Reading the local paper: Social and cultural functions of the local press in Preston, Lancashire, 1855-1900 by Andrew Hobbs A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Central Lancashire November 2010 ABSTRACT This thesis demonstrates that the most popular periodical genre of the second half of the nineteenth century was the provincial newspaper. Using evidence from news rooms, libraries, the trade press and oral history, it argues that the majority of readers (particularly working-class readers) preferred the local press, because of its faster delivery of news, and because of its local and localised content. Building on the work of Law and Potter, the thesis treats the provincial press as a national network and a national system, a structure which enabled it to offer a more effective news distribution service than metropolitan papers. Taking the town of Preston, Lancashire, as a case study, this thesis provides some background to the most popular local publications of the period, and uses the diaries of Preston journalist Anthony Hewitson as a case study of the career of a local reporter, editor and proprietor. Three examples of how the local press consciously promoted local identity are discussed: Hewitson’s remoulding of the Preston Chronicle, the same paper’s changing treatment of Lancashire dialect, and coverage of professional football. These case studies demonstrate some of the local press content that could not practically be provided by metropolitan publications. The ‘reading world’ of this provincial town is reconstructed, to reveal the historical circumstances in which newspapers and the local paper in particular were read. Evidence from readers demonstrates the many ways in which they used the local press, both collectively and individually, including its use in sustaining local identities and sense of place. However, the local press was only one factor among many in the development and sustenance of local identities. The originality of the thesis lies in its introduction of empirical reading evidence into English newspaper history, its challenge to the taken-for-granted but problematic concepts of ‘local’ and ‘national’ newspapers in this period, its detailed study of the journalistic techniques used to capitalise on local patriotism, and its critique of many theories of nineteenth-century press history which have been based on a minority of the period’s newspapers, those published in London. CONTENTS Part A: Introduction 1. The significance of the local press 1 2. Sources and methods 19 Part B: Producing the local press 3. Preston’s newspapers and periodicals 41 The scale of the provincial press 41 Preston’s newspapers and periodicals: 44 Preston Chronicle 49 Preston Pilot 50 Preston Guardian 51 Preston Herald 55 Preston Evening Express, Preston Evening News and Preston Daily Guardian 57 Lancashire Evening Post 58 Magazines 63 Conclusions 73 4. Anthony Hewitson and other Preston press personnel 74 Conclusions 86 5. Hewitson’s performance of local identity in the Preston Chronicle 88 Conclusions 102 6. Local content and local identity 103 Introduction 103 The construction of local identities 104 Newspaper techniques of local identity promotion 109 ‘Us’ and ‘them’ and contested identities 125 Conclusions 129 7. Dialect, sport and identity in the local press 131 From ‘them’ to ‘us’ in Lancashire dialect 131 Sport and local identity 139 Football and the local press 140 Winning the double, 1888/89 146 North End close to collapse, 1893 153 Conclusions 156 Part C: Reading the local press 8. Where and when the news was read 158 Introduction 158 Reading places 159 Libraries, news rooms and reading rooms 166 Newsagents and booksellers 175 Reading times 181 Conclusions 186 9. Who read what 191 Introduction 191 Reading preferences 197 Conclusions 209 10. How readers used the local paper 212 Introduction 212 Readers’ letters 213 The appeal of local news and views 225 The public sphere and other uses of the local press 229 Conclusions 241 11. Conclusions 246 Bibliography 260 Appendices Appendix to chapter 1 1 Table A1. Summary of content, Preston Chronicle, 1860 and 1890 1 Appendix to Chapter 3 3 Table A2. Comparison of Manchester and non-Manchester newspapers and periodicals sold in the city, 1874: interpretation of Nodal and Heywood figures 3 Table A3. Average sales per issue, Preston newspapers 1832-54, calculated from Newspaper Stamps sold 3 Table A3. Average sales per issue, Preston newspapers 1832-54, calculated from Newspaper Stamps sold 4 Table A4. Preston Chronicle content per week, 1860-1900 5 Table A5. Preston Pilot content per week, 1860-1888 6 Table A6. Average sales per issue, Preston newspapers and comparators, 1854, calculated from Newspaper Stamps sold 6 Table A7. Preston Guardian content per week, 1860-1900 7 Table A8. Cover prices of selected newspapers, 1855-1900 (pence) 8 Table A9. Preston Herald content per week, 1860-1900 (%) 9 Figs. A1-A5. Maps of Preston Herald editorial coverage, 1860-1900 10 Table A10. Lancashire evening newspapers, 1855-1900 13 Table A11. Lancashire Evening Post content per week, 1886-1900 14 Details of selected Preston publications 15 Preston Chronicle 15 Preston Herald 18 Preston Pilot 21 Preston Guardian 23 Lancashire Evening Post 25 Onward 26 Catholic News 27 Lancashire Catholic 28 Appendix to Chapter 4 28 Table A12. Anthony Hewitson’s diaries and other papers 28 Table A13. Some outlets for Hewitson’s freelance reporting, 1857-87 29 Table A14. Owner-editors as a proportion of Provincial Newspaper Society presidents, 1836-86 29 Table A15. Advertising content per week in main Preston papers, 1860-1900 30 Appendix to Chapter 5 31 Table A16. Meaning of ‘we’/’our’/’us’ in leading articles about Preston and in ‘Atticus’ columns (% of all uses of each word), compared with pre-Hewitson Chronicle and Guardian 31 Table A17. Winckley Club auction values (%), Preston Chronicle and Preston Herald, 1860-75 32 Table A18. Popular topics of correspondence, Preston Chronicle and Preston Guardian, Sept-Oct 1867 and Sept-Oct 1868 32 Table A19. Orientation of letters, Preston Chronicle and Preston Guardian, September/October 1867 and 1868 32 Appendix to Chapter 6 33 Table A20. Poetry in the Preston Chronicle, 1855 and 1885 33 Advertisement for Richard Myerscough, 126 Church St, Preston and the North of England Steam Pork Factory, Shepherd St, Preston . 34 Appendix to Chapter 8 35 Table A21. Numbers of ‘newspaper agents and news room keepers’ recorded in the Census, 1851-1901, selected Lancashire towns 35 Table A22. Libraries, newsrooms and reading rooms in Preston, 1851-1900 36 Fig. A6. Reading map of Preston, 1853 44 Fig. A7. Reading map of Preston, 1873 44 Fig. A8. Reading map of Preston, 1900 45 Table A23. Press Association telegraphic news service to be supplied to Preston Exchange and News Room, 1870 45 Table A24. Newspapers mentioned in postcard correspondence of Rev John Thomas Wilson, vicar of Wrightington, 1877-82 46 Appendix to Chapter 9 47 Table A25. Reading matter by gender and place, Preston, Barrow and Lancaster 47 Table A26. Newspapers and periodicals taken at Preston Free Library, 1880-1900, by category 49 Table A27. Publications with multiple copies, Barrow-in-Furness Free Library, 1890-1900 57 Table A28. Working-class reading material, Preston, Barrow, Lancaster, 1880s to 1920s 58 Table A29. Cover prices and auction prices, selected publications, Winckley Club, Preston, 1851-1900 60 Appendix to Chapter 10 61 Table A30. Popular letters topics, Preston Guardian and Preston Herald, 1860 61 Table A31. Popular letters topics, Lancashire Evening Post and Preston Herald, 1890 and 1900 61 Table A32. Pseudonyms, Preston Guardian and Preston Chronicle, September/October 1867 62 Table A33. Pseudonyms, Preston Guardian and Chronicle, September/October 1868 63 Table A34. Topics provoking correspondence, by orientation of letter, Preston Chronicle 64 Table A35. Types of publication referred to by The Antidote, 1890 64 Table A36. Numbers of magazines purchased by category, Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge, Preston, 1861-69 65 Table A37. Numbers of newspapers available by category, Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge, Preston, 1851-69 65 Table A38. Numbers of new publications purchased by category, Exchange Newsroom, Preston, 1868 and 1874 66 Table A39. Numbers of titles by category, Preston Free Library, 1880-1900 67 Table A40. Numbers of titles, Barrow Free Library 68 Tables and illustrations Tables 1. A suggested hierarchy of nineteenth-century print respectability 2. Content analysis (%) of Times, 1855-1900 3. Population of selected Lancashire towns, 1851 and 1901, and year of incorporation as boroughs 4. Numbers of English newspapers by place of publication, 1854-1914 5. Metropolitan versus provincial newspaper sales, 1864 6. Average sales of London versus provincial newspapers, WH Smith bookstall, Bradford, 1868 7. Newspapers and periodicals published in Preston, 1800-1900 8. Newspapers and periodicals published in Barrow-in-Furness, 1863-1900 9. Preston Guardian circulation 10. Preston editorial in selected Preston titles, 1860-1900 (columns per week) 11. Preston editorial in selected Preston titles, 1860-1900 (%) 12. Preston advertisements in selected titles, 1860-1900 (columns per week) 13. Preston advertisements in selected titles, 1860-1900 (%) 14. Preston sport in selected titles, 1860-(columns per week)) 15. Preston sport in selected titles, 1860-1900 (%) 16. Topics of some leader columns, Preston Herald, 1860-1900 17. Content of Preston Chronicle and Preston Guardian before and after Hewitson, 1867-68 18. Preston advertisements in selected titles, 1860-1900 (no. of columns per week) 19. Preston advertisements in selected titles, 1860-1900 (%) 20. Proportion of leading articles on local subjects, Guardian and Chronicle, 1867-68 21. Texts analysed using corpus linguistics software 22. Frequency of selected words in ‘Atticus’ columns and leading articles about Preston 23. No. of readers’ letters, Chronicle, Guardian and Herald, September/October 1867 and 1868 24.