Michael Wardell

Brigadier John Michael Stewart Wardell (19 June 1895 – 29 April 1978) was a British-born army officer and publisher. In the 1950s and 1960s he owned and operated a publishing company, a daily newspaper and a monthly magazine in New Brunswick. He became a Canadian citizen in 1962. He was a close associate of Lord Beaverbrook from the mid 1920s until Beaverbrook's death in 1964.

Early life and career Wardell was educated at Eton College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the 10th Royal Hussars, a British cavalry unit, during World War I. He was wounded at the Battle of Ypres. Wardell left military service in 1925 with the rank of captain. He lost his left eye in a fox hunting accident in 1925. His eye was pierced by a thorn when his horse jumped a gate overhung with blackthorn and an operation to save his sight was unsuccessful.

Association with Lord Beaverbrook and World War II Wardell became acquainted with Lord Beaverbrook through his social connections and started working as a manager for Beaverbrook's Evening Standard newspaper in 1926. He became the newspaper's chairman, playing the role of "convenient middleman between [Beaverbrook] and his editorial staff". Wardell was one of Beaverbrook's closest associates, often accompanying him on trips abroad for business and pleasure.

Publisher in New Brunswick In the summer of 1950 Wardell and Beaverbrook visited Beaverbrook's home province of New Brunswick to go salmon fishing on the Restigouche River at the invitation of the province's premier, John B. McNair. The first seven issues contained a serialized memoir by Lord Beaverbrook in which he described his youth and early business career in New Brunswick.

Irving's acquisition of a stake in the company was not made public. The Gleaner and the Atlantic Advocate both became strong supporters of Irving's interests. Irving was extremely opposed to the "Equal Opportunity" social and tax reforms introduced in the 1960s by Liberal premier Louis Robichaud and Wardell used the Daily Gleaner to attack Robichaud violently, publishing editorial cartoons portraying the Acadian premier as Hitler or Louis XIV.

In 1968 Irving exercised his option to buy out Wardell and gain ownership of the University Press of New Brunswick, including the Daily Gleaner and the Atlantic Advocate. Like his earlier acquisition of part ownership, the buyout remained a secret until 11 March 1969 when it was revealed on the floor of the Senate of Canada by New Brunswick Liberal senator Charles McElman. Irving had already owned all the other daily newspapers in New Brunswick, so the purchase of the Gleaner gave him a monopoly.

Later life Wardell retired to Lausanne in 1975. He died of a stroke in Dolgellau on 29 April 1978 while on a visit to his family in Wales. He had been married three times and had three sons.