Guide to the Records and Collections of The Times (as filmed by the AJCP), 27 October 1849-November 1964

Summary

Collection number:

M2396 - M2397

Creator:

Times Newspapers Ltd.. Record Office

Extent:

68 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Manager's letter-books 1852-1914. Subjects include: appointment of colonial judges; Australian railways; British-Australian communications; republican doctrines in Australia; Australian politics; attacks on British colonial policy; possible annexation of Fiji; annexation of Cook Island; visit of American Fleet to Australia and New Zealand in 1908; and White Australia policy. Main correspondents are M. Morris, J. MacDonald, C.M. Bell, F.H. Kitchin, A. Michie, A. Garran, F.W. Haddon and A. Jose.

Correspondence 1920-1960 concerning the operation of its Australian office.

Correspondence and agreements 1912-1956 of the Australia and Times News Service. Correspondents include K. Murdoch, H. Denison, H. Campbell Jones and L. Dumas.

Papers 1849-1874 of John T. Delane, editor of The Times, referring to convict transportation, establishment of colony of Queensland and colonial politics. Correspondents include B. Howes, G. Elder and Sir James Fergusson.

Papers 1932-1938 of H.A. McClure Smith of Sydney Morning Herald referring to British foreign policy.

Biographical / Historical:

Members of the Walter Family were the proprietors of The Times from 1785 until 1908. The newspaper was founded by John Walter (1739-1812) in London in January 1785, originally with the title Daily Universal Register. Under his son, John Walter (1776-1847) and his editors Thomas Barnes (1785-1841) and John Delane (1817-1879), The Times achieved its pre-eminence among British newspapers, with its reputation for authoritative news, anonymous journalism, political and financial independence, and its extraordinary influence on public opinion. By 1850 its circulation was more than double the combined total of its five London rivals. Other factors in its continued success in the second half of the nineteenth century were its financial prosperity and its investment in new printing technology.

Although Delane was one of the greatest newspaper editors, he had relatively few dealings with The Times' foreign correspondents. It was the manager of The Times, Mowbray Morris (1847-1873), John MacDonald (1873-1889) and Charles Moberly Bell (1890-1911), who corresponded with correspondents overseas and played the chief part in determining the paper's foreign and imperial policies. When Morris first took up his position there were very few permanent representatives in foreign cities, but by 1860 there were over 12 staff based in Paris, Vienna, Constantinople, Madrid, St Petersburg and other cities. By the later years of the century there were The Times correspondents in Washington, San Francisco, Cairo, Calcutta, Bombay, Peking and elsewhere. The managers sometimes used travelling reporters for colonial news, such as Flora Shaw (the first woman on the permanent staff of The Times), but generally they relied on local journalists such as Andrew Garran, who edited the Sydney Morning Herald from 1873 to 1885. Arthur Jose was the first permanent representative of The Times in Australia (1904-1915).The Walter dynasty of proprietors ended in 1908 when The Times was bought by Alfred Harmsworth (1865-1922), Viscount Northcliffe. Following his death, members of the Astor Family owned the paper until 1967, when it was acquired by the Canadian-born Roy Thomson, Baron Thomson.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2299017] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Times Newspapers Ltd Record Office, London Bridge Street, London, England.

For more information see The Times. [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/]

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for Access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us