Valence Gale
{{Short description|Journalist and founder of the Barbados Advocate}}
Valence Gale (1850-1909) was a Barbadian journalist and the founder and editor of the Barbados Advocate.
Early life and education
Born in 1850,{{Cite news |last=Hoyos |first=F. A. |date=6 September 1952 |title=Our Common Heritage: Valence Gale |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00098964/02980/zoom/3 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Barbados Advocate |pages=4}} Gale was orphaned when he was 4, when both his parents died in the cholera epidemic of 1854, and he was raised by his aunt. He attended St Michael's Parochial School, Barbados.
Journalism career
Aged 16, Gale got a job as an apprentice at the Barbados Agricultural Reporter, at the time, the country's leading newspaper. The paper's editor took a shine to him and gave him numerous opportunities. When fellow reporter and friend, Conrad Reeves, resigned to study law, Gale took his place as legal reporter covering the House of Assembly. Reeves would later become the country's Attorney-General and Chief Justice.
Nine years after he started working at the Barbados Agricultural Reporter, Gale became the paper's leader-writer. He became honorary secretary of the Defence Association, opposed to proposals by Governor John Pope-Hennessy to federate Barbados and the Windward Islands.
In 1888, Louis de Souza, a young barrister in British Guiana was imprisoned for six months for contempt of court for publicly criticising judicial decisions. De Souza contracted tuberculosis while in jail and died shortly after his release. His imprisonment was reported across the West Indies and his death elicited outrage. Gale in particular wrote passionately about the events leading up De Souza's death.{{Cite book |last=Straker |first=D. Augustus |author-link=D. Augustus Straker |title=A trip to the Windward islands |publisher=James H. Stone Press |year=1896 |location=Detroit, Michigan |pages=90 |language=en |quote=}} One of his articles is credited with paving the way for the passage of Barbados' Contempt of Court Act 1891.
Founder and editor of the Barbados Advocate
Gale established the Barbados Advocate in 1895 and served as its editor for 13 years until his death in 1908. When he died, he left controlling interest in the paper to his wife, Clara.{{Cite news |date=13 December 1951 |title=Obituary for Mrs. C. A. Gale |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00098964/02758/zoom/3 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=Barbados Advocate |pages=4}} Gale's brother-in-law, Charles Chenery, who had been assistant editor, took over as the paper's editor.{{Cite news |last=Hoyos |first=F. A. |date=October 4, 1952 |title=Our Common Heritage no 24: Charles Chenery |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00098964/03004/zoom/3 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=Barbados Advocate |location=Bridgetown, Barbados |pages=4}}
Personal life and death
In 1890, Gale married Clara Alsop Chenery, cousin of Thomas Chenery the editor of the Times newspaper (London). The couple had one daughter and two sons. The couple's eldest son, Valence C. Gale, also served as manager from 1919 and later managing director of the Barbados Advocate. Son, C. A. Louis Gale, served as the paper's editor for 30 years from his uncle's death in 1925 until his own death in 1955.{{Cite news |date=4 March 1955 |title=Obituary: Mr C. A. L. Gale |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259411728 |url-access=subscription |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |location=London, England}}
Valence Gale died on 16 October 1908 at his home in Bridgetown.{{Cite news |date=17 October 1908 |title=Death of Mr. V Gale |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00079434/01159/zoom/4 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Voice of St Lucia |pages=5 |agency=Barbados Agricultural Reporter}} He was 58.
Publications
- Article - [https://www.newspapers.com/image/34362853 Christmas in the West Indies], Greater Britian (London, England) Monday, 15 December 1890, Page 19
- Pamphlet - In Memoriam (Louis de Souza), 1899{{Cite news |date=4 April 1889 |title=Mr. V. Gale's In Memoriam |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00079438/03113/zoom/1 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Dominican |pages=2}}{{Cite news |date=March 30, 1889 |title=News item (The admirers of the late martyr-hero, Louis de Souza) |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00079373/01363/zoom/2 |access-date=3 January 2025 |work=San Fernando Gazette |pages=3}}
- Pamphlet - Sketch of the Life and Career of the late Sir Conrad Reeves, 1902,{{Cite news |date=23 January 1902 |title=The Late Sir Conrad Reeves |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00079438/00957/zoom/1 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Dominican |location=Roseau, Dominica}}{{Cite news |date=23 January 1902 |title=News item (Mr. Valence Gale) |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00079434/00817/zoom/4 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Voice of St Lucia |pages=5}} which was the basis for the Dictionary of National Biography entry on Reeves.{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Bruce |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00078434/00001/zoom/137 |title=Barbados & the Confederation Question, 1871-1885 |publisher=Government of Barbados |year=1956 |location=London |pages=122 |language=en |access-date=3 February 2025}}