Houlton, Hulton and Strickland

Helen and John Jordan, of Cork, Ireland, (July 12) may be wrong in their assumption that there is a connection between their family and the Stricklands.

On the other hand, if there is a connection, they must have surely spelt the name incorrectly. However, on the basis of the little information they have given in their letter, there does not seem to be any link.

Their assumption may have been formed out of the similarity in the surnames - Houlton and Hulton. The Sir Edward Houlton commemorated in a tablet at St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral (which they saw on their recent visit to Malta) was Chief Secretary to the Government of Malta from 1855 to 1883.

The Hultons the correspondents may have in mind and who have a connection with Malta were in the newspaper and magazine publishing trade.

There were three - Edward H. Hulton (1838-1904), the father, who in his time had the largest newspaper empire outside Fleet Street; his son, Sir Edward George (1869-1925), and the latter's son, Sir Edward George Warris (1906-1988), whose most famous title in his business was Picture Post. They were known as the three Edwards.

The Hultons' direct link with Malta is through Lord Strickland's second wife, Margaret, who was sister to Sir Edward George Hulton, whose many interests included publication of the Evening Standard. The son of Sir Edward George, Teddy, visited Malta a number of times and kept his uncle, Lord Strickland, well informed of his new newspaper initiatives.

Another contributory factor to the misunderstanding may be the fact that, like Sir Edward Houlton, Gerald Strickland had been Chief Secretary before he was appointed Governor of the Leeward Islands.

The somewhat elaborate tablet the correspondents saw at St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral in Valletta is actually dedicated to (full name) Sir Edward Victor Lewis Houlton and to his wife, Dame Hyacinthe Harriette. Sir Edward was born in 1823 and died in 1899 and his wife was born in 1825 and died in 1897.

Why are they commemorated at the pro-cathedral? Rev. Peter Wolfenden tells me that Sir Edward Houlton was a member of the Anglican Church Commission in 1880 and in 1895 he was treasurer of the Appeal for the Endowment Fund for the Pro-Cathedral. In 1898 he spoke at the Mansion House in London in a drive to raise funds for the pro-cathedral.

As it happens, I am in the process of researching the lives of the Hultons in research work I am doing on The Times. For more than one reason, The Times owes a great deal in its early development to Lady Strickland (Margaret Hulton), who also built St Edward's College and financially helped St Bede's College in Manchester, the operating base of her father's and brother's newspaper business, and helped, through her generosity, in the development of the nursing profession in Malta, not to mention the money she used to give to the Archbishop for charity and her role in the building of the Hotel Phoenicia.

Any information from readers that could be of any use (an unusual picture, anecdotes, or stories connected with the Times of Malta, the Sunday Times of Malta, Il-Berqa or past political titles published, at the time, by Progress Press) would be greatly appreciated. Any material submitted would of course be returned.

I may be contacted at vaquilina@timesofmalta.com or victoraquilina@onvol.net or c/o, The Times, Strickland House, St Paul Street, Valletta.