The Essex County Standard is a weekly newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, published in Colchester, Essex

Colchester

Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

. As of January 2011, it has an average circulation of 16,614 per issue. It is currently owned by the Newsquest Media Group, part of the American Gannett Company

Gannett Company

Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...

.

History

The Essex County Standard was founded in January 1831, then called the Essex Standard. It was to be a weekly Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 paper and "a Standard around which the loyal, the religious, and the well-affected of our County may rally". Originally printed in Chelmsford

Chelmsford

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...

, it was acquired by a John Taylor in September 1831, who moved it to new premises in Colchester. The paper was sold to Edward Benham, T. Ralling, and Henry B. Harrison in 1866 though Ralling soon relinquished his interest. The paper was enlarged to eight pages in 1873.

Managers of the paper dropped the price to 1d (half a new pence) in 1891, causing a jump in circulation and in 1892, changed the title to Essex County Standard. A series of changes in editor saw control of the paper ultimately fall into the hands of the Benham family: first Edward, then his wife Mary; next their sons William

William Gurney Benham

Sir William Gurney Benham Kt, JP, FSA, FRHistS, was a newspaper editor, published author and three times Mayor of Colchester.Gurney Benham was born on 16 February 1859 and educated at the Merchant Taylors' School until 1873, and thereafter at Colchester Royal Grammar School, a school about which he...

 and Charles

Charles Benham

Charles Edwin Benham JP was a journalist, editing for many years the Essex County Standard, a published author of works such as Essex Ballads and an amateur scientist-cum-inventor, which led him to create Benham's top, which was named after him....

; and finally William's son Hervey

Hervey Benham

Hervey W G Benham, 1910 - 1987, was the pioneering proprietor of Essex County Newspapers, a prolific author of books on Essex and the East Coast, an accomplished musician and a significant benefactor...

. In 1964 the paper, then printed by web-offset lithography

Lithography

Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...

 (a process pioneered by the Benhams and fellow newspaper proprietor Arnold Quick), was described by Printing World (a trade paper) as Britain's best produced weekly newspaper. Benham Newspapers Ltd. merged with Quick's Clacton based publishing company in 1970 to form Essex County Newspapers Ltd.