The ''Surrey Comet'' is a weekly local newspaper covering the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

, in South West London, and surrounding areas. It is now a free sheet but can also be purchased. It was founded in 1854 and is among the oldest London newspapers and the oldest newspaper covering Surrey. The newspaper is published once a week, every Friday, and is sold in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stadiu ...

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

Old Malden Old Malden is a ward of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London, south west of Charing Cross. Malden Manor is an alternative name for part of Old Malden, popularised by the railway company that made up this name for its st ...

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South London, South West London, England. It lies in the Boroughs of London, London boroughs of London Borough of Sutton, Sutton and Royal Borough of Kingston, Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Ep ...

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

and

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. Th ...

History

The ''Surrey Comet'' was founded in 1854 by Thomas Philpott, a printer from Surbiton, after he experienced a religious vision. He aimed to "expose the bad and promote the good". Subjects for the paper included The Crimean War and the cholera epidemic of 1854. Philpott was forced to sell to Russell Knapp in 1859 due to ill health. When Knapp died suddenly in 1867 his wife Mary Ann ran the business for 33 years, before merging with rival operator and former Comet editor William Drewett, who ran the ''Kingston and Surbiton News'', forming Knapp Drewett. The ''Kingston and Surbiton News'' continued as the mid-week Surrey Comet, published on a Wednesday until at least the late 1980s. In 1982, the ''Comet'' was acquired by Argus Press and moved from its historic home in Church Street, Kingston, to a former furniture factory in Lower Ham Road (later renamed Skerne Road). In 1993 it was bought by Reed Regional Newspapers, who in turn sold it to

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...

, a management buyout group in 1996. During its existence it has interviewed notable personalities, including a 34-year-old

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...

on the development of his 'electronic brain' at the nearby National Physical Laboratory in

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...

Recent events

Today, the ''Surrey Comet'' is owned by

with an office in

Sutton, London Sutton is the principal town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It lies on the lower slopes of the North Downs, and is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough. It is south-south west of Charing Cross ...

. It is sold for 55p at newsagents and other shops in and around the borough. It has an average distribution of 5,777 per issue, including 2,348 copies distributed at colleges, libraries and cinemas.Circulation certificate July to December 2012
Retrieved 23 September 2013. The ''Surrey Comet'' has a number of sister publications, including the weekly ''

Richmond and Twickenham Times The ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'' is a weekly local newspaper that was established in 1873 and is published on Fridays. It covers the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London and surrounding areas. It is delivered free to ...

'', the '' Elmbridge Comet'' and the free

Your Local Guardian ''Waltham Forest Guardian'' now known as '' Your Local Guardian'', is a weekly local newspaper sold every Thursday in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest and Redbridge. The newspaper's weekly circulation is 2,508 copies, according to ABC fig ...

series, including the '' Kingston Guardian''.

References

External links

The ''Surrey Comet''
{{Newspapers in London London newspapers Media and communications in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Newspapers published in London