The Cheltenham Looker-On was a weekly social and literary paper published in Cheltenham between 1833 and 1920. It was founded in 1833 by Welshman Henry Davies, a librarian and bookseller, who had turned down an offer of the post of editor with the Gloucestershire Chronicle and instead decided to establish his own newspaper.
Initially the Looker-On was mainly a literary paper professing itself to be "A Note Book of the Sayings and Doings of Cheltenham" but it quickly established a reputation as a fashionable paper for its social news and gossip, which was widely quoted. For example, its report in September 1847 regarding the novelty of the Turkish Minister's wife arriving at Court in conventional court dress rather than veiled in accordance with her religious beliefs, can be found under “Latest English News” in the New Zealand Spectator and Cooks Strait Guardian!
Davies was editor for 57 years until his death in 1890 and his staunch Conservative views were reflected in the Looker-On. Davies’ son, Edward Llewellyn Davies took over the running of the paper until his death in 1898. It became more a journal of news and fashion and remained in publication until 1920, when it was incorporated into the Cheltenham Chronicle.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1833–35 The Looker-On: a note book of the sayings and doings of Cheltenham
- 1836–1913 The Cheltenham Looker-On
- 1913–19 The Looker-On
- 1919–20 The Cheltenham & County Looker-On
