Shrewsbury Chronicle

Shrewsbury Chronicle
Type Weekly regional newspaper[1]
Owner(s) Midland News Association
Editor Kim Bennett
Founded 23 November 1772
Headquarters 7 Bellstone,
Shrewsbury,
SY1 1HU
Circulation 19,000
Sister newspapers North Shropshire Chronicle
Website shrewsburychronicle.com

The Shrewsbury Chronicle is a local news newspaper in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It is one of the oldest weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom, publishing its first edition in 1772.

It is printed on Wednesday evening and is on sale or distributed on Thursday. It covers Shrewsbury and the surrounding area, including Church Stretton.

The paper averages 96 pages a week including five pages of news, eight pages of sport, two pages of entertainment, one page of letters and seven pages of classifieds advertisements. It also features a 48-page property supplement. The associated website is shrewsburychronicle.com.

The editor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle is Kim Bennett, who took over from John Butterworth in 2009. The newspaper is the sister edition of the North Shropshire Chronicle and is published by the independently owned Midland News Association.

History

Founded by Thomas Wood, a drapery salesman-turned-printer who had been a partner in the Birmingham Chronicle newspaper, the Shrewsbury Chronicle was first published on Monday 23 November 1772[2] - more than 20 years before The Times and before the county was mapped for the first time. It was then titled The Shrewsbury Chronicle, or Wood's British Commercial Pamphlet[3] and eight pages long.[2] Following Wood's death in 1801, his widow Mary (nee Horlick) carried on the paper until her own death in 1808, making her "one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of women newspaper proprietors".[4]

In the early days the paper covered national, international and local news covering such major news stories as the American War of Independence, the death of Nelson and the Crimean War. It carried advertisements alone on its front page until in February 1953 when major news stories began being carried on it.[5]

The newspaper, which began when George III was on the throne, has been publishing during the reigns of nine monarchs. It even came out as a daily paper for just under a fortnight during the General Strike of 1926, its contents largely carried from BBC bulletins.[6]

Over the centuries the paper has had many different offices and printing works around Shrewsbury, apart from a period between 1916 and 1927 when printing was done at Newport because of structural defects pending a rebuild,[7] and later, several times, printing had to be done in Walsall when the works, then in Castle Foregate, was flooded.[8] It is now based in Abbey Foregate, opposite the town’s historic Abbey.

In recent years the paper has increased its circulation by nearly 23 per cent from just under 15,000 to almost 19,000 - its highest circulation for 20 years. The paper has also made its mark in the newspaper industry winning numerous awards and being shortlisted in seven national finals.

Notable Proprietors, Journalists and Contributors

Essayist William Hazlitt's first published work, when a 13-year-old student, was a letter to the Chronicle, printed in July 1791, condemning the riots in Birmingham against Joseph Priestley (one of Hazlitt's teachers).[4]

Henry Lucy, later known as a knighted political journalist under pen-name "Toby, M.P.", was chief reporter at the Chronicle in 1864, his first regular journalistic employment.[9]

Shropshire author Mary Webb's first published work was a five verse poem carried by the paper, written on hearing news of the Shrewsbury rail accident in October 1907. Her brother, Kenneth Meredith, so liked the poem that, without her knowledge, he took it to the offices of the Chronicle, who printed the poem anonymously. Mary, who usually burnt her early poems, was appalled before hearing the Chronicle received appreciative letters from its readers.[10]

Sir Beville Stanier, then M.P. for Newport, Shropshire, was proprietor of the paper from 1908 to 1916.[11]

Fyfe Robertson, the Scots broadcaster, was briefly a trainee reporter with the Chronicle in 1921.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shrewsbury Chronicle - UK media directory from". HoldtheFrontPage. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  2. 1 2 Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. Shrewsbury Chronicle. 23 November 1972. p. 50.Bi-Centenary Souvenir.
  3. ↑ Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. p. 49.Illustration of first front page.
  4. 1 2 Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. p. 51.
  5. ↑ Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. p. 55.
  6. 1 2 Through Nine Reigns, 200 years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. p. 53.
  7. ↑ Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. pp. 52–53.
  8. ↑ Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. pp. 53, 54.
  9. ↑ Through Nine Reigns, 200 years of the Shrewsbury Chronicle. pp. 51–52.
  10. ↑ Francis, Peter (2006). A Matter of Life and Death - The Secrets of Shrewsbury Cemetery. Logaston Press. p. 41. ISBN 1-904396-58-5.
  11. ↑ Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle. p. 52.
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