[1] He was a Liberal politician who favoured social reform and represented Boston for four years until his early death in the shipwreck of the Lady Elgin.

The newsagent business failed to make much progress until Ingram purchased the rights to a laxative known as Parr's Life Pills.

It included pictures of the war in Afghanistan, a train crash in France, a steam boat explosion in Canada, and a fancy dress ball at Buckingham Palace.

That pictorials were viewed as being as important as text for reporting was clear from the first issue, which stated that the aim was to bring within the public grasp "... the very form and presence of events as they transpire; and whatever the broad and palpable delineations of wood engraving can achieve, will now be brought to bear upon every subject which attracts the attention of mankind".

It showed moderation and caution in its reportage and this extended to that of the Irish Famine, which was largely sympathetic, even if not quite able to denounce the inadequacy of government policy or the ideas of prevailing economic or political orthodoxy.

When Andrew Spottiswoode started a rival paper, the Pictorial Times, Ingram purchased it and merged it with the Illustrated London News.

The whole spectrum of Victorian Britain was recorded pictorially in The Illustrated London News for many decades; special events were important to its success.

By 1855, Ingram was using colour and had artists in Great Britain and continental Europe racing to the scene of stories to capture the drama in print.

Alison Booth, its current editor, said: "He was very inventive and far-sighted and his legacy of bringing pictures to journalism can still be seen on the front pages of newspapers and magazines all over the world.

With help from his friends Mark Lemon and Douglas Jerrold at Punch, and from the team at The Illustrated London News, Ingram advocated a policy of social reform.

Ingram was instrumental in bringing the Great Northern Railway to Boston, which forged new links with other parts of the country and got the town on track for a new era of growth.

He also played a major part in supplying fresh piped water to the town, a move that was met with rejoicing and brass bands when the taps were turned on for the first time.