 Darlington & Stockton Times front page | |
| Type | Regionalweekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact[1] |
| Owner | Gannett Company[2] |
| Founder | George Brown[1] |
| Editor | Hannah Chapman[2] |
| Founded | 1847; 179 years ago (1847) inBarnard Castle[1] |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Priestgate,Darlington[2] |
| City | Darlington |
| Country | UK |
| Circulation | 7,690 (as of 2024)[3] |
| Website | Official website |
TheDarlington & Stockton Times is a British, regional, weekly, paid for, newspaper covering theRichmond -Darlington -Stokesley -Thirsk -Leyburn area.[4] It is published in Darlington byNewsquest Media Group Ltd, a subsidiary ofGannett Company Inc.[2] Three separate editions are published for County Durham, North Yorkshire and Cleveland.[5]
A substantial proportion ofDarlington & Stockton Times readers live in rural areas, and it contains information and news relating to farming issues.[4]
It was one of the last UK newspapers to devote its front page entirely to adverts; a practice that persisted until 1997.Compact format replacedbroadsheet in 2009.[1]
TheDarlington & Stockton Times was first published with four broadsheet pages, on a single sheet, in 1847 as the:
Darlington & Stockton Times and Barnard-Castle, Richmond, Auckland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Teesdale and Swaledale Journal.[1]
That was soon changed to:
Darlington & Stockton Times and Barnard-Castle, Richmond, Auckland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Teesdale and Swaledale Journal and South Durham and North Yorkshire Advertiser[1]
before in 1894, the full title became:
Darlington & Stockton Times and Barnard-Castle, Richmond, Auckland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Teesdale and Swaledale Journal and South Durham and North Yorkshire Advertiser and Ripon and Richmond Chronicle.[1]
Before publication, Brown advertised the newspaper would
..labour to promote the diffusion ofliberal principles, and the progress of peaceful and enlightened measures for the removal of national Abuses, and for securing the just Rights and Privileges of all men and the safety and welfare of the Country... Our views are in favour of Peace,Temperance, a reformed criminal code, thorough Sanitary Regulations, and the Extension of unfettered Education to all.
— George Brown, 1847[6]
In the event, page one of the first edition contained onlyauction news, insurance and general advertisements. Meetings of the Darlington Abstinence Society andStockton Institute of Literature and Science filled page two, but it sold out.[6]
| 1847 | Liberalphilanthropist andbarrister, George Brown established the newspaper, with printer Henry Atkinson, inBarnard Castle. He employed Henry King Spark as acompositor, and subsequently moved the newspaper to the better connected and larger market of Darlington.[1][6] |
|---|---|
| 1849 | George Brown moved back to Barnard Castle and sold his newspaper toproperty developers Robert and William Thompson.[1] |
| 1864 | The Thompsons' business failed and their newspaper was purchased by the now wealthy Henry King Spark. He used it in his bids to establish Darlington as aparliamentary borough, and be its firstmayor andmember of parliament. Darlington became a borough and Spark embarrassed the powerful,liberalPease family but he was not elected to either position. In 1870, liberals, including the Pease family, established theNorthern Echo to counter theDarlington & Stockton Times' influence in Darlington.[1][7][6] |
| 1878 | Spark was declaredbankrupt and title passed to the rival, liberal faction led byNorthern Echo publisherJohn Hyslop Bell, and thePease family.[1] |
| c. 1885 | Mirroring a split in theLiberal Party, the newspaper's directors disagreed over its position onhome rule for Ireland. Those favouring home rule were bought out by the unionistArthur Pease's faction. TheDarlington & Stockton Times supported Pease's1895 campaign to becomeTory alignedLiberal UnionistMP for Darlington. Peaseousted theNorthern Echo supportedLiberalTheodore Fry from theseat.[1][8] |
| 1914 | Arnold Rowntree andCharles Starmer controlled, liberal aligned andNorthern Echo owning, North of England Newspaper Company Ltd purchased theDarlington & Stockton Times. The newspaper retained its unionist voice.[9][8][1][10] |
| 1921 | North of England Newspapapers Company Ltd purchased by Charles Starmer andPearson's, King and Hutchings Ltd. King and Hutchings Ltd subsequently renamed Westminster Press Ltd.[11][12][8] |
| 1937 | Pearson take complete control of Westminster Press Ltd.[13][8][14] |
| 1969 | Pearson plc floated on theLondon Stock Exchange.[14] |
| 1995 | Westminster Press Ltd sold by Pearson plc toNewsquest Media Group Ltd.[15] |
| 1999 | Newsquest Media Group Ltd purchased byGannett Company Inc.[16] |
| 2019 | GateHouse Media purchased Gannett Company Inc, and subsequently took the name of its acquisition.[17] |
| 1847 | Horsemarket,Barnard Castle[18][1] | 54°32′38″N1°55′28″W / 54.5440°N 1.9245°W /54.5440; -1.9245 |
|---|---|---|
| 1848 | Bennett House / Central Hall,Darlington[1][6] | 54°31′26″N1°33′17″W / 54.5240°N 1.5547°W /54.5240; -1.5547 |
| 1866 | Purpose built premises in Salt Yard, Darlington[1][6] | 54°31′35″N1°33′29″W / 54.5263°N 1.5580°W /54.5263; -1.5580 |
| 1931 | Priestgate, Darlington[1][2] | 54°31′33″N1°33′10″W / 54.5259°N 1.5529°W /54.5259; -1.5529 |
WeeklyABC circulation for second half of year:
| 1923 | 25,927[19] | |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 22,369[20] | |
| 2012 |  | 21,117[20] |
| 2013 | | 20,072[4][21] |
| 2014 | | 18,743[21][22] |
| 2015 | | 17,341[23] |
| 2016 | | 15,538[23] |
| 2017 | | 14,214[24] |
| 2018 | | 13,117[25] |
The Darlington & Stockton Times regional editionISSN codes are:[5]
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