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A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE
A History of the Aberdeen and Northern Counties Printing
Industry
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Peterhead
Masterminded by H.G. Reid and J. McArthur, The Buchan Observer was
launched on Friday 16 January 1863. The former was responsible for
editing the newspaper and the latter managed the practical and commercial
side of the business. The first edition was printed and published
at 33 Queen Street, Peterhead, and consisted of four pages, price
twopence. Reid, who was knighted several years later, was the first
President of the Institute of Journalists and author of at least
nine publications. The firm, Reid and McArthur, was in business
for just over two years when Reid purchased The Stockton and Middlesbrough
Gazette and moved to Middlesbrough. He sold his share of the Observer
to James Annand, a local Longside blacksmith, who surprisingly gave
up his forge for a career in journalism. Annand successfully edited
the Observer for about six years before departing for London where
he became a political writer of some note. After unsuccessfully
contesting the par-liamentary seat for Tynemouth in 1892 he attempted
again to enter parliament in 1906 and on that occasion won East
Aberdeenshire for the Liberal party. Sadly he died suddenly in London
before he could take his seat in the House of Commons.
McArthur, who had taken over Annand’s shares, became the sole
proprietor and continued in charge of the paper until 1875. In that
year R.C. Annand, a brother of James, purchased the company from
McArthur who then moved to Edinburgh to become sub-editor of The
Scotsman.
In March 1875 the price of the Observer was reduced to one penny
and on 1 October that year the title was changed to The East Aberdeenshire
Observer. It became a bi-weekly in December 1878 and at the same
time the price was reduced again, this time to a halfpenny.
There was another change of ownership in 1882 when W.B. Lunan bought
the company and changed its name to W.B. Lunan and Co. He had managed
the business for just over five years when his health broke down
and he left for an extended recuperative holiday in Australia. Sadly,
he never recovered and died in Melbourne in February 1888. During
Lunan’s absence the paper was edited by A.W. Cullen, who afterwards
was to become sub-editor of The Aberdeen Journal. On Lunan’s
death the ownership passed to his mother for a brief period and
then, in December 1889, the newspaper was acquired by Peter Scrogie.
It was printed and published at the office in Broad Street under
the editorship of A. Watt, and the bi-weekly issues were discontinued.
In March 1893 the paper was enlarged and became known as The Buchan
Observer and East Aberdeenshire Advertiser. It was enlarged again
in November 1896, the price re-maining at one penny, the price to
which it had been raised in 1889. That year a move was made to its
present premises in Chapel Street.
The business suffered a serious loss in 1903 when Peter Scrogie
died at the early age of forty-five and as a consequence a Trust
was formed to act for the Scrogie family. William Hackett, who had
been works manager, was appointed managing director of the newspaper
and works. He continued in that role until his death during the
Second World War. It was at that point the managing director-ship
passed to Walter Scrogie, youngest of the family, who had acquired
his knowledge of print-ing and publishing in London.
The immediate post-war years were difficult ones not only for the
Observer but also for the Buchan’s other local weekly The Fraserburgh
Herald. In 1948 the Herald came on the market and was acquired by
P. Scrogie Ltd and, in due course, the printing of both papers was
undertaken at Peterhead.
Walter Scrogie recognised the need to modernise the plant to meet
the new demands of printing two newspapers. However, when deciding
on the installations required, Scrogie also took into account the
option to have the facility to handle long ‘jobbing runs’.
On the death of her husband, Mary Scrogie continued the modernisation
programme until she herself died in 1979. She was succeeded by her
daughter Patricia Scrogie who, as chairman, has been responsible
for even more rapid changes with the introduction of new technology.
The company has depended on both Linotype and Intertype installations
for its composition but these have now been replaced by the latest
Apple Mac systems. The separate editorial staff at Fraserburgh and
Peterhead are linked by modem with the newspaper printing which
continues to be based at Peterhead.
In 1960 a Linotype Miehle press had been acquired to cope with increasing
demands and it continued in service until 1986 when it was replaced
by the latest Lino News.
Perhaps the two most significant events during the present decade
have been: first, the launching of The Ellon Times, a weekly which
is printed at Peterhead. The second was the acquisition of the company
by the Eastern Counties Group based in Norwich. As a consequence,
the firm is now a division of Community Media Ltd which has its
registered office in Bath.
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Volume 3 published 1996
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