Henry Muddiman (5 February 1629, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, Eng. died 7 March 1692, Coldhern, near Earl's Court, London) was anEnglishjournalist andpublisher active after therestoration of the monarchy, in 1660.
Muddiman was born in theStrand, London. He was educated inSt Clement's Temple and atSt John's College, Cambridge,[1] after which he worked as aschool teacher. He began producing two regularnewsbooks –Parliamentary Intelligencer andMercurius Publicus – in late 1659 on the proceedings of the newly reconvenedRump Parliament. This seems to have been at the suggestion ofGeorge Monck, who also received good publicity. On 16 April 1660 this role was secured when all other suchjournals were banned particularly those ofMarchamont Needham the chiefCromwellian publisher. Muddiman received amonopoly of print along with arch-royalistJohn Birkenhead as a supervisingeditor.
Muddiman lost the right to publish the journals three years later when it was handed toRoger L'Estrange. He would transform the subtlepropaganda of the newsbooks into heavy-handed politicalpolemics leading to the rights being returned to Muddiman in 1665. By that time, Muddiman had established a good business distributing hand-written details ofparliamentary proceedings which he was not allowed to print. Once the rights were returned he began publishingThe London Gazette which remains the oldest surviving Englishnewspaper. With a short hiatus over theExclusion crisis, when there were attempts to suppress all publications, he retained exclusive rights until theGlorious Revolution of 1688. At the change of regime he was considered too close to the previous incumbents and retired, dying in 1692.
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