Available online
Description
This programme is the eighth in the series which makes up the television components of the fourth level course, "Sources and Historiography, Great Britain 1750-1950". Clive Emsley and Dr.... Chris Harvie, Lecturer in History at the Open University, discuss provincial newspapers as an historical source. Taking The Northampton Mercury as a case study they discuss the changing technology of newspaper production and the political content and influence of The Mercury. The programme is illustrated by contemporary material preserved in Northampton public library.
This programme is the eighth in the series which makes up the television components of the fourth level course, "Sources and Historiography, Great Britain 1750-1950". Clive Emsley and Dr.... Chris Harvie, Lecturer in History at the Open University, discuss provincial newspapers as an historical source. Taking The Northampton Mercury as a case study they discuss the changing technology of newspaper production and the political content and influence of The Mercury. The programme is illustrated by contemporary material preserved in Northampton public library.
| Module code and title: | A401, Great Britain 1750-1950: sources and historiography |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A401; 08 |
| First transmission date: | 12-06-1974 |
| Published: | 1974 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:50 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Patricia Hodgson |
| Contributors: | Clive Emsley; Chris Harvie |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Newspaper; Northampton Mercury |
| Footage description: | Chris Harvie introduces the programme, the illustrative material for which is all derived from Northampton. He describes the development of the town from 172O. Engravings show the town overall, canal, station, tramway, bootmaking factories, and politicians Labouchere and Bradlaugh. Clive Emsley shows a facsimile copy of the first "Northampton Mercury" of 1720. Engravings of Robert Raikes and William Dicey its publishers. Emsley describes the paper's history. Standing beside a studio cut out of a printing press, Harvie discusses the technology and distribution arrangements available in the 18th century. Maps. He relates the development of provincial papers during the 18th century. Engravings of coffee houses and newspaper readers. He walks to another cut out showing a rotary press and describes the impact of newspaper production. He describes the rise and fall of the Newspaper Stamp Tax with animated captions, and continues to discuss the heyday of the newspapers in the l880s, and the decline of the Mercury in the 1920s. Shots of the paper's advertising content. Clive Emsley looks at three particular editions of the Mercury: the first is Monday 27th October 1760. He describes the editorial content of the paper and its sources, with close-ups of the text. Next he looks at the edition of 2nd June 1832, in the-middle of the Reform Act, by which time the paper had developed a strong political line. Shots and discussion of the advertising. He briefly describes development over the next 30 years and shows the railway timetable supplement of 3rd October 1874. Finally he looks in detail at the edition of Saturday 10th October 1874. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71400 |
| Production number: | 00525_2143 |
| Videofinder number: | 3349 |
| Available to public: | no |
