 1809. He was the son of Martin Lemon, a hop merchant, and Alice Collis. His parents married on 26 December 1808 at St Mary, Marylebone, London...
1857 -1888 John Henry Walsh
John Henry Walsh
John Henry Walsh FRCS , English writer on sport under the pseudonym of "Stonehenge", was born at Hackney, London.He was educated at private schools, and became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1844...
1888 - 1899 Frederick Toms
1900 - 1910 William Senior
1910 - 1928 Sir Theodore Andrea Cook
1931 - 1937 Eric Parker
1938 - 1946 Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald
1947 - 1950 Leonard V Dodds
1951 - 1977 Wilson Stephens
1977 - 1984 Derek Bingham
1984 - 1987 Simon Courtauld
1987 - 1991 Julie Spencer
1991 - Jonathan Young
The magazine is published by IPC Media
IPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...
, a subsidiary of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, from 110 Southwark Street
Southwark Street
Southwark Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access routes for London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
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