The British Press was a daily newspaper founded in January 1803 in opposition to The Morning Post (1803-1937). It included a daily leader, which frequently occupied itself with foreign news and events, and its political orientation was ‘liberal conservative’. The paper regularly featured articles on literature, drama, fashion, sport and police reports, as well as detailed reports from the ‘Imperial Parliament’. Descriptions of the movements of members of the Royal Family were minutely observed, scientific pursuits were reported, and frequent updates on the peninsular campaign, led by the Duke of Wellington, were featured.

For a brief period in 1808 William Jerdan worked for the British Press as a parliamentary reporter, and according to the recollection of Samuel Carter Hall, Charles Dickens was employed on The British Press, as a ‘penny a line’ writer, probably between March 1825 and October 1826. This would have been Dickens’ first journalistic employment, before he would go on to work as a reporter on other newspapers including the True Sun (1832-1837) and the Morning Chronicle (1801-1865).

Ed King - The British Library