Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive we’re delighted to welcome 202,948 brand new pages to our collection, as we mark 135 years since the opening of the new Battersea Bridge, which was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Meanwhile, we’ve added four brand new titles and updated nine of our existing ones, from across the British Isles and Ireland.

So read on to discover more about all of our new and updated titles of the week, as well as to learn more about the opening of Battersea Bridge on 21 July 1890.

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The Morley Observer

We begin in Morley, a market town in the City of Leeds, with our first new title of the week. It is the Morley Observer, which was founded in 1871 and ran with the full name of the Morley Observer and West Yorkshire Advertiser. Circulating in ‘Morley and district,’ the Morley Observer covered the news from the town that was famed for its textile industry.

Morley Observer | 28 September 1900

Costing one penny, in the nineteenth century the Morley Observer filled four pages and was independent in its politics. It covered the news from local organisations like the Morley Temperance Society, the Morley Harmonic Board and the Morley Local Board, whilst also printing the latest from the likes of Drighlington, Adwalton, Dewsbury, Bradford, Huddersfield, and Batley.

Meanwhile, the Morley Observer featured police news, alongside general national news and international news. No matter, however, was too small for the paper, with this report of a stolen duck at Daisy Hill and the owner’s threat of vengeance reaching its pages in 1878.

Morley Observer | 8 September 1988

Running for well over one hundred years, by the 2000s the Morley Observer was marketing itself as the ‘best buy in town.’ Now costing 24p instead of the more modest rate of 1p, the paper appeared weekly on a Thursday instead of a Saturday.

The North Wilts Guardian

Our next new title of the week hails from the Wiltshire market town of Chippenham. A sister paper of both the Bath Herald and the Somerset Guardian, the North Wilts Guardian was established in 1873.

‘A weekly newspaper for Chippenham, Calne, Corsham, Lacock, Melksham, Bradford, & c.,’ the North Wilts Guardian cost just one penny and appeared every Friday. Its eight pages were primarily focused on rural and agricultural matters, which were accompanied by reports from the likes of the Chippenham Town Council, the Clutton Board of Guardians, the Frome Urban Council, and the Royal Wilts Yeomanry.

North Wilts Guardian | 10 February 1911

Furthermore, the North Wilts Guardian published serialised fiction, football news, coverage of local weddings and funerals, and notices of births, marriages and deaths.

The Nottingham Advertiser

Our penultimate new title of the week is the Nottingham Advertiser, which was established in the city of Nottingham in 1902. Promising to provide up-to-date news from Nottingham, Bulwell, Old and New Basford, Hyson Green, Radford, Cinderhill, Hucknall Torkard and the county of Nottinghamshire ‘generally,’ the Nottingham Advertiser appeared every Friday at the cost of one penny.

Nottingham Advertiser | 4 January 1907

As well as printing the local news from the area, the Nottingham Advertiser published columns devoted to gardening, football, athletics, agriculture and science. The title also featured serialised fiction.

The St. James’s Budget

Our final new title of the week is the St. James’s Budget, which was first published on 3 July 1880 as a ‘weekly edition of the St. James’s Gazette.’ The St. James’s Gazette came into being the same year, having been founded by Conservative politician and banker Henry Hucks Gibbs (1819-1907), who was later honoured as Baron Aldenham. Edited by Frederick Greenwood (1830-1909), who had previously edited Conservative title the Pall Mall Gazette, the St. James’s Budget represented a digest of the main Gazette.

Indeed, it featured the main literary pieces to be found within its sister paper, as well as a roundup of all the week’s news. However, in 1893 the St. James’s Budget parted ways with the St. James’s Gazette to become its own independent illustrated weekly newspaper, dubbing itself as a ‘Weekly Review and Record of News.’

St. James’s Budget | 19 October 1900

Costing some six pence, and appearing every Saturday, the St. James’s Budget filled at least forty pages with its leading articles, looks at the literary and theatrical worlds, coverage of the ‘Gossip of the Week,’ features on ‘Sport and Play,’ a chess section, and finally, matters ‘mode and millinery.’

Whilst its former sister paper the St. James’s Gazette merged with the London Evening Standard in March 1905, the Budget continued to be published. However, its final edition appeared on 3 February 1911.

Our Updated Titles

Let’s take a look now at some of our updated titles of the week. Leading the charge with over 21,000 brand new pages added this week is the Weston-Super-Mare Gazette and General Advertiser. Meanwhile, we’ve updated a trio of our Irish titles, namely the Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser, the Cork Examiner and the Waterford Mail, whilst we’ve added new pages to a duo of our Scottish titles, the Aberdeen Weekly Journal and the Glasgow Morning Journal.

The Opening of the New Battersea Bridge – 21 July 1890

From our new title the St. James’s Budget this week we learn of the opening of the new Battersea Bridge across the Thames, 130 years ago this week:

It was a pretty notion of Lord Rosebery to describe the new bridge which he opened on Monday as uniting Chelsea, the home of so many sages, with Battersea, the home of Bolingbroke. And it was clever of him to suggest (without asserting) that the credit of the achievement lies with his London County Council, although the plans were approved, the contract signed, and the order given, by the late Metropolitan Board of Works.

This 25 July 1890 piece about the opening of the new bridge, rather than celebrating the engineering achievement, delivers a political barb against Liberal politician Lord Rosebery, who would later be elected Prime Minister, apt for a paper with such Conservative leanings as the St. James’s Budget.

Pall Mall Budget | 24 July 1890

Meanwhile, from the South London Press, we learn more about the actual opening ceremony of Battersea Bridge itself, which occurred on 21 July 1890:

On Monday New Battersea Bridge was formally opened by Lord Rosebery. Some attempt was made at decorations at each end of the bridge by the people of Battersea and Chelsea, but the ceremony, taken as a whole, was of the simplest character. The bridge itself was decorated with tall venetian masts, flags, and banners, and at the Chelsea end of the bridge a marquee had been erected in case of rain.

South London Press | 26 July 1890

Luckily, the weather was fine, and Lord Rosebery spoke to the assembled crowd – you can read his full speech here.

Meanwhile, the Illustrated London News, 26 July 1890, described the fate of the old timber structure, which had ‘in 1883 become so insecure that it had to be closed to carriage traffic.’ The article describes how ‘in May 1886 the late Metropolitan Board of Works entered into a contract with Messrs. Williams, Son, and Wallington for the erection of a new bridge at a cost of £143,000.’ Designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the civil engineer responsible for the redesign of London’s sewer systems, and his son Edward, the new Battersea Bridge cost nearly £16 million in today’s money.

Illustrated London News | 26 July 1890

The Illustrated London News piece looked back to the history of connecting the north and south banks at Chelsea and Battersea, with a ferry being made available during the time of King James I. By 1766 ‘an Act was passed of which the preamble says that that ferry was ‘dangerous, inconvenient, and almost impassable.” The result was that a ‘wooden bridge was put up, which lasted 130 years,’ until that became unusable.

The new Battersea Bridge still stands to this day, and is designated as a Grade II listed structure.

Discover more about Battersea Bridge, engineering history, and much more besides, in the pages of our Archive today.

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated nine of our existing titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a free sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.