Everything about London Gazette totally explained
The
London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the
British government, and the most important among such official journals in the UK, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published. The
London Gazette is the oldest surviving
English newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the
United Kingdom, having been first published on
7 November 1665. It isn't a conventional newspaper offering general news coverage, and doesn't have a large circulation.
Other official newspapers of the UK government are the
Edinburgh and
Belfast Gazettes, which, apart from reproducing certain materials of nationwide interest published in the
London Gazette, also contain publications specific to
Scotland and
Northern Ireland, respectively.
In turn, the
London Gazette not only carries notices of UK-wide interest, but also those relating specifically to entities or people in
England. However, certain notices that are only of specific interest to
Scotland or
Northern Ireland are also required to be published in the
London Gazette.
Today
In 2007 the
London Gazette is still published each weekday, except for
Bank Holidays. Notices for the following, among others, are published:
Her Majesty's Stationery Office is currently digitising these records and the years 1752–1998 are currently available online.
The official Gazettes are published by
The Stationery Office.
History
The
London Gazette was first published as the
Oxford Gazette on
7 November 1665.
Charles II and the Royal Court had moved to
Oxford to escape the
Great Plague of London, and
courtiers were unwilling to touch, let alone read, London newspapers for fear of contagion. The
Gazette was "Published by Authority" by
Henry Muddiman, and its first publication is noted by
Samuel Pepys in his
diary. The King returned to London as the plague dissipated, and the
Gazette moved too, with the first issue of the
London Gazette (labeled No. 24) being published on
5 February 1666. The
Gazette wasn't a newspaper in the modern sense: it was sent in manuscript by post to subscribers, not printed for sale to the general public.
Her Majesty's Stationery Office took over the publication of the
Gazette in 1889.
Traditions
In time of
war, dispatches from the various conflicts are published in the
London Gazette. People referred to are said to have been
mentioned in dispatches. When members of the
armed forces are promoted, and these promotions are published here, the person is said to have been “gazetted”.
Being "gazetted" (or "in the gazette") sometimes also meant having official notice of one's bankruptcy published, as in the classic ten-line poem comparing the stolid yeomen of 1722 to the lavishly-spending faux-genteel farmers of 1822
» Man to the plough;
Wife to the cow;
» Girl to the yarn;
Boy to the barn;
» And your rent will be netted.
» Man tally-ho;
Miss piano;
» Wife silk and satin;
Boy Greek and Latin;
» And you'll all be
Gazetted.
The phrase "gazetted fortune hunter" is also probably derived from this. Notices of engagement and marriage also used to be published in the
Gazette.
Colonial Gazettes
There are equivalent Government Gazettes for the following current/former
colonies or
protectorates. They are available at the
National Archives.
Further Information
Get more info on 'London Gazette'.
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