Birmingham Journal (nineteenth century)
Encyclopedia
The Birmingham Journal was a weekly newspaper
published in Birmingham
, England
between 1825 and 1869.
A nationally-influential voice in the Chartist
movement in the 1830s, it was sold to John Frederick Feeney
in 1844 and was a direct ancestor of today's Birmingham Post
.
newspaper by a printer called William Hodgetts in 1825 to provide an alternative to The Times
, whose editorial line was controversial locally.
and Radical
Joseph Parkes
, who appointed R. K. Douglas as editor. Douglas was a national figure of the reform movement: the secretary of Thomas Attwood
's reformed Birmingham Political Union
and the author of the Chartist
National Petition of 1838. With its close connections to the leaders of Birmingham's reform movement - which itself was at the forefront of national political life - the Journal gained a high profile and wide circulation. Its sales peaked at 2,500 per issue; and with the majority of newspaper readers during the era reading or listening to newspapers in communal reading rooms rather than buying their own copies, it was probably reaching about half of the population of Birmingham. The appeal of Chartism meant that its influence also stretched well beyond the local area: in 1839 it sold seventy-one weekly copies as far away as Dunfermline
.
With the decline in local agitation for reform in the 1840s the newspaper's circulation dropped dramatically however. By 1844 it was only selling 1,200 copies per week when it was sold by Parkes to John Frederick Feeney
.
to the editorship and maintained the popular appeal of a moderate Radical line. Chartism at the time was losing support in Birmingham through its adoption of a more extremist position in tune with the more pronounced class divisions of the cities of the North of England and Feeney and Jaffray's instinct was to follow local opinion rather than stay loyal to a movement.
The Journals fortunes were also helped by economic changes. Rising levels of literacy and decreasing costs of production, coupled with Feeney and Jaffray's journalistic and commercial flair, saw circulation rise to 23,000 by the 1850s. The boom in railway building of the late 1840s greatly boosted the market for classified advertising
and by 1855 the Journal was making a profit of £5,000 per week, comparable to that of a national newspaper.
removed the tax on newspapers and transformed the news trade. The price of the Journal was reduced from seven pence to four pence and circulation boomed.
The change ran deeper, however. While individual copies of newspapers were each taxed, the economics of newspaper production favoured large weekly publications. Untaxed, it became possible to sell a newspaper for a penny, and the advantage lay with smaller, more frequent publications that could keep their readers more up to date. Feeney and Jaffray initially contemplated a second weekly edition of the Journal, but the launch of Birmingham's first daily newspaper by prominent radical George Dawson
- the short-lived Birmingham Daily Press - provoked them into launching their own daily title - the Birmingham Daily Post, later simply the Birmingham Post
in 1857.
The Journal was initially maintained as a weekly publication complementing the daily Post, but the launch of the Posts Saturday edition - the Saturday Evening Post - rendered its situation untenable and the Journal ceased publication in 1869.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
between 1825 and 1869.
A nationally-influential voice in the Chartist
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
movement in the 1830s, it was sold to John Frederick Feeney
John Frederick Feeney
John Frederick Feeney was an Irish journalist and newspaper proprietor.Spending most of his adult life in Birmingham, England, he owned the Birmingham Journal and, with John Jaffray, founded the Birmingham Post. He emigrated from Sligo, Ireland in 1836 to the UK via Liverpool and changed the...
in 1844 and was a direct ancestor of today's Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
.
History
The newspaper was founded as a ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
newspaper by a printer called William Hodgetts in 1825 to provide an alternative to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, whose editorial line was controversial locally.
Chartist heyday
The newspaper's political tone changed dramatically in 1832, however, when it was sold to prominent unitarianUnitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and Radical
Radicalism (historical)
The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...
Joseph Parkes
Joseph Parkes
Joseph Parkes was an English political reformer.Born in Warwick, in Unitarian Whig circles, Parkes was educated at Warwick grammar school, Dr Charles Burney's college in Greenwich and Glasgow university. Moving to London in 1817, Parkes developed an association with the Philosophical Radicals...
, who appointed R. K. Douglas as editor. Douglas was a national figure of the reform movement: the secretary of Thomas Attwood
Thomas Attwood
Thomas Attwood was a British economist, the leading figure of the underconsumptionist Birmingham School of economists, and, as the founder of the Birmingham Political Union, a leading figure in the public campaign for the Great Reform Act of 1832.He was born in Halesowen, and attended Halesowen...
's reformed Birmingham Political Union
Birmingham Political Union
The Birmingham Political Union was a political organisation in Great Britain during the early nineteenth century. Founded by Thomas Attwood, its original purpose was to campaign in favour of extending and redistributing suffrage rights to the working class of the kind set out in the Reform Bill of...
and the author of the Chartist
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
National Petition of 1838. With its close connections to the leaders of Birmingham's reform movement - which itself was at the forefront of national political life - the Journal gained a high profile and wide circulation. Its sales peaked at 2,500 per issue; and with the majority of newspaper readers during the era reading or listening to newspapers in communal reading rooms rather than buying their own copies, it was probably reaching about half of the population of Birmingham. The appeal of Chartism meant that its influence also stretched well beyond the local area: in 1839 it sold seventy-one weekly copies as far away as Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
.
With the decline in local agitation for reform in the 1840s the newspaper's circulation dropped dramatically however. By 1844 it was only selling 1,200 copies per week when it was sold by Parkes to John Frederick Feeney
John Frederick Feeney
John Frederick Feeney was an Irish journalist and newspaper proprietor.Spending most of his adult life in Birmingham, England, he owned the Birmingham Journal and, with John Jaffray, founded the Birmingham Post. He emigrated from Sligo, Ireland in 1836 to the UK via Liverpool and changed the...
.
Feeney
Feeney was first and foremost a newspaperman rather than a political agitator. He swiftly appointed the young John JaffrayJohn Jaffray
Sir John Jaffray, 1st Baronet was a Scottish journalist and newspaper proprietor.Born in Stirling, he moved to Birmingham in 1844, to work for John Frederick Feeney on the Birmingham Journal, and became a partner in it in 1852. Together they founded the Birmingham Daily Post, in 1857...
to the editorship and maintained the popular appeal of a moderate Radical line. Chartism at the time was losing support in Birmingham through its adoption of a more extremist position in tune with the more pronounced class divisions of the cities of the North of England and Feeney and Jaffray's instinct was to follow local opinion rather than stay loyal to a movement.
The Journals fortunes were also helped by economic changes. Rising levels of literacy and decreasing costs of production, coupled with Feeney and Jaffray's journalistic and commercial flair, saw circulation rise to 23,000 by the 1850s. The boom in railway building of the late 1840s greatly boosted the market for classified advertising
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
and by 1855 the Journal was making a profit of £5,000 per week, comparable to that of a national newspaper.
The move to daily publication
The change that ultimately led to the end of the Journal was one which initially appeared as a prime opportunity. The 1855 Stamp ActStamp Act
A stamp act is any legislation that requires a tax to be paid on the transfer of certain documents. Those that pay the tax receive an official stamp on their documents, making them legal documents. The taxes raised under a stamp act are called stamp duty. This system of taxation was first devised...
removed the tax on newspapers and transformed the news trade. The price of the Journal was reduced from seven pence to four pence and circulation boomed.
The change ran deeper, however. While individual copies of newspapers were each taxed, the economics of newspaper production favoured large weekly publications. Untaxed, it became possible to sell a newspaper for a penny, and the advantage lay with smaller, more frequent publications that could keep their readers more up to date. Feeney and Jaffray initially contemplated a second weekly edition of the Journal, but the launch of Birmingham's first daily newspaper by prominent radical George Dawson
George Dawson
George Dawson may refer to:* George Dawson , American author, learned to read at age 98* George Dawson , English cricketer in the 19th century* George Dawson , English preacher of the 19th century...
- the short-lived Birmingham Daily Press - provoked them into launching their own daily title - the Birmingham Daily Post, later simply the Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
in 1857.
The Journal was initially maintained as a weekly publication complementing the daily Post, but the launch of the Posts Saturday edition - the Saturday Evening Post - rendered its situation untenable and the Journal ceased publication in 1869.