editor of the declining Commercial Advertiser. Professor Noble, who was also the co-editor of the well-known Cape Monthly Magazine, died suddenly in 1875, and Solomon replaced him with the radical liberal Irishman Patrick McLoughlin. While popular with the locally elected Cape government, McLoughlin angered the British authorities with his anti-imperialist views. Francis Joseph Dormer took over as editor in 1878. At the same time, a change in the political direction of the Cape began to cause significant problems for the Argus. A British intervention in the Cape led to a new and dubiously-appointed government, under a puppet Prime Minister, Gordon Sprigg. The racist and expansionist policies of the new government (and incidents such as the Koegas atrocities) came under severe criticism from the Argus. In retaliation for the criticism, Sprigg's government cancelled all printing contracts with the Argus, awarding them instead to political allies from Grahamstown (who charged several times the price, and consistently failed to deliver the work). In later life, Solomon gradually withdrew from the daily running of the Argus. In 1880, he retired completely, after the tragic drowning of his 5-year-old daughter, which caused a collapse in his health. When his sons then mismanaged the business, Solomon took back the beleaguered company and sold it to his editor Dormer, in 1881 (though Solomon continued the actual printing work for him). Dormer then formed the Argus Printing and Publishing Company from it in 1886, when he acquired the remainder of Solomon's printing works and began printing himself. Edmund Powell (who had been sub-editor since Dormer took over in 1878) became editor in 1889 and remained so until 1907. In December 1969, the paper was renamed The Argus, however the change was unpopular and the name was reverted to The Cape Argus. True to its roots in Saul Solomon's liberalism, the paper was a prominent voice of opposition against the dominant National Party during the Apartheid years. In August 2013, Sekunjalo purchased Independent News and Media SA from Independent News and Media. Not long after, editor Chris Whitfield took early retirement, a decision blamed on editorial interference by the new ownership. Supplements Tonight (Mon–Fri) Workplace (Wed) Distribution areas Distribution figures Readership figures See also List of newspapers in South Africa References Further reading Morris, Michael, Paging through History 150 years with the Cape Argus, Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2007, External links Cape Argus Website Early History of the Cape Argus