Family still buying the County Gazette 175 years on (From Somerset County Gazette)

Family still buying the County Gazette 175 years on

7:00am Saturday 4th February 2012 in News By Daniel Milligan

DESCENDENTS of a family who read the very first edition of the Somerset County Gazette on December 31, 1836, say they are still turning the pages 175 years on.

In 1952 the County Gazette set out to find our longest-serving reader, who was Mrs Elizabeth Chamberlain, of North Petherton, who had read the paper for 73 years since the age of seven.

She recalled her grandmother, Dinah Hold, of Churchstanton, who died in 1900, purchased the first copy of the County Gazette in 1836 and had read the paper every week until her death.

In this great family tradition, Dinah’s great-great-great-granddaughter Barbara, 66, who lives in Taunton, still buys the paper and says it is a great way of finding out what is going on.

She added: “My family have always been local and the Gazette was the best way to find out news from around the area.

“Now, I read the paper for marriages and deaths and to see if I recognise anyone’s photo – I find it very interesting.”

A supplement marking our first 175 years in available at www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk

HAS your family been reading the paper since our first edition in 1836? You can get in touch via email to newsdesk@countygazette.co.uk