Richard Farquhar Scott

Richard Farquhar Scott (16 May 1914 - 11 November 2011) was an English journalist, great-grandson of the founder of The Manchester Guardian newspaper (later simplified by him to The Guardian), and Chairman of the Scott Trust, its owner.

Early life

By the time of Richard's birth, his grandfather Charles P Scott had already been editor of The Manchester Guardian for 43 years. Charles handed over the editorship to his son, Richard's father, Ted in 1929. Just three years later, and only months after inheriting half of the newspaper on Charles' death, tragedy struck when Ted drowned while boating with Richard on Lake Windermere. Richard had been schooled at Gresham's School, Norfolk, and, with the financial support of Ted's brother John Russell Scott, he matriculated to Christ's College, Cambridge later that same year, 1932. Ted's shares in the newspaper had gone to John who, in 1936 orchestrated their conversion into a trust to avoid inheritance taxes. Hence, Richard was never more than momentarily an owner of the paper.^[1]

Journalism

Richard commenced his work as a journalist at the League of Nations Union, where he wrote brochures, pamphlets and memoranda for members, then a year at The Spectator, then the British Council before joining the Foreign Office during the Second World War. In 1947, he joined the newspaper as diplomatic correspondent.^[2]

Saving The Guardian

While writing critically of the Eden government in the context of the Suez crisis in 1956, Richard was appointed Chairman of the Scott Trust. He managed to carry on without attending a single meeting of its board for ten years, though, concentrating on his reporting work for The Guardian, including moving to Georgetown, Washington DC, in 1963 to work under Alistair Cooke. Richard famously for the first time used his position as Chairman of the trust to oppose his cousin Laurence Scott's plan to merge The Guardian, of which he, Laurence, was then Chairman, with the Times in 1966, for which resistance Richard was considered the saviour of its independence.^[3]

Later Years and Death

Scott continued on in Washington until 1971 when he moved to Paris for a three-year assignment. He retired from journalism in 1974, taking up residence at his vineyard in Limoux. After divorce from his second wife, Anna Walmsley, he moved into a small cottage in the nearby town of Lagrasse, Corbières, where he passed his remaining years with third wife Christiane.

References

Further reading

• Ellis, Gavin (30 June 2014). Trust Ownership and the Future of News: Media Moguls and White Knights. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 154–155. ISBN 1137369442. 
• Taylor, Geoffrey (8 March 1993). Changing Faces: A History of The Guardian 1956-88. Fourth Estate. ISBN 9781857021004.