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Reynolds News

The Newspaper

"Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper" was founded by the radical journalist George William MacArthur Reynolds in May 1850. It soon became a very successful Sunday newspaper, especially in the North of England, with a radical working class approach combined with sensationalism.

The Reynolds family retained the paper until 1894, when, under proprietor Sir Henry Dalziel and editor William Thompson, "Reynolds's Newspaper" became the Sunday paper that reflect the Liberal Party's views. In 1925, the paper's change of name to "Reynold's Illustrated News" reflected the growing importance of pictorial content in news coverage.

The paper was later acquired by the National Co-operative Press on behalf of the Labour Party, becoming the Sunday voice of opposition as "Reynolds News and Sunday Citizen". It ceased publication in 1967, by which time it was known as "Sunday Citizen".

The full history of the changing names of the paper, as far as we can ascertain from the collection at Bradford:

  • Reynolds’s Weekly Newspaper from 18 August 1850 to 9 February 1851
  • Reynolds’s Newspaper from 16 February 1851 to 25 February 1923
  • Reynolds’s from 4 March 1923 to 30 September 1923 (with interior page heading Reynolds’s News)
  • Reynolds’s News from 7 October 1923 to 21 September 1924
  • Reynolds’s Illustrated News from 28 September 1924 to 23 February 1936
  • Reynolds News from 1 March 1936 to 13 August 1944
  • Reynolds News and Sunday Citizen from 20 August 1944 to 16 September 1962
  • Sunday Citizen and Reynolds News from 23 September 1962 to 14 February 1965
  • Sunday Citizen incorporating Reynolds News from 21 February 1965 (to December 1965, latest issue held).

Bradford's Collection

The University of Bradford received its complete set from the Co-operative Society in Manchester thanks to Harold Wilson, then Chancellor of the University and Prime Minister. The set forms a valuable resource for political and social historians, offering a popular, working class view of events. The wide range of regional editions held offer interesting local perspectives.

Unfortunately, the paper and bindings in our set are in very poor condition. We regret that some volumes cannot be used at all. Volumes currently not available: Late London edition 1932; Welsh edition 1943.  We cannot allow any photocopying, although non-contact digital photography is acceptable subject to copyright.

Please note that British Library volumes from the 19th century are available in digital form via 19th Century British Library Newspapers. This wonderful project makes these newspapers searchable and usable as never before. The database is licensed to many institutional libraries. The British Library's 20th century volumes may also be more convenient for some readers to use.

Library catalogue record for Reynolds News and for Sunday Citizen.