Chenery was born in
Barbados in 1826 to John Chenery, a
West Indies merchant. He was educated at
Eton and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Immediately after taking an
ordinary degree in 1854, led to an appointment as
Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic at the
University of Oxford, where he also served as secretary of the
Royal Asiatic Society. In 1877,
John Walker selected Chenery as
John Thadeus Delane's successor as editor of
The Times. He was then an experienced publicist, particularly well versed in Oriental affairs, and an indefatigable worker with a rapid and comprehensive judgement, although he lacked Delane's sociability and intuition for public opinion. Nonetheless, he introduced a number of innovations, bringing in more writers with scholarly backgrounds to employ their respective expertise. His background as a diplomatic correspondent and his choice of capable reporters for foreign postings revived the paper's reputation for international news coverage. Despite his position as editor, Chenery was unable to prevent the increasingly partisan slant of the paper imposed by Walter, a member of the
Conservative Party. This shift was furthered in 1880 by the appointment of
George Earle Buckle, Walter's hand-picked candidate, as assistant editor. Buckle assumed more duties in 1883 as ill health reduced Chenery's ability to play an active role as editor, though he continued in the post until his death on 11 February 1884. He is buried in
Brompton Cemetery. ==Notes==