Bromley Borough Local History Society

Bromley Record 1858 - 1913

The Bromley Record Newspaper - 1858 to 1913

On the following pages are the scanned images of Bromley’s first regular newspaper, covering a period from the coming of the first railway up to almost the start of the First World War. This was a time of momentous change, from a somewhat depressed agricultural based economy and staging post on the main road from London to Rye, to a bustling and commercially busy and successful municipal borough.

The paper was first produced, price one penny, on June 1st 1858 by Edward Strong, a local printer who sought to take advantage of the new railway whose schedules featured prominently in his monthly publication. The newspaper also relied heavily on advertisements which in themselves are of great interest. They reflect the changes in the town just as much as the reports from the various organisations which gradually

arose, both to manage the town’s expansion and to meet increasing aspirations for improvement and leisure. The range of topics was eclectic, covering as it did both local and national or even international events as well as philosophical musings, natural history and varied reflective pieces probably culled from other publications. Reports of political, administrative and social meetings, court cases, the weather and sporting

activity all added to the mix. Because the paper was set up over the month, some news is reported on one page, only to be updated or even contradicted on another! Not the least attraction of these fascinating and entertaining reports and stories is the random way they are assembled, life and death following each other without pause.

Strong started his printing business in 1857 in Bromley High Street on the northern

corner of the White Hart coaching inn, now the site of modern shops, the location

remembered today by the nearby White Hart Slip, leading into the shopping centre. In

1865 the business moved to 14 Market Square, on the east side. In addition to the

Bromley Record, Edward Strong started publishing local street directories of Bromley

and surrounding areas from 1866 which continued into the 20th century. From 1867

these included a two-inch to the mile map of the area. He authored A History of

Bromley in 1858 (price 3s -15p), although it was largely based on previous histories with

a little updating of recent events.

Born in 1809 in Hampshire, he died aged 66 on 20th September 1875 knowing his paper, with a circulation approaching 4000 a month had been a great success. This was bequeathed to his widow Elizabeth and family members. She died, aged 75, on 12th December 1879 at 37 Freelands Road and the eldest son, Thomas Edward, became sole proprietor until his death on 7th March 1886, aged 51. Both Edward and Thomas Strong were buried in the same grave in Bromley Parish Church. The picture was lablelled Mr & Mrs Edward Strong and family but it is not entirely cleare who they all are.

Publication of the Bromley Record by E. Strong and Sons continued until 1902 when the

rights were sold to a print-works in Sherman Road. Subsequently taken over by a larger

publishing group, the final issue was in December 1913.

These files were originally scanned and transferred to a set of four CDs in 2016 and made available to members and the public. We recognise that these days many people do not have access to the necessary equipment and have therefore decided to make it generally available on our web site. Each file covers one or more years, the arrangement following how the newspaper was originally collected in bound copies.

We thank Bromley Local Studies library for making the original material available, and the late Jean Tresize for providing us with the necessary funding for copying.

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