The Dumfries Courier is a weekly newspaper published in Annan,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It was founded in 1809 by Rev. Dr Henry Duncan (1774-1846) as ''The Dumfries and Galloway Courier'' and is currently published by the DNG Media Group as the ''Dumfries Courier''.

History

Henry Duncan, minister of

Ruthwell Ruthwell is a village and parish on the Solway Firth between Dumfries and Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, gave Ruthwell to his nephew, Sir William Murray, confirmed to Sir John Murray, of Cockpool, in ...

and creator of the

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits. They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providing access to savings products to al ...

, founded the ''Courier'' in order to compete with the ''Dumfries Weekly Journal'', which he described as "an organ of public opinion" with "neither weight nor authority". He obtained his financial backing from his brothers, who were shipping merchants in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Duncan owned and edited the newspaper until 1817, when he requested that John McDiarmid take over the editorship and become a partner in the business. Both editors displayed a moderate-to-liberal political stance, demonstrated by lengthy commentaries on

prison reform Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes ...

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

Catholic emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

and education. After McDiarmid's death in 1852, the editorship was taken over by his son, William R. M’Diarmid. In 1884, the ''Courier'' was purchased by local conservatives and merged with the ''Dumfriesshire and Galloway Herald and Register'' in order to form the ''Dumfries and Galloway Courier and Herald''. In 1939, it ceased publication owing to wartime paper shortages. In 1977, the newspaper, still owned by Dumfriesshire Newspapers Limited, restarted publication under the title ''The Dumfries Courier'', sharing its online presence with DNG Media's other regional titles.

Operations

The paper initially ran bi-weekly and was distributed on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a price of six pence, but became weekly from 1821. When the paper resumed production in 1977, it did so as a free newspaper.

Notable reporters

* Robert Carruthers, later of the '' Inverness Courier'' * James Pagan, later of the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

''.

References

{{Scottish newspapers Publications established in 1809 Newspapers published in Scotland 19th century in Scotland 1809 establishments in Scotland

History

Operations

Notable reporters

See also

References