Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement


 

Our History

George Baxter, father of the Advertiser's founder
TODAY'S Sussex Express has a long and illustrious history. The story begins in 1837, and a newspaper known as the Sussex Agricultural Express. The Agricultural Express was published by Lewes-based John Baxter, father of the artist George Baxter. During his successful career, George painted a portrait of The Queen - "at which Her Majesty expressed her highest approbation" - and invented the oil-colour printing process that made reproductions of paintings available on a mass scale. John Baxter was well known locally as a generous and helpful man, and many of his staff remained with him for whole decades. In 1842, the offices of the Sussex Advertiser, published by the family of Lee, were destroyed by fire. Despite being his biggest rival, John Baxter promptly offered up his own resources to the Lees, in order that the Sussex Advertiser could continue its publication. In a circular sent to readers, the proprietor of the Advertiser, F. H. Lee, writes: Messrs. Baxters, in the most handsome manner and with a manly cordiality which will ever be remembered. . . placed at our disposal one of their printing offices, filled with type machines and everything requisite for the publication of a newspaper, and where our men are employed in preparing the Sussex Advertiser as usual. The Lees never recovered from the losses they incurred in the disaterous fire and the Advertiser ceased production in 1843. Arthur Lee joined the staff of the Sussex Agricultural Express and died in 1850, aged 63. Baxter was buried at All Saints in Lewes on November 20 1858. A local newpaper reported that he was "followed to the grave by upwards of forty persons employed in his establishment," and that "a number of highly respectable inhabitants of the town were present" at the funeral. George Baxter, the artist, died in an accident in 1863 when, as he was mounting a carriage outside the Mansion House, he fell in front of the horses. He died a severely impoverished man, and was buried in Christ Church, Forest Hill, where his epitaph reads: In fond remembrance of George Baxter, who was gifted as an artist with the highest qualities of taste, and was the sole inventor of oil colour printing, [dying] in the sure hope of a joyful resurrection.
John Baxter's death in 1858 came at a time when the Express circulation was at an astonishing 160,000, though the paper was published several times a week.
Responsibility for the newspaper was then passed down to John Baxter's grandson, W. E. Baxter, who was its successful proprietor for some thirty years. By 1888, business had grown enough for the firm to become a limited company, with W. E. Baxter as chairman of the board. Mr George Holman was appointed Manager and Secretary "at a salary of £200 per annum", and John Scott was made Office Clerk "at a salary of ten shillings a week". In 1889, canvassers were employed to recruit new subscribers to the now re-named Sussex Express. The most successful canvassers were rewarded with gifts of three pounds and five pounds. However, the "On and Off Book", which recorded the paper's circulation, reaveals that in the summer of 1890 the Sussex Express gained 103 new subscribers and lost 97. Canvassing, then, was met with limited success. The reputation for generosity, established by W. E. Baxter's grandfather, was maintained by the company's new management. The minutes of December 20 1889 record that: The question of Christmas gifts was discussed and it was resolved to continue the usual present to the men in the works of 7 lbs. of beef each, to the apprentices and clerks of 10 shillings each. . . Stilton cheese to officials at County Hall and the Town Clerk's office, and a doz. of Port to the Bank Clerks handling the firm's accounts. In 1914, the Sussex Express was sold to F. J. Parsons of Hastings. In 1938 it was merged with the Sussex County Herald, published by T. R. Beckett, the proprietors of the Sussex County Magazine.
The Hasings Press, pictured in the 1970s.
The overall management was composed of nominees from the two companies, and the Sussex Express and County Herald was printed at the Parsons works in Hastings. In 1917, W. E. Baxter Ltd., had decided to specialise in pedigree breed society printing. The move was successful and to this day Baxter's is well known among farmers throughout the country. In 1975, Parsons sold his half of the Sussex Express and County Herald to Morgan Grampian who, the following year, sold it on to Westminster Press. In 1977 the newspaper went tabloid. The firm was then sold to Robert Breare in 1984, who bought a press with a new full colour facility, and installed computerised typesetting.
Lines of desks were donned with computers and monitors in the 1980s.
Emap bought the Sussex Express and County Herald in 1987, and in 1991 computerised the whole opperation, for the first time allowing reporters to directly input their copy. The current owner of the Sussex Express, Johnston Publishing, bought out the Emap news group in 1996, and the Expressbecame part of the southern division of the company. Johnston Publishing, Sussex Newspapers and the Sussex Express are committed to maintaining the high standard of reporting established by John Baxter back in 1837.
 
 

Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.