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Goodbye to the young master

Farewell to a noble figure in Spectator history

Simon Courtauld

Wednesday, 26th September 2007

Ian Gilmour, the former Spectator editor, who died last week

Ian Gilmour was not the only proprietor of The Spectator also to be its editor, but he was unquestionably the best. Patrician, wealthy, high-minded, unassuming, the 28-year-old Etonian ex-Grenadier Guardsman raised a number of eyebrows when he bought the magazine in 1954 and took over the editorial reins himself. However, the five years of his editorship were to cause a lot more surprise when, in fostering The Spectator’s libertarian tradition, he not only espoused radical causes but frequently opposed the Eden and Macmillan governments. In some important respects The Spectator under Gilmour’s direction anticipated the free-thinking mood of the 1960s.

He was a junior barrister, in Lord Hailsham’s chambers, and not getting much work when he decided on an impulse that he would like to own a political weekly. This was made feasible with the help of family money and the support of the then co-owner of The Spectator, Angus Watson, who had greatly admired a previous home secretary, Sir John Gilmour, and mistakenly believed him to be Ian Gilmour’s father.

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WEB EXCLUSIVE: Georgia and Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato - Debate report

Lloyd Evans

Lloyd Evans on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate

Clinton Democrats are to blame for the credit crunch

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Millions travel to Medjugorje each year but, says Simon Caldwell, the world-famous pilgrimage site may soon be exposed as a fraud

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The failure of the $700 billion bail-out has driven her former City-boy chums to despair, says Venetia Thompson. But they must rally soon to keep the market moving

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The PM’s claim to have created three million British jobs is a grave deceit, says Fraser Nelson. Strip out immigrants from the picture, and Labour has barely dented the problem of British worklessness. Over to you, Mr Cameron

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Michael Prescott — who was a passenger on the King’s Cross train on 7/7 — applauds a movie inspired by the terrorist attacks. But why is nobody keen to distribute it?