Bruce Ingram

Sir Bruce Stirling Ingram MC (5 May 1877 – 8 January 1963) was a British publishing entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the editor of The English Illustrated Magazine (September 1899 – September 1901), The Sketch, and The Illustrated London News from 1900 to 1963. Ingram was credited with introducing greater use of photography in the News and introducing the Rembrandt Regalio process which enabled faster printing of the paper.

Life Ingram was born in London, England, the second of three sons to Sir William Ingram, 1st Baronet, and Mary Eliza Collingwood Stirling (d.1925). His maternal grandfather Edward Stirling was born in Jamaica to a Scottish planter and an unnamed woman of colour. He concealed his racial identity and later settled in South Australia, where he was elected to parliament; his sons (Ingram's uncles) Lancelot and Edward Charles Stirling were also members of parliament.

Ingram was Chairman of Illustrated London News and Sketch Ltd., Director of Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News Ltd, and President of Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. These had been founded by his grandfather, Herbert Ingram.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal East Kent Yeomanry on 14 May 1898, and promoted to lieutenant on 14 March 1900. The Yeomanry regiments were reserve forces. During the First World War he had a distinguished service record. He joined as a lieutenant in the East Kent Yeomanry, then transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery in France and rose to the rank of captain. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in 1917 and was mentioned in dispatches three times.

He was also Hon. Vice-president, Society for Nautical Research, Hon. Keeper of Drawings, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and Hon. Adviser on pictures and drawings, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Oxford University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) in 1960.

Notable employees Ingram chose his journalists and columnists carefully. In 1905 he employed G. K. Chesterton to write the Notebook feature in his papers. On Chesterton's death in 1936 Ingram replaced him with Arthur Bryant.

Family In 1904 he married Amy Foy, they had one daughter, Averil Stirling Bruce (b.1905), and one son, David Martin Bruce Ingram (1917–1930). In 1947, following his wife's death, he married Lily (d. 1962), daughter of the playwright Sydney Grundy. They had one son, who died in childhood.

Publications Over and above his journalism, Ingram was a writer on subjects pertaing to his passions: Egyptian archaeology and maritime history (linking to his love of seascapes). His works include:

Three Sea Journals of the Stuart Times (1936)

Other notable contributions Ingram organised and paid for the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour to the losses of the Royal Air Force which stands in Westminster Abbey.