Egerton Smith

Egerton Smith was a Liverpool publisher, founder of the Liverpool Mercury.

Biography

Egerton Smith was the son of Egerton Smith the elder and Ann Prescott. He joined his mother and then his brother in the family firm, making navigational instruments, and took out a patent for one invention in 1809. However, he increasingly turned towards printing and publishing. He founded the Liverpool Mercury newspaper in 1811, and a weekly magazine, The Kaleidoscope, in 1818. Smith was also active in founding mechanics institutes and became a well-known local philanthropist.
He was one of the founders of the Strangers' Friend Society, a local charity which helped the poor at their homes.
His grandson was Egerton Smith Castle F.S.A., an author, antiquarian, and swordsman, and an early practitioner of reconstructed historical fencing.

Animal welfare

Smith authored an early book supportive of animal welfare. It was first published in an anthology of prose and verse, The Melange, in 1834. It was published separately as The Elysium of Animals: A Dream in 1836. The Monthly Review for 1836 commented:

Selected publications

''The Elysium of Animals: A Dream''