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and Compiled Expressly for W P Spalding by Francis S Craig
’ was printed in 1875 and as a result of his endeavours his name is listed in
Tooley’s Dictionary of Map Makers
. He was later involved in new editions in 1881 and 1885.
    Although it was a long way from the type of work he was used to, it apparently enabled him to regain his self-confidence and eventually to return to the world of journalism. By early 1875 Francis had been appointed editor of the
Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News
and it is likely that yet again his father’s influence had secured the post for him. His parents appear to have moved from Cambridge to Aylesbury with him, probably realising that it could only work successfully if they continued to provide him with a home and the day-to-day support that he needed. They settled in Ripon Street in the Buckinghamshire county town and E.T. lost no time in re-establishing his ventilation business locally, assisted by Francis.
    On 25th January 1875 an article entitled ‘The Tring Centenarian’ appeared in
The Times
. It started: ‘Mr Francis Craig writes from Aylesbury’ and concerned a local character, Betsy Leatherland, who had recently died at the improbable age of 112. Francis took the side of Sir Duncan Gibb, an eminent London physician who had both examined Betsy in life and conducted her post-mortem examination, and who was apparently certain that the old gypsy woman was indeed the age she claimed even though he said that she ‘had the heart and lungs of a young girl of 15’. It was later convincingly shown that she could not have been anywhere near that age and Sir Duncan’s reputation suffered accordingly but by that time Francis had not only sold the story to
The Times
but had managed to have it syndicated by at least 15 other newspapers the length and breadth of Britain. It is clear that, despite his social shortcomings, he was a man who knew very well how to use the newspaper world to his own advantage.
    But it was not to last. The
Bucks Advertiser
, which was owned and published by a local printer and insurance agent, Robert Gibbs, had a rival Aylesbury publication – the
Bucks Herald –
also published weekly on Saturdays. On Saturday 29th May 1875, the hammer blow fell. The
Herald
published a long letter on its correspondence page above the signature ‘Honesty’. It has all the hallmarks of being a put-up job by the
Herald
’s own editorial staff rather than being a genuine letter from one of its readers but was no less effective for that. Below the title ‘Coincidence of Great Minds’, it started:
     
    Sir – Being an occasional reader of your contemporary, the
Bucks Advertiser
, I could not fail from time to time to notice the similarity of tone and expression that exists between its leading articles and those of
The Daily Telegraph
; but I was scarcely prepared for the most perfect piece of unblushing impudence that occurred in last Satur-day’s issue. Having read an
original
(query, editorial) from a person signing himself “W. S.” on “The Labourers’ Meeting at Wingrave,”
    I had a suspicion that I had seen something like it before. Turning over my file of
The Daily Telegraph
, I find the so-called original communication of the
Bucks Advertiser
there appearing, in last Wednesday’s issue, as leader! To show the completeness of the plagiarism, I send the two herewith and trust that you will print both in parallel columns. Your readers will note that, with the exception of a few verbal alterations to make it local, it is a pure reprint.
     
    The editor had then done as requested and placed the two pieces side by side so that, although the
Telegraph
piece made references to Yeovil and Somerset, it was immediately obvious that Francis had indeed lifted it almost verbatim and substituted Buckinghamshire for Somerset and Wingrave, near Aylesbury, for Yeovil.
    Even worse was to come. Below the two columns the correspondent continued:
     
    P.S. – Since writing the above,