John Feeney (newspaper proprietor)

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For other persons named John Feeney, see John Feeney (disambiguation).

John Feeney (died 3rd May 1905), newspaper proprietor and philanthropist, was one of a proprietor of the Birmingham Post, in partnership with John Jaffray (later Sir John Jaffray, baronet) in succession to his father John Frederick Feeney.[1]

In his will, he left most of his considerable fortune to charity, mostly for the benefit of the City of Birmingham. By this or in his lifetime:

  • He provided £50,000 to provide a further gallery for Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.[2]
  • He gave £20,000 to endowed a professorship in the University of Birmingham, which became that in Metallurgy .[3]
  • He gave nine-hundredths of the residue to establish the John Feeney Charitable Trust, which exists for the benefit of:
    • The Public Charities in the City of Birmingham
    • The promotion and cultivation of Art in the city
    • The acquisition and manitenace of public parks, recreation ground, and open spaces in or near the city.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Birmingham City Archives, MS 1784, introduction (from [1] - search for John Feeney).
  2. ^ 'Economic and Social History: Social History since 1815', A History of the County of Warwick: VII The City of Birmingham (1964), pp. 223-245. Feeney (accessed: 30 January 2008).
  3. ^ Birmingham University
  4. ^ Charity Commission