'News of the World' unearthed on Speyside
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A DUFFTOWN reader got a taste of the sensation and shock ‘The News of the World’ strove to provoke throughout its history when she opened up its last ever edition.
For the July 10 souvenir publication – the final copy following the phone hacking scandal – included an image of the front page of the Sunday paper’s first outing, published on October 1, 1843, and on sale priced at three pence.
Stuffed in a cupboard at Ann Robson’s house was a copy of the 168-year-old newspaper, discovered in a stable at the farm of her uncle, William Cran, at Rhynie.
“I didn’t get around to reading last Sunday’s paper until about 8pm, then I opened it up and there it was – a copy of the paper I have.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, that is the one I’ve got’, so I was away digging it out.
“On the old paper, it does say No 1, but I hadn’t realised that it actually meant it,” she said.
Having been authenticated by an antiques expert, the piece of memorabilia – printed when William Wordsworth was Poet Laureate – is in remarkably good condition given its age and the circumstances surrounding its discovery.
Ms Robson explained: “I was at my uncle’s farm, cleaning it out, and I found the paper outside, of all places.
“He is the fourth generation of the family that has lived on the farm, so I found all manner of old things. The paper had been in a wardrobe with drawers at the bottom that had been in the house at one time, then put outside. It was actually in the stable.
“He used part of the stable for all the medicines for his animals and two drawers underneath were filled with all his paperwork.
“What I was doing was just putting the paperwork into a bag and taking it home, to then sort out when I had time. I saw the paper and thought, ‘Oh my goodness, it is old’.
“But then it was put by and forgotten about, until all this carry on started up.”
Ms Robson, who has become the fifth generation of the family to take over the running of Newseat Farm following Mr Cran’s move to sheltered housing in Dufftown, said she means to keep a hold of both the first and 8,674th editions of the paper.
