7 Market Place c.1900
The stationery shop
and home of
The Olney Advertiser
Very little information appears to be available concerning the weekly newspaper the Olney Advertiser’ (known affectionately as ‘The Buster’). What we do know is that it was printed every Saturday, on the premises at No. 7 Market Place next door to the Bull Hotel, by Albert Henry Stanley who ran a substantial stationery business from that address. (See image.) It was priced at One Penny (1d). The circulation was relatively limited and included Olney, Emberton, Lavendon, Weston Underwood and Ravenstone. It was certainly published and printed during the first world war and probably a good few years before and after this war. It is believed that it may have survived until the 1930s, but we surmise that the competition from ‘The Bucks Standard’, a weekly newspaper produced by James Line in Newport Pagnell, covering a larger local district finally proved too strong for The Buster.
We have in our possession only the one copy of The Olney Advertiser, dated Saturday, 1st December 1917. This newspaper consisted of four pages and is presented in full for your examination. Click the links below to view each page and click again for the much enlarged view.
It is interesting to study the content of this edition bearing in mind the First World War was far from over; also to note the considerable local charitable efforts being undertaken to support the troops.
You might also be interested to glance at the railway timetable at the bottom left hand corner of Page 1. In those days catching the 7.34 am train at Olney would reliably deliver you at St Pancras in London at 9.37 am (including a change of trains at Bedford). One would be hard pressed to beat those commuting times today, more than 100 years later, by any mode of transportation!
Enjoy:
The Olney Advertiser, Saturday, 1st December 1917 Edition, Page 1
The Olney Advertiser, Saturday, 1st December 1917 Edition, Page 2
The Olney Advertiser, Saturday, 1st December 1917 Edition, Page 3
The Olney Advertiser, Saturday, 1st December 1917 Edition, Page 4
