User:Billnash54/The Citizen (Gloucestershire)

On May 1 1876, the first edition of 'The Citizen' hit the shelves two months after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Placards were dotted around the city to promote the paper simply saying 'Citizen'.

It was launched by businessman Samuel Bland, consisted of just four pages and sold 3,000 copies.

However, 'The Citizen' can trace its roots back to April 9 1722 when the Gloucester Journal was first published, making it the second oldest continuously published newspaper in the world.

'The Gloucester Journal' made its appearance at a time when the city probably had a population of about 7,500, it appeared at a cost of three-halfpence on Monday, April 9, 1722. Initially most of the content was national and foreign with an occasional local snippet. The founders were Robert Raikes and William Dicey who had already established newspapers at St Ives in Huntingdonshire in 1717 and Northampton in 1720.

Much of the news came from London and meant little to those outside the capital. One bizarre and more local item in the first edition, however, was the confession and dying words of Francis Smith who was executed at Hereford for murdering his uncle.In 1725 the partnership between Raikes and Dicey ended and Robert Raikes alone controlled the paper until years later when he was joined by his son. The first Raikes showed his strength of character in printing some of the proceedings of the House of Commons and was brought before the Bar of the House for the offence. The paragraph he printed cost him a £40 fine but he had struck an early blow for Press freedom. On the death of Robert Raikes senior in 1757 he was succeded the following year by his his son Robert Raikes the younger who based the business in the old timbered house in Southgate Street, still known as Robert Raikes House (now a pub), opposite St Mary de Crypt. By this time the size of the newspaper had increased as had the number of advertisements which generated quite a sum in duty for the Government. One feature beginning to appear was correspondence from local readers and the paper began to publicise causes in which the editor was interested. In The Journal of November 3, 1783, Robert Raikes published for the first time details of Sunday Schools. It's evident from the Journals edited by the younger Raikes that he had considerable sympathy for prisoners in local jails and for the under-dog generally. The role he played in the formation of Sunday Schools may be somewhat unclear but there is little doubt he did much to publicise the scheme. A thespian, Samuel Ryley, who ran a local theatre, wrote of Raikes at the end of the 18th century: "An excellent man. I think of him with gratitude and mention his name with respect almost bordering on adoration. Oft have I seen this him walking to church at seven in the morning followed by at least 100 children, who, but for him, might have lived and died in ignorance. The clergy, strange to say, opposed him, the people in general scarcely approved the plan or lent assistance to its success." Raikes obviously had many admirers and some critics - in fact the actress Fanny Burney in 1788 found him rather pompous but his reputation extended far beyond the city and he both received and was received by many eminent friends and supporters including Royalty. The Gloucester Journal acquired a wide circulation in the 18th century, extending into several adjoining counties and far into South Wales. Within Gloucestershire it had no effective rival during the century, though at least two other papers were published in Gloucester for short periods: they were the Gloucester Gazette and South Wales Advertizer of 1782–4 and the Gloucester Gazette, published by John Selwyn Pytt from 1788 until 1796 or later. Of several other papers published in the early 19th century, the most successful was the Gloucester Herald which appeared from 1801 until 1828.

The most enduring competitor of the Gloucester Journal, however, proved to be the Gloucestershire Chronicle started in 1833; it was backed by supporters of the Tory party, the Journal under David Walker and his two sons Alexander and David Mowbray Walker, all of whom served as city aldermen, having become attached to the Whig interest. In 1802 Raikes sold his interest in The Journal to David Walker who also had experience in publishing the Hereford Journal. Robert Raikes, who, though using the paper to further his philanthropic aims, was a practical and successful businessman, newspaper proprietor, social and prison reformer, educationalist and philanthropist and family man, he died in 1811 aged 75. Robert Raikes the younger is now also remembered with a statue to honour his memory in Gloucester Park. Because of the Stamp Tax and other costs the price of The Journal rose to 7d but in 1836 with the reduction of the tax it went down to 5d and there was a further reduction to 4d in 1855. By 1838 its circulation averaged 32,000 copies a week and we are told in an editorial that "the thirst for information which seems now to be daily increasing can only be met by a greater increased coverage of most subjects. "The Walker family's connection with The Journal continued until 1871 when it passed to Thomas Henry Chance, a Birmingham jour-nalist who was proprietor until 1906. In 1870 the first Education Act offering elementary education for all was enacted although it wasn't until 1876 attendance at school was compulsory. In consequence of a more literate population the interest in popular newspapers grew.

In 1879 shortly after the 150th anniversary of The Journal Chance was joined by Mr Samuel Bland as a partner who three years previously had started 'The Citizen' and the companies amalgamated. In 1891 the Citizen introduced the UK's first football edition which later became the Pink Un supplement.

The papers were bought by the Northcliffe company on October 7 1928.

The Citizen moved to the Oxebode in 2006 from St John's Lane, where the paper was originally printed in the basement.

It is now printed in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

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