The London Gazetteis one of the officialjournals of recordorgovernment gazettesof theGovernment of the United Kingdom,and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published.The Gazetteis not a conventional newspaper offering general news coverage. It does not have a large circulation.
 | |
 ALondon Gazettereprint of its front page from 3–10 September 1666, reporting on theGreat Fire of London | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Founded | 7 November 1665 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Website | thegazette |
Other official newspapers of the UK government areThe Edinburgh GazetteandThe Belfast Gazette,which, apart from reproducing certain materials of nationwide interest published inThe London Gazette,also contain publications specific toScotlandandNorthern Ireland,respectively. In turn,The London Gazettecarries not only notices of UK-wide interest, but also those relating specifically to entities or people in England and Wales. However, certain notices that are only of specific interest to Scotland or Northern Ireland are also required to be published inThe London Gazette.
TheLondon,EdinburghandBelfast Gazettesare published byTSO(The Stationery Office) on behalf ofHis Majesty's Stationery Office.They are subject toCrown copyright.
The London Gazetteclaims to be the oldest survivingEnglish newspaperand the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK, having been first published on 7 November 1665 asThe Oxford Gazette.[1][2]The claim to being oldest is also made by theStamford Mercury(1712) andBerrow's Worcester Journal(1690).[3][4]
Current publication
editThe London Gazetteis published each weekday, except forbank holidays.Notices for the following, among others, are published:
- Granting ofroyal assentto bills of theParliament of the United Kingdom,theScottish Parliament,theSeneddand theNorthern Ireland Assembly
- The issuance ofwritsof election when avacancyoccurs in theHouse of Commons
- Appointments to certain public offices
- Commissionsin the Armed Forces and subsequent promotion of officers
- Corporate and personalinsolvency
- Granting of awards ofhonoursand military medals
- Changes of namesor ofcoats of arms
- Royalproclamationsand other declarations
His Majesty's Stationery Officehas digitised all issues of The Gazette, and these are available online.[5]
The official Gazettes are published byThe Stationery Office.The content is available in a number ofmachine-readableformats, includingXML(delivery by email/FTP) and XML/RDFaviaAtom feed.[6]
History
edit
The London Gazettewas first published asThe Oxford Gazetteon 7 November 1665.Charles IIand the Royal Court had moved toOxfordto escape theGreat Plague of London,andcourtierswere unwilling to touch London newspapers for fear of contagion. TheGazettewas "Published by Authority" byHenry Muddiman,and its first publication is noted bySamuel Pepysin hisdiary.The King returned to London as the plague dissipated, and theGazettemoved too, with the first issue ofThe London Gazette(labelled No. 24) being published on 5 February 1666.[7]TheGazettewas not a newspaper in the modern sense: it was sent by post to subscribers, not printed for sale to the general public.[8]
Her Majesty's Stationery Officetook over the publication of theGazettein 1889. Publication of theGazettewas transferred to the private sector in 2006, under government supervision, when HMSO was sold and renamedThe Stationery Office.[9]
Dates before 1 January 1752
editUntilCalendar (New Style) Act 1750came into effect on 1 January 1752(N.S.),theGazettewas published with a date based on theJulian calendarwith the start of year as 25 March. (Modern secondary sources may adjust the start of the calendar year during this period to 1 January, while retaining the original day and month. Using this adjustment, an issue with a printed date of 24 March 1723(O.S.)will be reported as being published in 1724 – the samesolar yearas an issue published two days later, on 26 March 1724.)
"Gazetted"
editIn time of war, dispatches from the various conflicts are published inThe London Gazette.Soldiers who arementioned in despatcheswill also be named in the Gazette. When members of the armed forces are promoted, and these promotions are published here, the person is said to have been "gazetted".
Being "gazetted" (or "in the gazette" ) also meant having official notice of one's bankruptcy published,[10]as in the classic ten-line poem comparing the stolid tenant farmer of 1722 to the lavishly spending faux-genteel farmers of 1822:[11]
Notices of engagement and marriage were also formerly published in theGazette.
Colonial gazettes
editGazettes, modelled onThe London Gazette,were issued for most British colonial possessions.[citation needed]Many of these continued after independence, and to the present day.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^"No. 6231".The London Gazette.4 January 1723. p. 1.;"No. 6257".The London Gazette.4 April 1724. p. 1.
- ^"No. 1".The Oxford Gazette.7 November 1665. p. 1.
- ^"The Rutland & Stamford Mercury".Archived fromthe originalon 20 April 2008.
- ^"Berrow's Worcester Journal – History of the newspaper".Worcester News.Newsquest.Archivedfrom the original on 7 November 2021.Retrieved25 October2013.
- ^"Search Result".thegazette.co.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 6 December 2017.Retrieved26 June2015.
- ^"Data Re-use".The London Gazette.Archivedfrom the original on 27 May 2020.Retrieved10 December2015.
- ^"No. 24".The London Gazette.5 February 1666. p. 1.
- ^McSmith, Andy (30 December 2013)."Yet another end of an era: 'The London Gazette', the UK's most venerable publication, goes online".The Independent.London.Archivedfrom the original on 18 June 2022.Retrieved5 November2021.
- ^Harrington, Ben (25 April 2006)."Stationery Office sale may net £100m".The Daily Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2022.Retrieved3 December2018.
- ^"Bankruptcy Act".Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).United Kingdom: Lords. 26 June 1843. col. 365.Archived5 November 2021 at theWayback Machine
- ^ByWilliam Hone(1827); published by Hunt and Clarke.
External links
edit
- London,EdinburghandBelfast Gazettesofficial site
- Works by The London GazetteatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
