The Benham newspaper business
Hervey Benham (1910–1987) succeeded his father as editor of the Essex County Standard in 1943 and remained editor until 1965. He expanded the family's publishing business into the Essex County Newspapers Group, which came to comprise eight weekly papers and one evening paper.
With Arnold Quick he established QB Ltd, a printing company that pioneered web-offset production for newspapers and magazines. He helped found Colchester Civic Society in 1964 and supported the campaign for a permanent Mercury Theatre, which opened in 1972.
A sailor writing about sail
Benham's own sailing informed his writing about Thames barges, fishing craft and the people who made a living on the coast. The Last Stronghold of Sail appeared in 1948, Down Tops'l in 1951 and Once Upon a Tide in 1955. Later books included The Stowboaters (1977), The Codbangers (1979) and The Big Barges (1983, with Roger Finch).
His interests extended into the local maritime community. A 1959 photograph at the Sailing and Social Club shows Benham attending the ninety-fourth birthday gathering for boatbuilder Bill Wyatt.
The unfinished history of the oyster trade
Benham was working on Essex Gold: The Fortunes of the Essex Oysterman when he died in 1987. Peter French and John Leather brought it to publication in 1993. The book is concerned with the estuary fishery and belongs with the history of Mersea oystering, rather than being simply a memoir.
The Hervey Benham Trust
He founded the Hervey Benham Charitable Trust in 1978. A keen amateur bassoonist, he also supported music and the arts; the Trust's charitable work was not confined to nautical projects.
Hervey Benham Charitable Trust biography · Trust bibliography of his books.