Seren Gomer

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Seren Gomer
Seren Gomer Jan 1 1814.jpg
Front page of the earliest surviving copy of Seren Gomer. January 1st, 1814
Type weekly newspaper, publishing company, printing company
Founder(s) Joseph Harris   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
PublisherDavid Jenkin  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Editor Samuel Evans [*], Joseph Harris, David Davies Evans [*]
City Swansea   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Seren Gomer was the first Welsh-language weekly newspaper. The first number was published in 1814 in Swansea by the local Baptist minister and writer Joseph Harris (Gomer). [1]

Contents

Publishing history

The weekly was intended to cover news from the whole of Wales and from overseas, as well as literary material. Its success was limited: it went out of business in 1815 after 85 editions, partly due to the heavy tax on newspapers and a shortfall in advertising revenue. [2] In 1818 Harris revived the publication, which became associated with the Baptist denomination. In 1820 it became a monthly. The writer and poet Evan Owen Allen was among its contributors.

When Harris died in 1825, the paper was purchased by Carmarthen publisher Hugh William Jones  [ cy ] and became a quarterly Baptist magazine. This continued until 1983.

Editors

1951–1975: Lewis Valentine
1975–1977: David Eirwyn Morgan

References