Mark Lemon

Writer and journalist, born in London, UK. In 1841 he helped to establish Punch, or the London Charivari, becoming first joint editor (with Henry Mayhew and Joseph Stirling Coyne), then sole editor from 1843. He also wrote a farce, followed by several melodramas, farces, operettas, children's stories, essays, a Jest Book (1864), and novels - the most notable of which is Falkner Lyle (1866).

Mark Lemon (November 30, 1809 – May 23, 1870), editor of Punch, was born in London.

He had a natural talent for journalism and the stage, and, at twenty-six, retired from less congenial business to devote himself to the writing of plays.

In 1841 Lemon and Henry Mayhew conceived the idea of a humorous weekly paper to be called Punch, and when the first number was issued, in July 1841, were joint-editors and, with the printer and engraver, equal owners. On the sale of Punch Lemon became sole editor for the new proprietors, and it remained under his control until his death, achieving remarkable popularity and influence.

Lemon was an actor of ability, a pleasing lecturer and a successful impersonator of Shakespearian characters.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.