It was in the middle of the nineteenth century, on the 1st of November,
1848, that William Henry Smith II opened a bookstore at Euston station, the London terminus for the London North-West railway which
itself had opened a little over a decade previously. Smith, who had been
born in 1825, was not the first member of the family to enter into the
news trade and bookselling business: his grandfather, Henry Walton,
operated a small “newswalk” delivering papers in Berkeley Square,
while his father, the original William Henry, opened a reading room
in the Strand in 1821. In the 1810s, the news trade in Britain had been
stagnating, due in part to the imposition of a penny in duty by the government but also rising costs as newspapers grew in size.
1
As the 1820s
and 1830s progressed, however, the government and middle classes became increasingly concerned with the wider character of the population.
Some, such as Joseph Livesay and Charles Knight, began cheap publications such as the Moral Reformer and Penny Magazine in order to
provide a more wholesome diet of information for the “lower orders”
that would both improve their education and promote social harmony;
others, such as James Mill, argued that the press could act as a safety
valve for popular protests. Both arguments had their appeal to those in
power, and by 1836, the government had reduced Stamp Duty before
removing it altogether in 1855.
2
Under the increasingly prosperous conditions for the news trade as the nineteenth century progressed, William
Henry senior was eventually well placed to prosper, especially as a decline in taxes was accompanied by technological developments which
allowed newspaper publishers to increase printing rates from 250 copies
per hour to between 1,100 and 1,800 following the invention of Koenig’s
steam printing press. By 1828, the further improvements introduced by
Augustus Applegath for his flatbed printing press installed at The Times
meant that more than 4,000 sheets could be printed each hour – a rate
that increased to 8,000 when he developed a working rotary press.
3
By
moving to the Strand, Smith was able to take advantage of a series of
factors: proximity to Fleet Street, where the papers were printed, as well
as Somerset House where they were stamped and, finally, the General
Post Office where copies could be loaded onto mail and stage coaches to
2 Distribute and Be Damned
1848, that William Henry Smith II opened a bookstore at Euston station, the London terminus for the London North-West railway which
itself had opened a little over a decade previously. Smith, who had been
born in 1825, was not the first member of the family to enter into the
news trade and bookselling business: his grandfather, Henry Walton,
operated a small “newswalk” delivering papers in Berkeley Square,
while his father, the original William Henry, opened a reading room
in the Strand in 1821. In the 1810s, the news trade in Britain had been
stagnating, due in part to the imposition of a penny in duty by the government but also rising costs as newspapers grew in size.
1
As the 1820s
and 1830s progressed, however, the government and middle classes became increasingly concerned with the wider character of the population.
Some, such as Joseph Livesay and Charles Knight, began cheap publications such as the Moral Reformer and Penny Magazine in order to
provide a more wholesome diet of information for the “lower orders”
that would both improve their education and promote social harmony;
others, such as James Mill, argued that the press could act as a safety
valve for popular protests. Both arguments had their appeal to those in
power, and by 1836, the government had reduced Stamp Duty before
removing it altogether in 1855.
2
Under the increasingly prosperous conditions for the news trade as the nineteenth century progressed, William
Henry senior was eventually well placed to prosper, especially as a decline in taxes was accompanied by technological developments which
allowed newspaper publishers to increase printing rates from 250 copies
per hour to between 1,100 and 1,800 following the invention of Koenig’s
steam printing press. By 1828, the further improvements introduced by
Augustus Applegath for his flatbed printing press installed at The Times
meant that more than 4,000 sheets could be printed each hour – a rate
that increased to 8,000 when he developed a working rotary press.
3
By
moving to the Strand, Smith was able to take advantage of a series of
factors: proximity to Fleet Street, where the papers were printed, as well
as Somerset House where they were stamped and, finally, the General
Post Office where copies could be loaded onto mail and stage coaches to
2 Distribute and Be Damned