Harrogate Advertiser – 31st December 1999

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Many a person wandering down Harrogate's Montpellier Parade over the years must have wondered about that strange and now fading sign reading: "List of visitors Wednesday." The Herald Buildings, which sports this enigmatic message, was the home of Ackrill Newspapers from the turn of the century until our move to new headquarters at Cardale Park in 1990. Before that, the building was the Yorkshire Home for Chronic and Incurable Diseases.

But the "list of visitors" was nothing to do with friends and relatives visiting the sick; it was in fact the lifeblood of the Harrogate Advertiser.

In 1836, the population of Harrogate was just 4,000, easily outnumbered in the summer months by visitors coming to take the waters, even though the spa image was not fully exploited until after the Royal Pump Room opened in 1842.

Enter Mr Pickersgill Palliser, a Cleveland man who arrived in Harrogate in 1821 with half –a–crown in his pocket hoping to seek his fortune.

A year before his arrival, there had been a "Weekly list of the company at Harrogate" published by Mr William Langdale of High Harrogate – a simple list of visitors at hotels. Although short–lived, it was a pointer to the future.

Palliser opened a school in Cornwall Road but after ten years he abandoned this career for the printing and stationery business. He later became Postmaster.

On September 8, 1834, from premises at 5 Northumberland Place, Palliser launched his "List of Visitors" which methodically listed every new person in the town under the name of the guest house or hotel in which they were staying. Obviously of little interest to the locals, the list was nonetheless a hit with the visitors themselves who, like most people with wealth, loved to read about themselves – even if it was only the names of themselves and friends.

Two years later, following the reduction in newspaper stamp tax from 4d to Id, he launched "The Harrogate Advertiser and Weekly List of Visitors" from "near the Wells" in Low Harrogate, (probably behind what is now Royal Parade). The first issue was dated Monday, September 26, 1836 and, like its forerunner, it was basically a list of visitors plus advertisements.

Among the adverts on the front page of the first issue, was one for Brimham Rocks offering visitors: "Lemonade, ginger beer and cigars always on hand" along with "Hay, corn and good stabling for horses".

After just a few weeks, the Advertiser ceased publication until the following year, establishing the early pattern. It would appear during the lucrative summer months between June and October and would then be put into hibernation until the following season. Publication day switched from Monday to Saturday in 1837 – now, of course, publication day is Friday.

Emphasising the fact that the early Advertiser was aimed at visitors rather than residents, Palliser left one page blank so that people could write a letter and the whole paper could then be posted at letter rate!

The 1840s brought a marked upsurge in the growth of the town and it was against this background, with an upsurge in hotel and house building and the approach of the railways, that a group of local businessman decided to set up a rival to the Harrogate Advertiser, and so the Harrogate Herald was born in May 1847, under the leadership of another printer and stationer, Mr William Dawson.

The Herald was edited by Mr Robert Ackrill, a 30year–old former printer. At first the paper was printed in Leeds and transported by mule–and–cart. On at least one occasion the mule went lame, and two men had to pull the cart for the last few miles!

Before very long, the enterprising Ackrill bought the Herald from Dawson and so began a long and sometimes bitter rivalry between the two papers. While the Herald adopted Liberal politics, with Robert Ackrill playing an active part in the town's affairs, the Advertiser took on the Conservative mantle.

In 1858, Pickersgill Palliser sold the Advertiser, now based at 31 Devonshire Place, to Mr Thomas Hollins. Hollins packed his newspapers with local, national and international news and by 1867 the Advertiser was proudly proclaiming on each front page that it was now published every Saturday throughout the year.

Although visitors were still listed, it was now very much a paper for local people. And there was much going on to comment on.

Adopting a policy of "if you can't beat them join them," Robert Ackrill bought the Harrogate Advertiser from Hollins during the 1870s – and he founded Ackrill Newspapers. Another significant move came in 1878, when Ackrill's daughter Ellen married William Hammond Breare, who was then editing the Herald for Ellen's father. William was the first of the Breares to become involved in the company – a dynasty that lasted more that 100 years.

W H Breare went on to edit the Herald for 50 years and was very active in the town. Meanwhile, Jack Ackrill – son of Robert and brother of Ellen – had a share in running the Advertiser up until his death at the age of 66 in 1915.

W H Breare's son, Robert Ackrill Breare worked as head of the company from his father's death until his own in 1955. In turn, his son, William Robert Ackrill Breare, took over the helm.

The post–war years saw further expansion, with the company buying the Pudsey Times and the Wetherby News, and a new printing works behind the Herald buildings opening in 1952. Under Mr Bob Stockton, editor until 1977, the Advertiser adopted a policy of putting local news first, last and in between.

In 1975 the last of the Breare dynasty took over the company, Robert Roddick Ackrill Breare. But eight years later he sold the company to United Newspapers, thus ending the family's involvement. The company is now owned by Regional Independent Media.

As we enter the new Millennium, the Harrogate Advertiser series continues to go from strength to strength with a record circulation and a pledge – to continue to be "the voice of the town".