Cleave's Weekly Police Gazette
Encyclopedia
Cleave's Weekly Police Gazette (also known by contemporaries simply as the Weekly Police Gazette) was a British weekly newspaper published by John Cleave
between 1834 and 1836. It was "one of the first and most popular unstamped newspapers to mix political news with coverage of non-political events like sensational crimes, strange occurrences, and excerpts from popular fiction".
Cleave published the newspaper from his bookshop in Shoe Lane, London
. Priced at 1d., the newspaper was selling 40,000 copies a week by 1836. Cleave suffered imprisonment for refusing to pay stamp duty
on his publications; his fines were partly paid by the Association of Working Men to Procure a Cheap and Honest Press, which later became the Working Men's Association. In 1836 the newspaper merged with Henry Hetherington
's London Dispatch. Cleave went on to found Cleave's London Satirist and Gazette of Variety the following year.
John Cleave
John Cleave was a British, London based Chartist leader, a printer and newspaper publisher.- Early career:Born of Irish stock, as a young boy John Cleave went to sea and is first documented for his political activities as late as 1828, in London, working to assist Henry Hetherington at the Civil &...
between 1834 and 1836. It was "one of the first and most popular unstamped newspapers to mix political news with coverage of non-political events like sensational crimes, strange occurrences, and excerpts from popular fiction".
Cleave published the newspaper from his bookshop in Shoe Lane, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Priced at 1d., the newspaper was selling 40,000 copies a week by 1836. Cleave suffered imprisonment for refusing to pay stamp duty
Stamp duty
Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on documents. Historically, this included the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions. A physical stamp had to be attached to or impressed upon the document to denote that stamp duty...
on his publications; his fines were partly paid by the Association of Working Men to Procure a Cheap and Honest Press, which later became the Working Men's Association. In 1836 the newspaper merged with Henry Hetherington
Henry Hetherington
Henry Hetherington was a leading British Chartist.- Early years :Henry Hetherington was the son of a London tailor, John Hetherington , and was born on 17 June 1792, at 16 Compton Street, Soho, London...
's London Dispatch. Cleave went on to found Cleave's London Satirist and Gazette of Variety the following year.