12 s. ii. AUG. 12, i9i6.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
125
high tone and position which for more than
. i-nty years it has honourably held. Mr.
Symon relates how it turned to " quieter
themes," and gave, for example, an illustra-
tion of George IV. as he last appeared in his
pony phaeton in Windsor Park : " The King
has a look upon his face that is probably in-
tended to foreshadow the approaching end."
" At the coronation of William IV." (I am still
quoting Mr. Symon) " and again of Victoria
The Observer shone. On the later occasion
it produced a larger picture than the daily
press had yet attempted."
During the greater part of the nineteenth century the prejudice against Sunday papers was so great that there was not much inducement for capitalists to embark in such enterprises. The sale of The Observer fluctuated greatly, and, as stated in the booklet, the paper " passed through a period of cloudy weather." In the year 1837 the death of William and the accession of Victoria brought its average sale up to 7,100, but the following year it dropped to 5,500, and in 1839 it fell below 2,300, nor until 1847 did it again reach 4,000 ; but the year of revolutions, 1848, brought it up to 5,400, while the Exhibition year, 1851, increased the sale to 7,600, and in 1854, the year of the Crimean War, the sale exceeded 8,000.
The fluctuation of the sale was largely due to the conservative policy of its owners, who " ignored some of the requisites of a really sound and thriving journal. One example of this may be cited in its reluctance to lower its price in accordance with the tendencies of the age."
The price had varied from 3|rf. to Id., then declining to 4rf., at which figure it remained until 1895, when it was reduced to 2d. In 1908 it joined the penny press.
The Sunday papers, although very strenu- ous in the matter of obtaining early news, have not usually taken a strong party line in politics, one of the exceptions being The Weekly Dispatch, started in 1801, which, under the control of Alderman Harmer, "became a vigorous advocate of reform," and under his management obtained a circulation of over 51,000. This, like all the Sunday papers, had bad times, and when Ashton Dilke pur- chased it in 1875 it was in very low water. Under his control it became a thoroughly independent exponent of advanced Radical opinions, and an honest and enterprising working-class paper ; my brother, Edward James Francis, ably seconded him in the business management, and the sale increased so rapidly that fresh offices had to be taken and now machinery provided.
The Observer obtained great prestige during
the Crimean War, as the Government, instead
of publishing a special Gazette on the arrival
of dispatches on the Sunday, sent the news
to The Observer. Strangely enough, most of
the news arrived on that day, commencing
with the battle of the Alma, fought on the
20th of September, 1854. The excitement
in London that Sunday was great, as news
came from Paris that the Emperor, while
reviewing the troops, had received the dis-
patch, and shouted out, " Sebastopol est
prise ! " This, however, was found in a day
or two to be premature.
Until the declaration of war the sale of Sunday papers had, with some notable ex- ceptions, been limited, and the attempt mede in 1898 by two daily papers to have a seven- day issue was discouraged by the public. At several Nonconformist chapels reso- lutions were passed after the Sunday evening service not to subscribe for such papers^ as it was felt that their publication would interfere to a marked degree with the day of rest. The issue of the Monday morning paper involves, of course, a certain amount of Sunday work. There used to be one- notable instance of a provincial daily paper with a large sale that was produced without any Sunday labour, but this I believe to be the sole exception. The sale of The Observer^ in common with that of the other Sunday papers, has gone up by leaps and bounds since the war. While the sale in] 1913 averaged 72,000, that for May 28th of the present year was 215,500.
To Mr. Garvinwe offer our deep sympathy in his sorrow for the loss of his only son, Lieut. Gerard Garvin, killed at the battle of the Somme on the night of July 22nd. He was only twenty, and The Observer of the 30th ult. contains an essay on Turenne,. written by him in the trenches.
JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS.
INSCRIPTIONS IN THE PARISH
CHURCH OF ST. MARY, BATTERSEA..
Abstracts made in July, 1914.
NORTH SIDE.
1. Children of William and Alicia Maria Connor, of this parish. Edward Henry, b. 1835, d. 1845,. Jane Isabella, b. 1844, d. 1846. Caroline Stanley, b. 1846, d. 1847. Robert Eden, b. 1847, d. 1879.
2. James Franck, Esq., M.D., F.B.S., Inspector- General of Hospitals, d. Jan. 27, 1843, a. 74. ^
3. James Spice, fifty years Parish Clerk of Battersea, 1851-1901, b. Jan. 5, 1817, d. Jan. 21, 1901.
4. Frances, relict of Mr. James Bull, d. June 14, 1738, a. 62. John, s. of Mr. John Bull, d. Aug. 20, 1738, a. 19.
