Editing Pearson plc (section)

=== Publishing businesses 1921 to 1997 ===
In 1921, Pearson purchased a number of local daily and weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom, which it combined to form the Westminster Press group.<ref name="history"/>

Following the British government's acquisition and nationalisation of several of Pearson's aviation, fuel, and energy divisions in the early 1940s due to World War II,<ref name="IDCH"/><ref name="Grace S"/> [[Angela Pearson|Angela Murray]] became a director of the Pearson group and the chair of the Westminster Press in 1953. The Press owned local newspapers including the [[Oxford Mail]], [[The Northern Echo]] and the [[Brighton Evening News]] with the backing of the Westmnster Press they were encouraged to find local news.<ref name="angela">{{Citation |last=Moss |first=Michael S. |title=Preston [née Pearson; other married name Murray], Angela Campbell (1910–1981), businesswoman, landowner, and conservationist |date=13 June 2024 |work=[[Dictionary of National Biography|Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-63965 |access-date=28 June 2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |language=en |doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.63965 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1957, it bought the ''[[Financial Times]]''<ref name="history"/> and acquired a 50% stake in ''[[The Economist]]''. It purchased the publisher [[Longman]] in 1968.<ref name="history"/>

Pearson was first listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]] in 1969.<ref name="history"/>

It bought the paperback publisher [[Penguin Books]] in 1970,<ref name="history"/> and the children's imprint [[Ladybird Books]] in 1972.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Butt |first1=Stephen |title=Loughborough Through Time |date=2013 |publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4456-1549-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvnBBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT11}}</ref> It bought a rival, the educational publisher [[Pitman Ltd]], in 1985.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pitman Ltd |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap3816/pitman-ltd |website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk |publisher=[[Science Museum Group]] |access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref>

In 1996 Pearson sold Westminster Press to [[Newsquest]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Sees Profits Fall 40 Percent, Selling Westminster Press Unit |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=5 August 1996 |access-date=23 August 2014 |url=https://apnews.com/33080e847a4d32a788a4e5c48b5f9d69}}</ref> acquired the education division of [[HarperCollins]] from [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]],<ref>{{Cite web |issn=0362-4331 |last=Gilpin |first=Kenneth N. |title=Pearson to Buy a Publisher From News Corp. |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=23 August 2014 |date=10 February 1996 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/10/business/pearson-to-buy-a-publisher-from-news-corp.html}}</ref> and acquired book publishers [[Scott Foresman|Scott Foresman & Co.]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fabrikant |first1=Geraldine |last2=Myerson |first2=Allen R. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/18/business/simon-schuster-in-sale-to-british.html |title=Simon & Schuster In Sale To British |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 May 1998 |access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref>