Queen Victoria was just over a third into her reign, the Liberal Government of William Gladstone was in power, and turnpike roads were still in use when, on 17th November 1860, Thomas Hodgson, a twenty three year old reporter-compositor launched the first issue of his newspaper the "Penrith Herald and Appleby Keswick and Kirkby Stephen Advertiser". With only minor interruption, due to distribution during the earliest years, and change of name (from 1890 until 1925 it was styled the "Mid Cumberland and Westmorland Herald") it has been in production ever since, and is one of the few independent weekly newspapers remaining in the country.
Thomas Hodgson had grown up against a background of weekly newspaper production. His grandfather had been proprietor of the long established 'Teesdale Mercury' at Barnard Castle and Thomas served his apprenticeship with him as a printer, during this time teaching himself Pitman's shorthand.
In 1857, aged twenty, he moved to Penrith, travelling there by stagecoach on St. Valentine's Day, to work on his uncle B T Sweeten's "Cumberland and Westmorland Advertiser", Penrith's first newspaper which had been founded two years earlier. While he was with the 'Advertiser' he set by hand the type of Walker's 'History of Penrith'.
When he branched out on his own in 1860, the first issue of the 'Herald' was published in the old Tudor building dated 1563 from a small printing press in an office overlooking St. Andrew's Churchyard.
The first issue comprised eight pages with a total of forty columns. In it Hodgson wrote:
In these days of universal reading and writing, a demand has sprung up in our neighbourhood for a weekly newspaper that will circulate at a cheap price, that will offer our advertising friends a suitable medium, which will let us know what we each are doing and what is doing in England and abroad
However, only two of those pages - those devoted to local news and adverts - were locally printed. The rest, with national news and magazine-type features, being supplied to the publisher from outside the town for the local material to be added.
Among the earliest advertisers were the Penrith firm of John and James Graham, who at their 'Castle gate' warehouse, sold Peruvian Guanao, Oddam's blood and bone manure for wheat, super-phosphate and linseed cake for feeding.
Among the local news items there had been a robbery at the Black Bull Inn, Penrith; Mr. Wilfred Lawson married Miss Mary Senhouse; the Patterdale Brass Band had been organised, and the Hon Charles Howard MP for East Cumberland had presented a guinea to the Temperance Library at Renwick.
The first editorial ended on a note which has recurred frequently down the years: 'At present we are spending far too much and for more than we can afford. Our taxation is becoming intolerable. We have arrived almost at that stage when it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back'.
In 1890 ownership of the 'Herald' passed into the hands of a company initially called "The Mid Cumberland and North Westmorland Advertiser Limited". The first Secretary was William Sanderson JP of Appleby and the first Chairman Charles Henry Graham of Beacon Bank, Penrith.
In 1896 "Notes and Comments" made its first appearance on the leader page - written and set by hand from the printer's 'case' by Tom Sarginson, a young compositor-reporter who became widely known as "Silverpen" and was Editor up to his death in 1951.
A great step forward in production was made in 1898 with the purchase of the first Linotype printing machine and by 1901 'Herald' circulation figures had reached 6000; this year also saw the demise of a Saturday competitor the 'Penrith Times'.
By 1903 new premises had been bought at No. 14 King Street and it was around this time that Henry Hodgson, while still officially Editor moved from Penrith to Keswick leaving his son Henry Harrison Hodgson as Manager, and Tom Sarginson as Editor in all but name. Dan Holmes ran the printing works while Robert Irving was newsgatherer, sports writer, sub-editor.
With the death of Thomas Hodgson in 1913 Tom Sarginson became editor, a post he would occupy for almost forty years.
The Outbreak of the First World War was the beginning of an era of financial difficulty during which salaried staff took reductions in pay to keep the paper alive, but despite the cost the "Herald" printed pictures of all local Servicemen who lost their lives in the war.
In 1920 the Company purchased the copyright of the "Lakes Herald" at Ambleside, later running a bookshop there for many years.
On the night of Friday 13th October 1933 the 'Herald' was printed in the old laborious way on an old flatbed press for the last time.
Immediately the old "two feeder" was broken up with sledge hammers and by the following week a new Cossar web press was in operation. Works overseer Dan Holmes died on the eve of his retirement to be succeeded by H J ('Bert') Winskill who served the newspaper for over half a century.
In 1937 Tom Sarginson was one of only five weekly newspaper editors to be invited to represent the weekly Press at the Coronation of King George VI. He responded with one of the finest pieces of descriptive writing on the historic ceremony.
After the sudden death two years later of H H Hodgson, Robert Burne became the new Managing Director, who some thirty years on, wrote a history of the newspaper. He was the main planner behind the creation of new printing works, advertising and editorial offices in what had formerly been Armstrong and Fleming's garage.
Following Tom Sarginson's death in 1951, Robert Irving, his colleague for fifty years, became Editor but retired a year later and was succeeded by George Hobley whose journalistic career had begun on the paper in 1928.
In 1963 there was another change of editorship when Frank Shaw took up the position on the death of George Hobley, and within a decade he also took on responsibility for managing the Herald Company upon the death of the long-service Managing Director Robert E Burne as the result of a road accident in Carlisle.
Mr Shaw wrote hard-hitting and controversial editorials ranging from criticism of excessive local authority spending to arguing against speeding motorboats on Ullswater. He guided the 'Herald' into the new world of computerisation with electronic typesetting and lithographic printing.
In 1968 a new double unit Cossar press had been purchased and this produced 16 pages at one pass, though with the continuing growth of the newspaper it became necessary to add the old 1933 Cossar press to the double unit to produce 24 pages in one operation.
In 1981 the Cossar presses were replaced by a Goss Community offset-litho press using printing plates produced from photographically prepared plates. The new press was capable of printing 20,000 copies in about 1½ hours. In 1984 a fourth unit was added to the press and a fifth, six years later.
In November 1999 the presses were sold when the printing of colour pages was moved to Carlisle. Editorial pages were now made up on screen in Penrith by the editorial team rather than by the production department, and sent via isdn line to printers in Carlisle.
Frank Shaw eventually retired in 1986 but remained a director though still contributing news items and helping in other ways.
John Hurst succeeded Mr Shaw as Editor. At the age of 15 he had taken a two-guinea correspondence course at the London School of Journalism and joined the paper as junior reporter in 1945. He worked for the 'Herald' for half a century until his retirement in 1995.
Colin Maughan a keen cricketer and the paper's Sports Editor succeeded Mr Hurst as Editor. A Queen Elizabeth Grammar School pupil, in 1976 he qualified under the course run by the National Council for the Training of Journalists at Preston Polytechnic before joining the 'Herald'.
Mr N T O'Reilly had retired as Chairman of the Company in June 1988, being followed in this position by Miss E. Burne, and in the same year Mr W F Mossop succeeded Mr. Shaw as Managing Director. Following Miss E Burne's death in the following year, Mr L A Kidd became Chairman.
In 1997 print works manager Sydney Tyson retired and Steve Buck was appointed production manager; in 1999 advertising manager Brian Spurrett retired, Victoria Richardson succeeding him in that capacity and around this time a new advertising booking system was purchased from IPA Systems Ltd.
In 2004 Bill Mossop, Managing Director, retired 43 years after joining the company in 1961 from Penrith Queen Elizabeth Grammar School as a junior reporter. At the beginning of his career the reporters' room had one telephone, three typewriters between four people and the hand-setting of type had not entirely died out.
Today the newspaper is headed by Chairman Bill Mossop, Editor Colin Maughan and Managing Director and Company Secretary Simon Veitch. Simon is the grandson of the late Robert E Burne, former Managing Director and journalist.
The exhibition is showing from 17 November 2010 to the end of March 2011 for times see below.
Museum Opening Hours:
Monday to Saturday: 10am - 4pm.
The museum's opening hours are the same as Penrith Tourist Information Centre.
Loan, donate or bequeath to Penrith and Eden Museum
Should you wish to loan, donate or bequeath any objects to the Museum the curators will only be to happy to receive them.
Museum Curators
Penrith and Eden Museum curators are available to answer questions on current and future exhibitions as well as any other questions concerning the museum and its collections:
- Contact: Dr Sydney T Chapman or Mrs Judith Clarke, MA AMA, Joint Curators,
- Address: Penrith Museum, Robinson School, Penrith CA11 7PT
- Telephone: 01768 865105
- Email: museum@eden.gov.uk
