We take newspapers — paper or digital — for granted, but in the 19th century, they were the primary means of broadcasting news and of advertising.
Newspapers reflected a growing community, a sign the village or town had ‘grown up.’
Bradford had its first newspaper even before it was officially a town. In 1856, the Bradford Chronicle was established by R. Goldie. Goldie wasn’t so much a newspaper man as a businessman. He founded papers, built up advertisers and subscribers, nurtured them for a few years, and then sold them for profit.
Goldie sold the paper to William B. Donaldson. To reach more subscribers and advertisers, he changed the name to the South Simcoe Times. Coverage went as far afield at Tottenham and Alliston. Donaldson, in turn, sold the paper to Yorkshire-born Henry S. Broughton in 1865.
Broughton was Bradford’s postmaster at the time (he would serve for more than three decades) and saw the newspaper, its name slightly changed to the South Simcoe News, as a logical adjutant to his role. Papers would be distributed through the post office, and he would print notices in its pages letting people know if parcels or letters awaited them.
Broughton, a staunch supporter of the Reform party, also used the newspaper as a personal mouthpiece of sorts. This was hardly unusual for the day. Newspapers were far more partisan than they are today and, with less editorial oversight, tended to stretch the truth in support of one political party or another.
In 1878, Broughton was faced with competition when Edmund Garrett started the Bradford Witness. Broughton must have considered this something of a slap in the face, as 23-year-old Garrett had worked for him as a printer with the South Simcoe News.
For nearly two decades, the rival papers served Bradford. Then, in 1892, a devastating fire gutted the Barrie Street offices of the Witness. By this time, Broughton was also a justice of the peace and magistrate in Bradford. He now had too much on his plate, so he decided to sell his newspaper to former apprentice-turned-rival, Garrett, in order to focus on his official duties.
The newly amalgamated newspaper was known as the Bradford Witness and South Simcoe News. This newspaper continued publication for more than another century.