The ''Surrey Comet'' is a weekly local newspaper covering the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London boroughs, borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden, Surbiton and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four List ...

, in South West London, and surrounding areas. It is now a free sheet but can also be purchased. It was founded in 1854 and is among the oldest London newspapers and the oldest newspaper covering Surrey. The newspaper is published once a week, every Friday, and is sold in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stad ...

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Berrylands, Chessington, Epsom, Ewell, Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Lo ...

New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...

Old Malden Old Malden is a ward of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south London, south west of Charing Cross. It is between New Malden and Worcester Park, along the A2043 road, here named Malden Road. Malden Manor is an alternative name for ...

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was 16,031 ...

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

and

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London, which was historically part of Surrey. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. The Bonesgate Stream, a tributary of ...

History

The ''Surrey Comet'' was founded in 1854 by Thomas Philpott, a printer from Surbiton, after he experienced a religious vision. He aimed to "expose the bad and promote the good". Subjects for the paper included The Crimean War and the cholera epidemic of 1854. Philpott was forced to sell to Russell Knapp in 1859 due to ill health. When Knapp died suddenly in 1867 his wife Mary Ann ran the business for 33 years, before merging with rival operator and former Comet editor William Drewett, who ran the ''Kingston and Surbiton News'', forming Knapp Drewett. The ''Kingston and Surbiton News'' continued as the mid-week Surrey Comet, published on a Wednesday until at least the late 1980s. In 1982, the ''Comet'' was acquired by Argus Press and moved from its historic home in Church Street, Kingston, to a former furniture factory in Lower Ham Road (later renamed Skerne Road). In 1993 it was bought by Reed Regional Newspapers, who in turn sold it to

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Limited is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in pr ...

, a management buyout group in 1996. During its existence it has interviewed notable personalities, including a 34-year-old

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer ...

on the development of his 'electronic brain' at the nearby National Physical Laboratory in

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

Recent events

Today, the ''Surrey Comet'' is owned by

with an office in

Sutton, London Sutton is a town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough, on the lower slopes of the North Downs. It is south-southwest of Charing Cross, one of the fourteen ...

. It is sold for 55p at newsagents and other shops in and around the borough. In 2012, it had an average distribution of 5,777 per issue, including 2,348 copies distributed at colleges, libraries and cinemas.Circulation certificate July to December 2012
Retrieved 23 September 2013. The ''Surrey Comet'' has a number of sister publications, including the weekly ''

Richmond and Twickenham Times The ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'' is a weekly local newspaper that was established in 1873 and is published on Fridays. It covers the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London and surrounding areas. History The ''Richmon ...

'', the '' Elmbridge Comet'' and the free

Your Local Guardian ''Waltham Forest Guardian'' is a weekly local newspaper sold every Thursday in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest and Redbridge. The paper is published by Newsquest, as part of its East London and West Essex Guardian Series (also branded ...

series, including the ''

Kingston Guardian The ''Kingston Guardian'' was a weekly free local newspaper covering the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South West London, ceasing to be published in September 2016. It was published once a week, on a Thursday, and distributed free of ...

''.

References

External links

The ''Surrey Comet''
{{Newspapers in London London newspapers Media and communications in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Newspapers published in London