The Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle newspaper (formerly the Fulham Chronicle) started life on April 6, 1888, produced at an office in Walham Green

Walham Green

Walham Green is an area located on the border of Fulham and Chelsea , south-west London, United Kingdom. To the south is Parsons Green, south-west Fulham, north West Kensington, north-east West Brompton, east Chelsea and south-east is Sands End....

, Fulham

Fulham

Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...

. The first edition stated that the newspaper was set up "to supply the need which is felt in this district for a genuinely local journal." That philosophy has been maintained throughout the 122 years of publication.

First edition

The newspaper cost readers one halfpenny, earning the Chronicle the nickname Ha'penny Hot'un. Stories from the first edition included "Accident in Dawes Road", which told of a nasty accident between a young boy delivering milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

 and a ginger beer

Ginger beer

Ginger beer is a carbonated drink that is flavored primarily with ginger and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners.-History:Brewed ginger beer originated in England in the mid-18th century and became popular in Britain, the United States, and Canada, reaching a peak of popularity in the...

 van at a "dangerous corner" of Dawes Road, in Fulham. The title also contained several chapters from a fiction novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 entitled The Hillyars and the Burtons: A story of two families, by Henry Kingsley

Henry Kingsley

Henry Kingsley was an English novelist, brother of the better-known Charles Kingsley.Kingsley was born at Barnack rectory, Northamptonshire, son of the Rev. Charles Kingsley the elder, Mary, née Lucas. Charles Kingsley came of a long line of clergymen and soldiers, and in addition to the two...

.

Centenary edition

Over the years, the stories and the format have slowly changed. For the 100th anniversary, the Fulham Chronicle ran a special supplement on April 7, 1988, reminding readers of major news stories which had taken place since the launch of the newspaper.

Chronicle reporters have covered the major celebrations in Fulham on Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, the "devastation and horror" on the streets of Fulham during the Second World War and of course, the proud history of Fulham Football Club at Craven Cottage

Craven Cottage

Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....

.

The centenary edition of the paper featured a message from the Queen, which read: "I was very pleased to receive your kind message of loyal greetings, send on the occasion of the paper's Centenary.

"I send you, the staff and readers of the Fulham Chronicle, my warm congratulations on this notable anniversary, together with my best wishes for the future."

The 21st century

A major change to the newspaper was made in 2000, when the title was extended to the Fulham and Hammersmith

Hammersmith

Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...

 Chronicle, and in September 2008, a website was launched.

Then in January 2010 the Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle turned from a paid-for newspaper to a free paper with an increased distribution of 72,000, taking the paper's household penetration in the Hammersmith and Fulham borough from just over 20 per cent to nearly 99 per cent.

A new, updated website www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk was also launched when the newspaper turned free.

Ownership

The Fulham and Hammermsmith Chronicle is owned by Trinity Mirror

Trinity Mirror

Trinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...

 plc which also publishes the Daily Mirror.