The Cheltenham Looker-On was a social and literary weekly periodical published in Cheltenham, England between 1833 and 1920.
The Looker-On was founded in 1833 by Henry Davies, then the librarian and bookseller of Montpellier Spa, [1] with its first issue in May 1833. Davies had established his own newspaper in preference to taking a post offered with the Gloucester Chronicle. [2] Initially, the Looker-On was a literary periodical professing itself to be "A Note Book of the Sayings and Doings of Cheltenham". It quickly established a reputation as a weekly fashionable and literary paper, the Gentleman's Magazine in 1837 crediting the editor "whose talents as an essayist and editor have been honourably displayed". [3] The periodical's news and social gossip was widely quoted. For example, its report regarding the nursing of Queen Victoria's daughter was quoted in 1841 as far away as New Zealand [4] as was a report in 1847 of the Turkish Minister's wife arriving at Court in Court Dress rather than veiled. [5]
The Looker-On mixed social news and literary contributions and followed its editor's opinions being very partisan in the Conservative cause. [6] Following the death of its founder and editor for 57 years in 1890, it was taken over by his son Edward Llewellyn Davies until his death in 1898. The Looker-on became more a journal of news and fashion, and remained in publication until 1920. The Looker-On's Printing Works were also employed for local publications. [7]
The Cheltenham Looker-On has been widely referenced in local studies publications, [8] [9] biographies, [10] [11] music [12] [13] and miscellaneous articles. [14]
Historical copies of the Cheltenham Looker-On, dating back to 1833, are available to search and view in digitised form at The British Newspaper Archive. [15] The Cheltenham Local Studies Centre at Cheltenham Public Library holds physical copies of the periodical. [16] There is also a set at the British Museum. [17]
Cheltenham, also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and claims to be the most widely-read masthead in the country. The newspaper is published in compact print form from Monday to Saturday as The Sydney Morning Herald and on Sunday as its sister newspaper, The Sun-Herald and digitally as an online site and app, seven days a week. It is considered a newspaper of record for Australia. The print edition of The Sydney Morning Herald is available for purchase from many retail outlets throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, most parts of regional New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland.
Cheltenham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Bayside and Kingston local government areas. Cheltenham recorded a population of 23,992 at the 2021 census.
The Illawarra Mercury is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second oldest regional newspaper in New South Wales. It has been published daily since December 1949, and has had no local daily competition since the 1960s. It has strong links to the Illawarra community.
The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the largest collections of archives, portraits, maps and photographic images in Wales. The Library is also home to the national collection of Welsh manuscripts, the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, and the most comprehensive collection of paintings and topographical prints in Wales. As the primary research library and archive in Wales and one of the largest research libraries in the United Kingdom, the National Library is a member of Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL).
The Student is a fortnightly independent newspaper produced by students at the University of Edinburgh. It was founded in 1887 by Robert Louis Stevenson, making it the UK's oldest student newspaper. It held the title of Best Student Newspaper in Scotland, awarded by the Herald Student Press Awards in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010.
The Sun was a New York newspaper published from 1833 until 1950. It was considered a serious paper, like the city's two more successful broadsheets, The New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune. The Sun was the first successful penny daily newspaper in the United States and the first one to hire a Police reporter. It was also, for a time, the most successful newspaper in America.
Cheltenham Spa railway station is a railway station serving Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. Situated on the Bristol-Birmingham main line, it is managed by Great Western Railway and is about one mile from the town centre. The official name of the town is simply Cheltenham, but, when the station was renamed in 1925, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway chose to add Spa to the station name. The station is a key regional interchange and is the fifth busiest rail station in South West England.
The Coventry Telegraph is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as The Midland Daily Telegraph in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet newspaper. It changed its name to the Coventry Evening Telegraph on 17 November 1941. On 2 October 2006, the Telegraph simply became the Coventry Telegraph, reflecting its switch to a morning publication.
Henry Davies was a Wales-born journalist, publisher and librarian at Cheltenham, England, who took an active part in the town’s political life, and edited the Cheltenham Looker-On for 57 years.
Alexander Wilson Hogg was a member of parliament for Masterton, in the North Island of New Zealand.
The Essex Chronicle is a general news, weekly paper founded in 1764, as the Chelmsford Chronicle, and now owned by Reach Regionals Ltd.
The Birmingham Gazette, known for much of its existence as Aris's Birmingham Gazette, was a newspaper that was published and circulated in Birmingham, England, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Founded as a weekly publication in 1741, it moved to daily production in 1862, and was absorbed by the Birmingham Post in 1956.
The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for the Jazz, Music, and Science Festivals that run every year.
Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station was a station in the town of Cheltenham.
The Hamilton Spectator is a tri-weekly tabloid newspaper, which has been published in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia since 1859. It is published by the Hamilton Spectator Partnership Pty Ltd. Originally, the Spectator was known as the Hamilton Courier as established in 1859 by Thomas Wotton Shevill, it then became the Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser in 1860, and later The Hamilton Spectator.
The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011.
Herbert Vivian was an English journalist, author and newspaper owner, who befriended Lord Randolph Churchill, Charles Russell, Leopold Maxse and others in the 1880s. He campaigned for Irish Home Rule and was private secretary to Wilfrid Blunt, poet and writer, who stood in the 1888 Deptford by-election. Vivian's writings caused a rift between Oscar Wilde and James NcNeil Whistler. In the 1890s, Vivian was a leader of the Neo-Jacobite Revival, a monarchist movement keen to restore a Stuart to the British throne and replace the parliamentary system. Before the First World War he was friends with Winston Churchill and was the first journalist to interview him. Vivian lost as Liberal candidate for Deptford in 1906. As an extreme monarchist throughout his life, he became in the 1920s a supporter of fascism. His several books included the novel The Green Bay Tree with William Henry Wilkins. He was a noted Serbophile; his writings on the Balkans remain influential.