Thomas Hay Sweet Escott

Thomas Hay Sweet Escott (26 April 1844,[1] in Taunton – 13 June 1924,[2] in Hove) was an English journalist and editor. [3][4]

"Fortnightly Review". Caricature of Thomas Hay Sweet Escott by Ape in Vanity Fair in 1885.

Escott received from Queen's College, Oxford his B.A. in 1865 and his M.A. in 1868. At King's College London he was a lecturer in logic from 1865 to 1872 and deputy professor of classical literature from 1866 to 1873.[4] In 1866 he became a leading-article writer for The Standard.[3] In October 1882 he replaced John Morley as the editor of The Fortnightly Review; however, in 1886 Escott suffered a physical and emotional breakdown in health and officially resigned in August of that year.[5] During the last 35 years of his life he lived in semi-retirement in Brighton due to ill health.[6] Escott seems to have written nothing from 1886 to June 1894 and there is no record of his employment during those years.[7] By 1895 he had partially recovered and wrote over 100 article and a number of books before his death in 1924.

His acquaintances included a wide variety of prominent people in literature and the arts, including W. S. Gilbert and Alfred Tennyson. Among Escott's close friends were Wilkie Collins, Charles Reade, and the historian Alexander Kinglake.[8]

Escott married Katherine Jane Liardet in 1865; the marriage produced three children[9] and ended with her death in 1899. His second wife was the widow Edith Hilton.[3]