Welsh Journals

The 'Cambrian' The First Newspaper Published in Wales (Part Two Conclusion) by Sandra Thomas The first part of this history of the Cambrian newspaper appeared in pages 58 to 68 of volume 54 (2003) of Gower. It began with the formation in 1803 of a company intended to publish a weekly newspaper in Swansea. That newspaper appeared in January 1804 as the Cambrian, the first to be published in Wales, and this account of the venture marks the bi-centenary of those historic events. It follows the subsequent history of the newspaper, its owners and its editors, to its demise in 1930. The first part ended with the year 1852, when 66,000 copies were produced. The story now continues. The numbering of notes and sources continues the sequence begun in part 1. In 1852 John Williams made his eldest son, John Walters Williams, a partner in the business and various improvements were undertaken. The following year the newspaper was enlarged to eight pages of six columns each, making it one of the largest newspapers in Britain. The extra space was filled by railway guides now that the railway had reached Swansea; more items of local interest; agricultural matters; correspondence and literary articles. It was hoped that these enhancements would attract addi- tional readers to counter the competition by rival local newspapers. A further improvement was the installation of a steam press made by Cowper of Manchester, reputedly the first steam press to be used in Wales.19 The older presses were slow, printing one side of a sheet at a time, whereas a steam press made production quicker so that late items of news could be included if necessary. However, a steam press was a very expensive item and perhaps a retrograde step was to increase the price to 5d per copy, probably to help meet the extra costs of these improvements. Unfortun- ately, the partnership also ended in November 1853 when J.W. Williams left to work elsewhere in the county, leaving his father to manage the business together with its bookselling and stationery outlets. The Cambrian published more production figures and compared them with those of its rivals. In 1854 it had produced 79,000 copies; the Glam- organ Herald 58,200; the Pembrokeshire Herald 42,800; and the Milford