A History of the Dunoon Observer

In 1871 the British Empire was almost at the limit of an expansion which would span the globe, and Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 34 years.The opening of the Suez canal was celebrated by the first performance of the opera Aida, while France, humbled in defeat by the infant German state in the war of the previous year, was paying massive indemnities to the victors to end the occupation of Prussian troops. At sea, one of history’s most enduring mysteries came to pass with the discovery of the abandoned Mary Celeste drifting in the Atlantic, while Australia was linking up to the communications revolution via telegraph line from Sydney to Darwin in the north, and thence under the sea to Java.

The world was changing rapidly, and no more so than in Britain. The industrial revolution was in full swing, and in its wake society itself was being rebuilt. In the west of Scotland Glasgow,transformed by trade with the Americas in the previous century, was a mushrooming industrial centre. Travel had been revolutionised by the coming of steam which had made mass movement a practical proposition both on land and sea. Major beneficiaries of this were towns such as Dunoon and Rothesay, both of which rapidly grew in popularity and size as the century progressed.

by Bill Jardine

The Original Premises at Sandbank

William Inglis Senior

benefiting from the Victorian obsession with the health-giving properties of sea water and sea air.To these towns flocked hordes of Glasgwegians, wealthy merchants, artisans and common folk, to escape the squalor and hurly-burly of city life.One of these was William Inglis, a master printer in the Trongate who commuted to Glasgow daily before setting up business in Sandbank where his wife Catherine Russell had inherited a holiday home. In 1868 he opened a printing business.

Workers outside the John Street premises in 1912

The move to Sandbank

William Inglis had picked his moment well; Sandbank, Hunter’s Quay and Dunoon achieved Burgh status in the year of his arrival, and the growing community was to provide the spur for his entrepreneurial spirit.Inglis was a good printer, and his connections in the city meant he was never short of work. He was also, however, a far-sighted man; the community was on the verge of massive growth, and there was great potential for a weekly newspaper.

Three years after his arrival, in March 1871, William Inglis launched the Argyllshire Standard and Advertiser for the Coast, an eight-page journal of 40 columns, on a hand-turned press from his base in Sandbank. Within its pages the reader could find all there was to know about what was happening in Cowal, plus extensive coverage of world news. William had timed his first issue to perfection; the Marquis of Lorne, son of the Duke of Argyll, had just married the Queen’s daughter, Princess Louise. In those days the profile of clan chiefs was high indeed, having been considerably romanticised in the works of Sir Walter Scott, and the marriage was a ‘local boy makes good’ story which was heaven-sent for the first issue. The five-column report gave an avid readership a chapter and verse account of what was undoubtedly the society event of the year.William Inglis’ brainchild has gone from strength to strength, and, almost unique among local newspapers, still remains in the hands of the founder’s descendants to this day. A few years after the paper’s birth, Inglis converted the presses to run water power -bringing on his head the wrath of the local Committee for the supply of Water, who were less than enamoured with his imaginative use of the product under their stewardship. The long-running battle between the fledgling editor and officialdom provided the Standard’s readership with much meaty comment, since in these days it was possible to print honest opinion without the risk of a libel suit, and William Inglis was a formidable adversary. In the end he thwarted the commissioners by replacing the water engine with an oil-powered motor, thus removing the production process from their jurisdiction.

Inglis - The Next Generation

William Inglis died in 1881, and the editorship of the paper fell to his fourth son Robert, a mere stripling of 21 The Standard remained in its Sandbank base until 1906, when Robert Inglis moved to John Street, Dunoon, where the present print works are based. The present company, E. and R. Inglis, was set up by Robert, his brother James, and their sister Eliza, James’ initial being removed following his death by drowning. The  move was shrewd indeed, for directly opposite the new base was the post office and the main street, a position which ensured that news gathering could be  carried out much more efficiently than previously. Robert Inglis’ hand was to stay on the helm of the Observer for an incredible 68 years -from the era of the horse and cart to the jet age. The year he became editor, Benjamin Disraeli died; the year Robert died and his son Willie took over - 1949 - the  Russians tested their first atomic bomb. Willie Inglis, the paper’s third editor, had a hard act to follow, for his father was a legendary figure.

The printing workshop during the 1970's

Changing Times