A unique collection of historic newspapers spanning from the reign of Queen Victoria through to the election of President Trump has been donated to Monkton Combe School.
The archive of more than 50 newspapers and magazines includes a copy of the Western Morning News from 1880, a 1913 issue of the Daily Express reporting on the death of Captain Scott and an edition of the Bradford Telegraph and Argus from July 1969 covering the moon landings.
Other parts include every UK national newspaper from January 1, 2000, wrapped in brown paper on the day of purchase, a sealed last issue of The Times in broadsheet format from October 2004 and the final edition of the News of the World from July 2010.
Royal headlines also feature in the archive including the Coronation in 1953, the marriages of the Princes of Wales, York and Cambridge, the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, and the Queen’s Silver and Golden Jubilees in 1997 and 2002.
The collection has been donated by Bath resident Robin Fletcher, former editor of the national Sunday newspaper for Wales and evening newspapers in Northampton, Blackpool and Cardiff, who said he was ‘very pleased’ the archive was ‘going to a good home’.
Monkton Combe School Principal Chris Wheeler said, “As the way we consume news changes it is so important not to forget where we have come from. Schools are homes to history and we are delighted to have been entrusted with this fascinating collection”.