The ''Glasgow Argus'' was a Scottish newspaper, published biweekly from 1833 to 1847. It took a reforming editorial line, supporting

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

and opposing the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...

. The ''Argus'' was perceived as the paper of the supporters of the Glasgow merchant and politician James Oswald.

History

The Glasgow Argus was inaugurated at a meeting on 4 February 1833, chaired by Colin Dunlop of Tollcross,

Charles Tennant Charles Tennant (3 May 1768 – 1 October 1838) was a Scottish chemist and industrialist. He discovered bleaching powder and founded an industrial dynasty. Biography Charles Tennant was born at Laigh Corton, Alloway, Ayrshire, the sixth of thi ...

, George Crawfurd and James Lumsden. At this meeting, it was agreed that the business would be floated on the joint-stock principle. Two hundred shares were issued at a value of £20 each. Shareholders were only permitted to hold a maximum of ten shares. Initially, the journal was printed by Robert and

James Hedderwick James Hedderwick LLD (1814–1897) was a Scottish poet, journalist and newspaper proprietor. He founded the famous Glasgow newspaper, the ''Evening Citizen''. Life He was born on 18 January 1814 in Govan just west of Glasgow, the third son of J ...

, but in 1833, a printing department was created, ostensibly to save money. The first editor, William Weir, not only made the ''Argus'' the recognised organ of the "Clique", as Oswald's Whig and Liberal supporters were known, but pursued a radical editorial line of his own. Eventually in 1839 he was sacked for his radical stance on

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

, incompatible with the Whig views of the proprietors; Weir wished Whig parliamentary candidates to pledge immediate repeal of the Corn Laws. Weir had also upset the shareholders of the paper by printing material critical of leading Whigs including the

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

, Andrew Rutherfurd. At the time of the

1847 United Kingdom general election The 1847 United Kingdom general election was conducted between 29 July 1847 and 26 August 1847 and resulted in the Whigs in control of government despite candidates calling themselves Conservatives winning the most seats. The Conservatives were ...

, Charles Mackay disagreed with the paper's management on the choice of local Liberal candidate, and left the position of editor. Although the newspaper had been recently enlarged, it was still making a loss and it was decided to wind it up on 29 November 1847.

Editors

*1833–1839 William Weir, an Edinburgh advocate. He took a salary of £250 with 20% of the profits. He resigned in 1839 having been perceived as being too radical. He went on to be editor of the Daily News in London. *1839–1840

Thornton Leigh Hunt Thornton Leigh Hunt (10 September 1810 – 25 June 1873) was the first editor of the British daily broadsheet newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph''. Life Hunt was the son of the writer Leigh Hunt and his wife Marianne, ''née'' Kent. As a child ...

*1840 - 1844 William Lang *1844–1847

Charles Mackay Charles (or Charlie) Mackay, McKay, or MacKay may refer to: * Charles Mackay (author) (1814–1889), Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter * Charles McKay (1855–1883), American naturalist and explorer * Charles ...

*1847

John Hill Burton John Hill Burton FRSE (22 August 1809 – 10 August 1881) was a Scottish advocate, historian and economist. The author of ''Life and Correspondence of David Hume'', he was secretary of the Scottish Prison Board (1854–77), and Historiograph ...

Notes

{{Scottish newspapers Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Whigs (British political party) Glasgow Publications established in 1833 Newspapers published in Scotland Mass media in Glasgow 1833 establishments in Scotland Publications disestablished in 1847 1847 disestablishments in Scotland