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May 16 2005 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

The Examiner started life in a little room above a shop. On the first day of Local Newspaper Week, STEPHEN CARTER charts our early days

IT WAS people-power that led to the birth of the Examiner. In 1850, would-be readers were clamouring for a new local paper.

They already had newly-launched rival the Huddersfield Chronicle, but there was a definite demand for more.

London man Hans Bush contacted Richard Brook, a bookseller and printer in Huddersfield, offering to supply him with a half-filled paper of national news with space to insert local news and other information.

Local Liberal party members in Huddersfield and Holmfirth, led by Joseph Woodhead - who would become the Examiner's first editor - took out shares.

Brook and a printer called Henry Roebuck of King Street, were sent to London where they bought a printing press.

Woodhead, who at this time was involved in the woollen manufacturing trade, agreed to write articles.

At this point he didn't see himself as an editor - he was asked to become secretary though he'd never actually never been inside a newspaper office.

He didn't get a salary but was paid £50 expenses for the writing he did.

The first Examiner, a weekly, appeared on Wednesday, September 6, 1851. The paper was initially called the Huddersfield and Holmfirth Examiner and its premises were in Kirkgate - a single first-floor room above a shop owned and run by newsagent and bookseller Edward Clayton.

In the early days, Woodhead used to walk the six miles from his Holmfirth home into Huddersfield with proofs and other paper. He would then walk back, too.

It's suggested that there simply wasn't enough money to pay for transport for the boss.

This could well be true, as we know that on one occasion his wife travelled to Manchester to "pledge" her husband's gold watch to raise funds to pay staff wages!

Things didn't run smoothly at first.

The hand press frequently broke down, there were problems with relying on half the paper from London and the supply wasn't good enough.

Bush was paid off. The shareholders' capital was exhausted and Woodhead resigned.

The Liberals rallied round and Woodhead agreed to stay on with sufficient financial promises made to cover outstanding debts.

But two years on, despite the hitches, the future was bright.

Examiner sales topped those of the Bradford Observer, founded in 1834, and the Huddersfield Chronicle.

Holmfirth was dropped from the paper's name and the Examiner moved into new offices in Ramsden Street.

By the 1870s, the two rival weekly papers in the town were still in business.

And both the Examiner and the Huddersfield Chronicle, owned by George Harper, had their sights set on establishing dailies.

Harper announced he'd launch a daily paper from Monday, February 6, 1871 - and the Examiner date for its own daily was set for January 31.

Then, the Chronicle revealed in its Saturday, January 28 issue that it was bringing the date forward to the day before the Examiner's launch.

Possibly the Chronicle thought that it would be impossible to anticipate a Monday morning paper but Mr Woodhead was persuaded to spring into action by his wife - he had only left the office at 6am after a 20-hour stint to get the weekly paper out - and he duly returned to the office where he gathered staff who had also been at work until 6 o'clock that morning.

The first daily Examiner appeared on the streets at 5pm that day, beating the Chronicle to be the first to produce a daily paper in Huddersfield!

It was time for another move to new, plush, specially-commissioned offices on the corner of Ramsden Street and Victoria Lane, where the paper remained for nearly 120 years.

KEY DATES:

1905 The business became a limited company and linotype machines replaced hand-type setting. Joseph Woodhead was no longer the sole proprietor of the Examiner but a shareholder. Management was handed over to his two sons, Ernest and Arthur.

1929 Offices were extended into part of the adjacent Huddersfield Borough Club premises.

1946 The Examiner began employing its own photographers.

1950 Electronic picture link set up with the Press Association, enabling access to news from all over the world.

1953 News appeared on the front page for the first time. Beforehand the front page was taken up with adverts and details of the films and shows to be seen at cinemas and theatres.

1991 Kenneth Baker, then the Home Secretary, officially opened the £2.5m Queen Street South premises on April 19.

1993 Examiner taken over by Trinity International Holdings.

1999 A merger of Trinity plc and the rival Mirror Group created Trinity Mirror plc of which the Examiner remains a part. Trinity Mirror is the biggest newspaper publisher in the UK and has over 260 titles.

2001 The Examiner celebrated its 150th anniversary. Prince Charles came to visit.

2004 The Examiner changed size to compact!