FEATURE HULL DAILY MAIL Making the news for more than 130 years Will Ramsey looks at the long history of the Hull Daily Mail

t has chronicled tragedies, triumphs and the daily life of the city for more than 130 I years. While the technology might have altered –with the mobile and digital platforms an increasingly important part of the business – some things haven’t changed at the Hull Daily Mail. Frederick Brent Grotrian, the Londoner who founded the paper in 1885, would still recognise its knack of telling stories through words and pictures. This energetic figure, who described himself as “a Hull man in everything but birth”, was the Above, putting classified adverts in son of a Danishman, Friedrich the Lampson tube to go to the Ludwig Christian Grotrian. composing room for typesetting. In 1836, Friederich emigrated to Below, reporters and photographers London and, two years later, Fre- at Jameson Street. derick Brent Grotrian was born. Frederick was to move to Hull and married Elizabeth Hunter. In 1885, he was one of a group of businessmen who took over a Con- servative weekly newspaper and launched the new daily –the Hull Daily Mail. Entering a crowded and compet- itive newspaper market in the city, the first edition was published on Founder FB Grotrian, left, and Edgar S Lewis, editor from 1890 to 1922. September 29 –from 22 Whitefri- argate –under the editorship of had four sons and four daughters – Yorkshire, revealed that his for- George Eastwood, who also ran Fred, Herbert, Harold, Edgar, bear also had plans to link the the Hull, East Yorkshire and Hilda, Ethal, Elizabeth and Gwen. north and south banks of the North Lincolnshire Conservative In 2010, when the Mail marked Humber. Newspaper Company. its 125th anniversary, it tracked “I know one of his big things was In many respects, Frederick was down one of Frederick’s descend- building a tunnel under the Hum- a typically energetic Victorian. ants –his great-grandson, Com- ber, ”Patrick said. Alongside setting up the paper, mander Patrick Brent Grotrian – “He had the idea of connecting he also found time in his busy who shared some of the family Hull with Lincolnshire. schedule to sit as Hull East’s MP lore about his ancestor. “I guess he thought ‘If you can’t from July 1886 to June 1892 and Patrick, of Easingwold, North climb it, go under it’. Although it

14 1920s delivery van. Timeline of the paper

1885 1941 The first edition of the Hull Daily The Mail s Jameson Street offices Mail is published on September 29 suffer a direct hit during a German from 22 Whitefriargate under the bombing raid. Despite the Blitz, editorship of George Eastwood. publication of the paper is 1890 maintained throughout the war. The Entrance to the Jameson Street offices. Eastwood is succeeded by FB 1963 Above, the presses on site. Grotrian, who becomes sole Provincial Newspapers sell their proprietor. remaining shares in Hull and 1905 Grimsby Newspapers to On the death of Mr Grotrian, a new Associated Newspapers, the parent private company called the Daily company of Northcliffe Mail and Hull Times is formed to Newspapers, owned by Lord publish the Mail with the late Rothermere. The Mail ow s nership owner four s sons becoming has remained unchanged since directors. then. It is now one of the biggest titles in what is now known as the 1926 Northcliffe Media group. After steady growth in its circulation and influence, the Mail 1979 moves to purpose-built offices in Pre-dating its use by national Jameson Street, complete with a newspapers, the introduction of new state-of-the-art printing press. computerised typesetting heralds the end of the traditional hot metal 1927 plate method of production. The Grotrian family acquire the Grimsby Evening Telegraph to 1986 form Hull and Grimsby The Mail changes shape, switching Newspapers, then a year later, sell from its traditional broadsheet a half-interest in the business to a format to tabloid. company called Provincial 1989 Above, the papers leave Jameson Street. Below, Winston Churchill visit Newspapers. Two members of the Colour production is introduced the offices in 1941 to boost morale. Grotrian family join the Provincial after the Mail relocates to a new Newspapers board. base at Blundell s Corner in 1930 Beverley Road. Other titles now Provincial Newspapers sell a being produced include the substantial interest in the Hull Property Guide and The Journal. business to a national publishing 1998 group owned by Lord Rothermere, The Mail enters the digital proprietor of the Daily Mail. publishing age by launching its 1930 website, now known as News appears on the front page for www.hulldailymail.co.uk. the first time, replacing small 1999 advertisements. The Duke of Edinburgh makes a 1930 royal visit to Blundell s Corner to The closure of the Evening News, mark the 700th anniversary of the its only surviving Hull-based rival, granting of the city ro s yal charter. leaves the Mail as the region s sole 2002 evening newspaper. The East Riding Mail is launched as an edition of the Hull Daily Mail. 2006 The Mail becomes the first never came to fruition, I always strong today, ”he said. newspaper in the country to talk about the Humber Bridge as “The newspaper business is very introduce video journalism on its my great grandfather’s bridge –it foreign to me, but it is interesting website. More innovations follow, was just built about 100 years it has survived so long.” including new sports, property and later. ” Current editor Neil Hodgkinson buying and selling websites, an Although Frederick died long said: “Papers such as the Hull online directory and text alerts for ago, Patrick said he was proud of Daily Mail are as much part of breaking sports stories. the legacy his great-grandfather history as recorders of it and the 2010 left behind. people who work there are mere The Hull Daily Mail celebrates its “I think it is grand that the custodians of that history. Long 125th anniversary. newspaper is still going may that continue.”

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