Catering for provisional tastes: Newspapers, readership and profit in late eighteenth-century England1

Historical Research

Volumn 69, Issue 168, 1996, Pages 42-61

  Barker, Hannah ^a  

^a KEELE UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040627631     PISSN: 09503471     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2281.1996.tb01841.x     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. A. Aspinall, Politics and the Press c. 1780-1850 (1949), p. 350
2. See D. Read, 'North of England newspapers (c. 1700-c. 1900) and their value to historians', Proc. Leeds Phil, and Lit. Soc., viii (1957), 200-15
3. idem. Press and People, 1790-1810: Opinion in Three English Cities (1961)
4. D. Clare, The local newspaper press and local politics in Manchester and Liverpool, 1780-1800', Trans. Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc, cxxiii (1963), 101-23
5. D. Fraser, 'The press in Leicester, c. 1790-1850', Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. and Hist. Soc., xlii (1966-7), 53-75
6. J. Feather, The Provincial Book Trade in 18th-century England (Cambridge, 1985), p. 37
7. There are a number of localized studies of individual newspapers or the press of single towns, but their narrowness of focus is problematic in terms of a broader understanding of the role of the provincial press in late 18th-century English society. A large number of these take the form of articles which appear in local historical publications, many of which are referred to in the following pages. More substantial works include: J. D. Andrew, 'The Derbyshire newspaper press, 1720-1855' (unpublished University of Reading MA. thesis, 1954)
8. K. G. Burton, The Early Newspaper Press in Berkshire (Reading, 1954)
9. D. Clare, 'The growth and importance of the newspaper press in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Leeds, between 1780 and 1800' (unpublished University of Manchester MA thesis, 1960)
10. D. F. Gallop, 'Chapters in the history of the provincial newspaper press, 1700-1855' [on Bristol] (unpublished University of Reading MA thesis, 1952)
11. J.J. Looney, 'Advertising and society in England, 1720-1820: a statistical analysis of Yorkshire newspaper advertisements' (unpublished Princeton University Ph.D. thesis, 1983)
12. C. Y. Ferdinand, 'The Salisbury Journal 1729-85: a study of a provincial newspaper' (unpublished University of Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1990)
13. The research undertaken on the earlier part of the century, particularly that by Cranfield and Wiles, does however provide a solid basis upon which to examine the operations of the press in later years: G. A. Cranfield, The Development of the Provincial Newspaper 1700-60 (Oxford, 1962)
14. R. M. Wiles, Freshest Advices: Early Provincial Newspapers in England (Columbus, Ohio, 1965)
15. see also J. Black, The English Press in the 18th Century (Beckenham, 1987)
16. Some more recent historical work has begun to challenge the extent to which the provincial press was conditioned by London: J. Money, Experience and Identity: Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1760-1800 (Manchester, 1977)
17. J. Barry, 'The press and the politics of culture in Bristol, 1660-1775', in Culture, Politics and Society in Britain, 1660-1800, ed. J. Black and J. Gregory (Manchester, 1991)
18. Feather, p. 37; Looney, pp. 62-3; Ferdinand, 'Salisbury Journal', pp. 27-8
19. Clare, Growth of the Newspaper Press.
20. 'Northampton Mercury', Newspaper World, 2160 (3 June 1939), p. 5
21. See J. G. Muddiman, A Tercentenary Handlist of English and Welsh Newspapers, Magazines and Reviews (1920)
22. R. S. Crane and F. B. Kaye, 'A census of British newspapers and periodicals, 1620-1800', Studies in Philology, xxiv (1927), 1-205
23. G. A. Cranfield, 'A handlist of English provincial newspapers and periodicals, 1700-60', Cambridge Bibliographical Soc., Monograph no. 2 (1952), and 'Handlist of English periodicals, 1700-60: additions and corrections', Trans. Cambridge Bibliographical Soc., ii (1954-8), 269-74
24. R. M. Wiles, Freshest Advices; idem, 'Further additions and corrections to G. A. Cranfield's Handlist of English provincial newspapers and periodicals 1700-60', Trans. Cambridge Bibliographical Soc., ii (1954-8), 385-9
25. The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, ed. G. Watson (Cambridge, 1071); H. Barker, 'Press, politics and reform, 1779-85' (unpublished University of Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1994)
26. R.Davies, A Memoir of the York Press (1868), pp. 331-4
27. Public Record Office, E 140/90-1. See Ferdinand, 'Salisbury Journal', and 'Local distribution networks in 18th-century England', in Spreading the Word: the distribution networks of print, 1530-1850, ed. R. Myers and M. Harris (Winchester, 1990), 131-49
28. Ferdinand, Spreading the Word: the distribution networks of print, 1530-1850 Ibid
29. Because of its unprofitability it is difficult to agree with Christine Ferdinand's claim that the Hampshire Chronicle was probably typical of moderately successful country newspapers ('Salisbury Journal', p. 84)
30. Ferdinand,'Local distribution networks', p. 131
31. Ipswich Journal, 4 Dec. 1779
32. P.Langford, A Polite and Commercial People (Oxford, 1989), pp. 62-5
33. Captain Jonathan Scott, Joseph Loxdale, John Flint, Thomas Lloyd, William and Joshua Eddowes, John Probert, William Coupland and Robert Pemberton who jointly owned a share, Isaac Wood, and the Rev. Edward Blakeway, mayor of Shrewsbury and rector of St. Mary's (J. Morris, The mayors of Shrewsbury, Trans. Shropshire Archaeol. Soc, 4th ser, ix (1923-4, 5. By 2 Nov. 1796, he had died and his widow, Mercy, inherited his share of the paper. The new articles of agreement which this necessitated have survived. They show that all the shareholders used the title 'esquire, except the Eddowes, who were both described as 'bookseller and printer, and William Coupland, who was dubbed 'a gentleman, Isaac Wood was called a watchmaker as well as the paper's editor (S.R.R.U, D2713
34. Captain Jonathan Scott, Joseph Loxdale, John Flint, Thomas Lloyd, William and Joshua Eddowes, John Probert, William Coupland and Robert Pemberton who jointly owned a share, Isaac Wood, and the Rev. Edward Blakeway, mayor of Shrewsbury and rector of St. Mary's (J. Morris, 'The mayors of Shrewsbury', Trans. Shropshire Archaeol. Soc., 4th ser., ix (1923-4), 5. By 2 Nov. 1796, he had died and his widow, Mercy, inherited his share of the paper. The new articles of agreement which this necessitated have survived. They show that all the shareholders used the title 'esquire', except the Eddowes, who were both described as 'bookseller and printer', and William Coupland, who was dubbed 'a gentleman'. Isaac Wood was called a watchmaker as well as the paper's editor (S.R.R.U., D2713). The Eddowes were both burgesses (L. C. Lloyd, 'The book trade in Shropshire', Trans. Shropshire Archaeol. Soc., xlviii (1935-6), 65-142 and 145-200, at pp. 106-8)
35. Cranfield, Development, p. 256
36. Although it is difficult to know what levels of profits 18th-century businessmen would have considered acceptable, this figure compares well with Peter Earle's estimate of profits of between 15 and 30% that successful merchants would have expected in the late 17th century (The Making of the English Middle Class: Business, Society and Family Life in London, 1660-1730 (1989), pp. 138-40)
37. J. Hodgson, the younger, 'Thomas Slack of Newcastle, printer, 1723-84, founder of the "Newcastle Chronicle"', Archaeol. Aeliana, 3rd ser., xvii (1920), 145-52
38. R. Welford, 'Early Newcastle typography, 1639-1800', ibid., 3rd ser., iii (1907), 1-134
39. Rather than live above his printing shop, Dicey bought Claybrook Hall, near Lutterworth, which was 20 miles from Northampton (W. W. Hadley, The Bi-centenary Record of the Northampton Mercury (Northampton, 1920), p. 37)
40. W.J. Clarke, Early Nottingham Printers and Printing (2nd edn., Nottingham, 1953), pp. 17-22
41. C. H. Timperley, A Dictionary of Printers and Printing (1839), pp. 826-7
42. The smaller figure is given in an MS. note written by W. H. Black which was printed in the Antiquary (Dec. 1876), and was reprinted in Gloucestershire Notes and Queries, iii (1885), 210-11
43. It was also cited in A. Gregory, Robert Raikes: Journalist and Philanthropist (1877), p. 18
44. The larger sum is given in, R. Austin, 'Robert Raikes, the Elder, & the "Gloucestershire Journal"', The Library, 3rd ser., vi (1915), 1-24, at p. 24
45. The Ipswich Journal', Effective Advertiser (Dec. 1888-Jan. 1889); History of the Ipswich Journal
46. S. F. Watson, 'Some materials for a history of printing and publishing in Ipswich', Proc. Suffolk lnsl. of Archaeol. and Nat. Hist., xxiv (1949), 182-227
47. R. Dymond, 'Trewman's Exeter Flying Post', The Western Antiquary, v (i 886), 163-6
48. T. N. Brushfield, The Life and Bibliography of Andrew Brice, Author and Journalist; With Some Remarks On the Early History of the Exeter Newspaper Press ([Exeter?], 1888), pp. 39-42
49. MS. notes by John Allen, a Hereford printer and bookseller, which appear in the first bound volume of the Hereford Journal held at the Hereford Reference Library. His remarks are expanded by F. C. Morgan in 'Hereford printers and booksellers', Trans. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Herefordshire (1941), 106-27
50. E.R.O., Ace. 5197, D/F, 66/1. See also Davies, pp. 331-4; 'The Leeds Mercury', Effective Advertiser (March 1886), p. 27; Clare, pp. 23-4; Clarke, p. 20
51. Ferdinand, 'Salisbury Journal', and 'Local distribution networks'
52. Shrewsbury Chronicle, 19 Aug. 1780
53. Leeds Intelligencer, 1 Feb. 1780
54. Leeds Intelligencer, Ibid., 26 Apr. 1785
55. Leeds Mercury, 13 March 1781
56. See Leeds Mercury, ibid., 12 and 26 Apr. 1785
57. Newcastle Courant, 8 Jan. 1780
58. Historians of both Leeds and Newcastle have noted bitter local political divisions in the period. In Newcastle, a strong radical and Dissenting interest has been identified amongst Newcastle freemen who sought to challenge the power of the city's corporation (H. T. Dickinson, Radical Politics in the North-East of England in the Later 18th Century (Durham County Local History Soc, 1979)
59. T. R. Knox, 'Popular politics and provincial radicalism: Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1769-85', Albion, xi (1979), 224-41
60. and '"Peace for ages to come": the Newcastle elections of 1780 and 1784', Durham University Jour., lxxxiv (1992)
61. J.E. Bradley, Religbn, Revolution and English Radicalism (Cambridge, 1990)
62. see also, [J. Murray], The Contest (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1774)
63. The corporation's merchant oligarchy was also the subject of criticism in Leeds, where a rich Dissenting elite was excluded from political power (R. G. Wilson, Gentlemen Merchants: the Merchant Community in Leeds, 1700-1830 (Manchester, 1971)
64. R. G. Wilson, 'Georgian Leeds' and R. J. Morris, 'Middle-class culture, 1700-1914', in A History of Modem Leeds, ed. D. Fraser (Manchester, 1980)
65. R. H. Sweet, 'The writing of urban histories in 18th-century England' (unpublished University of Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1993))
66. Kentish Gazette, 19-22 Jan. 1780; 5-9 and 12-16 Feb. 1780; 26-30 Oct. 1782; 20-4 March 1784
67. York Chronicle, 21 Jan. 1780 and 28 March 1783; see also 3 Dec. 1779,14 Jan. 1780, 3 Jan. and 26 Sept. 1783
68. York Courant, 7 Dec. 1779, 23 Sept. 1783 and 1 March 1785; see also 25 Jan. 1780, 24 July 1781 and 21 Jan. 1783