Shrewsbury Chronicle

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. It was then titled The Shrewsbury Chronicle, or Wood's British Commercial Pamphlet and eight pages long.

In the 1830s the paper, under the editorship of John Watton, supported the Whigs.

The paper covered national, international and local news, with advertisements alone on its front page until February 1953 when major Shropshire-interest news stories began being carried on it.

The paper came out as a daily paper for just under a fortnight during the General Strike of 1926, its contents largely taken from BBC bulletins.

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, and later, several times, printing had to be done in Walsall when the works, then in Castle Foregate, was flooded. It is now based in Abbey Foregate.

In 2004 circulation was over 19,000, the highest for 20 years. In 2008 the paper's circulation was 14,015.

The paper was awarded Best Campaigning Newspaper in Great Britain 2005 by the Newspaper Society. In 2009, its campaigning on local issues was noted by the Shrewsbury MP, Daniel Kawczynski, as was its fundraising.[better source needed]

In 2009 the paper moved to a part-free, part-paid model, with some copies free and others for sale.

Notable 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.

Henry Lucy, later known as a political journalist under pen-name "Toby, M.P.", was chief reporter at the Chronicle in 1864.

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 1907. Her brother gave it to the Chronicle without telling Webb, and the paper printed it anonymously.

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

References

References

1. "Shrewsbury Chronicle - UK media directory from". HoldtheFrontPage.
2. (22 February 2023). "Shrewsbury Chronicle". [[Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)]].
3. (19 December 1922). "The Shrewsbury Chronicle, 1772-1922". The Spectator.
4. "Weekly editor and journalism MBE made redundant". Society of Editors.
5. (23 November 1972). "Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle". Shrewsbury Chronicle.
6. "Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle".
7. (1801). "The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle". J.B. Nichols.
8. "Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle".
9. William Page. (1979). "The Victoria History of Shropshire". Constable.
10. Jeremy Black. (18 October 2010). "The English Press in the Eighteenth Century (Routledge Revivals)". Routledge.
11. "Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle".
12. "Through Nine Reigns, 200 years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle".
13. "Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle".
14. "Through Nine Reigns, 200 Years of The Shrewsbury Chronicle".
15. (2005). "An Application to Ofcom for an FM Independent Local Radio Licence for SHREWSBURY". Shrewsbury & Oswestry FM Ltd.
16. (23 April 2009). "Shrewsbury Chronicle adopts part-paid part-free strategy". The Press Gazette.
17. {{ukhansard. (20 Jan 2009)
18. {{cite DNB. Stephen. Leslie
19. Rachel Matthews. (18 May 2017). "The History of the Provincial Press in England". Bloomsbury Publishing.
20. Francis, Peter. (2006). "A Matter of Life and Death - The Secrets of Shrewsbury Cemetery". Logaston Press.