Title:
CHELMSFORD CHRONICLE LATER ESSEX CHRONICLE
Level: Category
Business records
Level: Fonds
CHELMSFORD CHRONICLE LATER ESSEX CHRONICLE
Scope and Content:
According to an article by the editor, R. A. F. Handley, in the 200th anniversary souvenir edition of the Essex Chronicle , 14 August 1964, the Chelmsford Chronicle was first printed in 1764 by William Strupar. By 28 June 1765 William Strupar had joined in partnership with L. Hassall and by the end of that year the paper was being printed by `L. Hassall, bookmaker and stationer of Chelmsford'. On 7 Feb.1766 the title of the newspaper changed to The Chelmsford and Colchester Chronicle . By June 1768 the business had been taken over by Mr T.Toft and Mr R. Lobb but within the next ten years they too were succeeded by William Clachar and C. Frost who became known as William Clachar and Co. The minute book, 1777-1784, in this collection lists Samuel Gray, William Clachar, Charles Frost and Elizabeth Griffin as the proprietors for this period. On 4 Sept.1794 the proprietors were announced as Clachar, Meggy and Chalk. Articles of partnership between George Meggy and Arthur Robert Chalk, printers and newspaper publishers, to continue the publication of the Chelmsford Chronicle and the Essex Herald , were drawn up in 1851. This partnership was dissolved in 1868 following the death of George Meggy. The paper was subsequently owned by Frederic Henry Meggy and Malcolm Douglas and on 1 Jan 1885, after the death of the latter, Thomas Thompson purchased a share in the business and was taken into partnership. It was around this time that the newspaper became known as the Essex County Chronicle . This partnership of Meggy and Thompson continued for many years.
When Thomas Thompson died in 1908 he was succeeded by his son John Ockelford Thompson who remained with the paper until 1941 when he and his family were killed in an air-raid on their house in London Road. By 1912 the proprietors had become known as Meggy Thompson and Creasey, newspaper publishers and general printers, 98 High Street, Chelmsford. They had branch offices at Braintree, Brentwood, Halstead and Maldon and were publishing the Essex County Chronicle , the Essex Herald (established in 1800), the Essex Newsman (established in 1870) and The Maldon Express (established in 1872). The headed notepaper for the Essex Chronicle Series of Newspapers in 1925 [D/F 66/8] lists the proprietors of Meggy, Thompson and Creasey as Douglas Henry Meggy, Beatrice Mary Hodgkinson, John Ockelford Thompson and William Henry Creasey. Reginald John Tanner Thompson succeeded John Ockelford Thompson as editor in 1941, a post which he held until his death in 1956.
For documents relating to the partnership of Meggy and Chalk, 1851-1868, see D/DSu B2-4.
For microfilm copies of the Chelmsford Chronicle , 1764-1868 see T/B 171/1-40.
For original and later copies of the Chelmsford Chronicle , Essex Chronicle and other local newspapers see E.R.O. Library index for periodicals.
For the 200th anniversary souvenir edition of Essex Chronicle , 11 Aug.1964, see E.R.O. Library folder: newspapers.