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''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or
government gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...
s of the
Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...
, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published. ''The Gazette'' is not a conventional newspaper offering general news coverage. It does not have a large circulation. Other official newspapers of the UK government are ''
The Edinburgh Gazette ''The Edinburgh Gazette'' is a newspaper of record (government gazette) of the Government of the United Kingdom, along with ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Belfast Gazette''. It is published by The Stationery Office (TSO), on behalf of His Maje ...
'' and '' The Belfast Gazette'', which, apart from reproducing certain materials of nationwide interest published in ''The London Gazette'', also contain publications specific to
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, respectively. In turn, ''The London Gazette'' carries not only notices of UK-wide interest, but also those relating specifically to entities or people in England and Wales. However, certain notices that are only of specific interest to Scotland or Northern Ireland are also required to be published in ''The London Gazette''. The ''London'', ''Edinburgh'' and ''Belfast Gazettes'' are published by TSO (The Stationery Office) on behalf of His Majesty's Stationery Office. They are subject to Crown copyright. ''The London Gazette'' claims to be the oldest surviving English newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK, having been first published on 7 November 1665 as ''The Oxford Gazette''. This claim (to being oldest) is also made by the '' Stamford Mercury'' (1712) and ''
Berrow's Worcester Journal ''Berrow's Worcester Journal'' is a weekly freesheet tabloid newspaper, based in Worcester, England. Owned by Newsquest, the newspaper is delivered across central and southern Worcestershire county. History 16th Century Printing Press Worces ...
'' (1690).


Current publication

''The London Gazette'' is published each weekday, except for bank holidays. Notices for the following, among others, are published: * Granting of
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
to bills of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
or of the Scottish Parliament * The issuance of writs of election when a vacancy occurs in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
* Appointments to certain public offices * Commissions in the Armed Forces and subsequent promotion of officers * Corporate and personal
insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ...
* Granting of awards of
honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
and military medals * Changes of names or of coats of arms * Royal proclamations and other declarations His Majesty's Stationery Office has digitised all issues of the Gazette, and these are available online. The official Gazettes are published by The Stationery Office. The content, apart from insolvency notices, is available in a number of machine-readable formats, including XML (delivery by email/ FTP) and XML/ RDFa via
Atom feed The name Atom applies to a pair of related Web standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub or APP) is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web re ...
.


History

''The London Gazette'' was first published as ''The Oxford Gazette'' on 7 November 1665. Charles II and the Royal Court had moved to
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
to escape the
Great Plague of London The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that origi ...
, and
courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...
s were unwilling to touch London newspapers for fear of contagion. The ''Gazette'' was "Published by Authority" by Henry Muddiman, and its first publication is noted by Samuel Pepys in his
diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...
. The King returned to London as the plague dissipated, and the ''Gazette'' moved too, with the first issue of ''The London Gazette'' (labelled No. 24) being published on 5 February 1666. The ''Gazette'' was not a newspaper in the modern sense: it was sent by post to subscribers, not printed for sale to the general public.
Her Majesty's Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...
took over the publication of the ''Gazette'' in 1889. Publication of the ''Gazette'' was transferred to the private sector in 2006, under government supervision, when HMSO was sold and renamed The Stationery Office.


Dates before 1 January 1752

Until
Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 The Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 (24 Geo. II c.23), also known as Chesterfield's Act or (in American usage) the British Calendar Act of 1751, is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its purpose was for Great Britain and t ...
came into effect on 1 January 1752, the ''Gazette'' was published with a date based on the
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
with the start of year as 25 March. (Modern secondary sources may adjust the start of the calendar year during this period to 1 January, while retaining the original day and month. Using this adjustment, an issue with a printed date of 24 March 1723 will be reported as being published in 1724 the same
solar year A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky of a celestial body of the Solar System such as the Earth, completing a full cycle of seasons; for example, the time f ...
as an issue published two days later, on 26 March 1724.)


"Gazetted"

In time of war, dispatches from the various conflicts are published in ''The London Gazette''. People referred to are said to have been mentioned in despatches. When members of the armed forces are promoted, and these promotions are published here, the person is said to have been "gazetted". Being "gazetted" (or "in the gazette") also meant having official notice of one's bankruptcy published, as in the classic ten-line poem comparing the stolid tenant farmer of 1722 to the lavishly spending faux-genteel farmers of 1822:By William Hone (1827); published by Hunt and Clarke. Notices of engagement and marriage were also formerly published in the ''Gazette''.


Colonial gazettes

Gazettes, modelled on ''The London Gazette'', were issued for most British colonial possessions.


See also

* History of British newspapers * '' Iris Oifigiúil'' * ''
The Dublin Gazette ''The Dublin Gazette'' was the gazette, or official newspaper, of the Dublin Castle administration, Irish Executive, Britain's government in Ireland based at Dublin Castle, between 1705 and 1922. It published notices of government business, inclu ...
'' – in Ireland * ''London Gazette'' index * ''
Official Journal of the European Union An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...
'' *
List of government gazettes This is a list of government gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public ...


References


External links


''London'', ''Edinburgh'' and ''Belfast Gazettes'' official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:London Gazette, The 1665 establishments in England Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom Government gazettes London newspapers National newspapers published in the United Kingdom Publications established in 1665 The National Archives (United Kingdom) Westminster system