Gable Ender - Napoleon and bigamy were headlines of the day

Pictured is the old prison in Montrose being demolished in the 1950s. The site is now occupied by the car park of the George Hotel.

The first ever edition of this newspaper, then of course with its much longer title covering every burgh in the county, was published on Friday, January 11, 1811.

The first issue was free while the price of the second issue was, for those days, a massive 6d (2.5pence). Newspapers were heavily taxed and the tax paid was 3.5d per copy.

On the front page, which consisted generally of advertisements and public notices, included a notice announcing that from February 1 a light for the assistance of mariners would be shown from the Bell Rock. In the early editions there is little or no ‘local intelligence’, as it was called, relating stories of local events. Internationally the big story was about the Napoleonic War and in particular the Iberian Campaign.

Although we are always being told about rising crime figures, a number of robberies and instances of fraud was reported, although these represented a nationwide problem. One of the more common types of fraud was the passing of counterfeit coins.

One example is of a ‘serving’ girl purchasing candle wax for her mistress, using a pound note and asking that all the change be given in shillings (a 5p coin). The girl returned saying that her mistress insisted she had been given a guinea (amounting to £1.05). If she returned the wax and change could she have the pound note back to show her mistress? The shopkeeper agreed, realising after the girl left that the returned ‘change’ consisted entirely of counterfeit coins.

Many of the accidents described are dreadful. Open fires and boiling water often played a part in the horrific deaths of people. Road accidents and fatalities were common, with horses and carts rather than the motor car. Reports of robberies or accidents seem to be particularly sensitive about the backgrounds of those involved, often making judgements about respectability based on dress or manner. At the Court of Session a man was sentenced to seven years’ transportation for having two wives, while one of his wives was sent to prison for one year for having two husbands.

But the item that caught my eye was a dismissive notice from the editor; “We have been obliged to postpone our Private Correspondence which contained nothing of importance.”