A Brief History of the Argus

At a recent partners evening Paul Green gave us an illuminated talk on how the Argus began and told us of some of the famous events and famous people who begun their careers in the Brighton office.

The first edition was issued in 1880 and cost a halfpenny to buy Paul showed us a copy of that issue and not many of us could read the print as it was so small. During the early years the news from far afield was sent to the offices in Brighton by pigeon.

The paper moved from site to site over the years the last one in Sussex was at Holingbury it is now situated in Hampshire where it is printed by one of their sister papers. During its history has changed its name to The Evening Argus but has since reverted back to “The Argus”

Paul told us of many of the notable events such as the visit of President Kennedy to our Prime Minister in the Autumn of 1963 the year the President was assassinated. The other event I don’t think I will ever forget was the “Great Storm” on the 16^th October 1987.

A couple of the now known celebrities that started their  careers in the Argus are Thora Hird and Des Lynham.

Paul brought along with him many photographs and old copies of the newspaper which the Club members found to be most interesting.

Paul also does a talk on Murders & Mysteries of Sussex, perhaps when the winters sets in and it’s dark and dismal outside we could invite him back for a second visit.