Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet
(1894-1976), Newspaper magnateSitter in 9 portraits
Born in Toronto, Thomson established his career in Canada, setting up his own radio transmitter at North Bay in 1931, founding what later became the NBC network, before moving to the UK aged sixty. He acquired his first British paper, The Scotsman in 1953, and in July 1959, he bought the Kemsley group, of which The Sunday Times was the major asset. Thomson launched the first colour newspaper magazine The Sunday Times Magazine in 1962. In 1966 he acquired The Times from the Astor family, and continued to shape the British newspaper industry throughout the 1960s-70s. His other business interests included Scottish Television, and North Sea oil. He was created a peer in 1964.
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