PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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PLYMOUTH AND DOCK TELEGRAPH, The Plymouth and Dock Telegraph, to give it its shorter title, started on March 19th 1808, one week after the Plymouth Chronicle and General Advertiser for the West of England had appeared. Whitfeld relates that there was some indignation that they were beaten to the press because work had started on the newspaper some twelve months earlier. The type and machinery were ordered well in advance but the most important part of the equipment did not arrive until the Monday night, shortly after the Plymouth Chronicle appeared. The printer, Mr L Congdon, of 52 Fore Street, Plymouth Dock, and the publishers, Mr B Haydon and P Nettleton, of Plymouth; and Mr T Huss, of Stonehouse, never allowed the other party to forget their annoyance, either. Its format was exactly the same as that of its competitor (four pages, five columns per page, each 16 inches long). Of no little consequence was the fact that the paper on which it was printed was already imprinted with the mark of the stamp duty office and was received by road from London. In January 1809, when the roads were inundated with flood water, the paper did not arrive in time and part of that week's issue was printed on blank, unstamped paper. During the Napoleonic War the price of the newspaper was 6½d, of which a full 5d was stamp duty. Devonport Telegraph and Plymouth Chronicle In 1824, after the failure of the Chronicle, both newspapers were amalgamated and re-appeared as the Royal Devonport Telegraph and Plymouth Chronicle. By 1833 it had dropped the Royal from the title. Mr Congdon retired in 1827 and ownership of the newspaper passed to Mr George Soper, who was also the editor of the Plymouth Journal. In 1832 he entered into a partnership with Mr William Richards, printer and bookseller. When the tax on newspapers was ended in 1851 the Telegraph doubled the number of its pages. Unfortunately this over stretched its capacity and the paper was forced to suspend publication for a while until a new owner, Mr R Clarkson Smith, took it over. Plymouth Central Library has a facsimile of the first edition of March 19th 1808 and a wide selection of issues up to June 1863, when it ceased publication. Whitfeld claims that it passed its spirit over to the Devonport Independent.
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