Government Gazettes
The town crier is a staple figure of old-time movies - walking through the town ensuring that all the people were aware of the latest pronouncement by their ruler. The development of cheap and quick ways to print newspapers made that position redundant but introduced a new problem.
When almost anyone could set up a newspaper, how would people know which report to trust? In 1665, the English crown solved this by setting up an "official" paper. The London Gazette showed its status by including on it masthead the statement Published by Authority and the royal crest.
The idea of an official gazette which provides both a reliable source of current government notices and a permanent archive of past documents continues to this day. On its website, the London Gazette is described as the "Official Newspaper of Record for the UK and a modern, efficient way to disseminate and record official, regulatory and legal information in print, online and electronic forms."
In addition, there are corresponding publications for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The same principle has also been adopted in many Commonwealth countries.
When almost anyone could set up a newspaper, how would people know which report to trust? In 1665, the English crown solved this by setting up an "official" paper. The London Gazette showed its status by including on it masthead the statement Published by Authority and the royal crest.
The idea of an official gazette which provides both a reliable source of current government notices and a permanent archive of past documents continues to this day. On its website, the London Gazette is described as the "Official Newspaper of Record for the UK and a modern, efficient way to disseminate and record official, regulatory and legal information in print, online and electronic forms."
In addition, there are corresponding publications for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The same principle has also been adopted in many Commonwealth countries.
UK Gazettes
Note that each page displayed from a Gazette has a URL formed in a consistent pattern. Page 8113 which was in issue 34350 from London will appear as https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34350/page/8113. This means that once you locate a notice in an index (giving issue and page numbers) you can create the appropriate URL to view it yourself. |