William Southam

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William Southam (August 23, 1843 – February 27, 1932) was a Canadian newspaper publisher. ^[1]

Born in Montreal, Quebec, he began his newspaper career working for the London Free Press. The first newspaper he bought was the Hamilton Spectator. He would own the Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Windsor Star and Montreal Gazette.

Robert Smiley, the founding publisher of The Hamilton Spectator, sold the newspaper to William Southam in 1877 as the first link in the Southam newspaper chain.^[2]

[edit] Tribute

The Southam neighbourhood on the Hamilton, Ontario Mountain was named after him. It is bounded by the Niagara Escarpment (north), Fennell Avenue East (south), West 5th Street (west) and Upper James Street (east). Landmarks in this neighbourhood include the Glenwood Cemetery.

[edit] References

^ Bailey, Thomas Melville (1992). Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol III, 1925-1939). W.L. Griffin Ltd.
^ The Hamilton Spectator- Souvenir Edition page (Saturday June 10, 2006). The Hamilton Memory Project;. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-29.