Titchmarsh News in Print Since 1861

If you thought the Titchmarsh Times was the first and only regular publication produced in the village, think again! The monthly Titchmarsh Parish Magazine was first printed in 1861 – over 150 years ago – when Queen Victoria was on the throne.

Each issue included details of the births, deaths and marriages in the village alongside important dates and holidays. There would also be some kind of story or editorial marking recent events. In October 1866, for example, the magazine reported on the 5th annual Harvest Festival. That year the lesson was read by Revd S.C. Haines – Chaplain to the Lunatic Assylum in Northampton!

Fast forward some fifty years and in June/ July 1920 we find mention of the Church organ, “an unusually fine instrument, the like of which is seldom found in a village church”, being in need of “a thorough overhaul and tuning”, details of the Village Fete which was to feature Thrapston Town Band and “a great many competitions”, and a piece on Northampton General Hospital concerning its dire financial position; “The problem of Hospital Management has become acute owing to the greatly increased cost of evrything associated with its administration”. Nothing new then!

Thanks to the work and dedication of Sylvia Prestwich and Terry Higgins, over a thousand issues from 1861 can be downloaded from the website.

Browse the archive by selecting a year below. Note, this is a very large archive and may take time to load.