Editor Sam Taylor Publisher Ben Budworth Year founded 1885 | Frequency Weekly Founder Thomas Gibson Bowles Company The Lady Magazine Ltd | |
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The Lady is Britain's longest-running weekly women's magazine. It has been in continuous publication since 1885 and is based in London. It is particularly notable for its classified advertisements for domestic service and child care; it also has extensive listings of holiday properties.
Contents
History and profile
The magazine was founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles, the maternal grandfather of the Mitford sisters. Bowles also founded the English magazine Vanity Fair.
Bowles gave the Mitford girls' father (David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale) his first job: general manager of the magazine. Early contributors included Nancy Mitford and Lewis Carroll, who compiled a puzzle for the title.
In November 2008, Bowles' great grandson, Ben Budworth, took the reins as publisher on behalf of the family and set about modernising its style. As part of this process, Budworth appointed Rachel Johnson as the magazine's ninth editor in September 2009. A Channel 4 programme, The Lady and the Revamp, screened in March 2010, followed the new editor in her quest to raise awareness of the magazine and increase circulation.
Matt Warren was appointed the tenth editor in January 2012. In November 2013, he was named Editor of the Year (Women's Brand Weekly or Fortnightly) by the British Society of Magazine Editors. In 2014, he was Highly Commended in the Editor of the Year category at the PPA Independent Publisher Awards. The following year, the magazine was shortlisted for Consumer Magazine of the Year at the PPA Awards (the winner will be announced in July). The magazine specialises in quirky, entertaining and informative features and quality writing.
Sam Taylor became the magazine's eleventh editor in August 2015.
In popular culture
The popular television series Downton Abbey mentions The Lady more than once in the context of advertising for ladies' maids and housekeepers.