The first edition of the Downpatrick Recorder was published on Saturday, 31st December 1836. Its name was later changed to The Down Recorder in 1878 by Joseph Clarke in response to growing circulation outside the Downpatrick area.
The paper was a four page broadsheet, each page laid out in six columns of densely packed type. The content consisted mainly of parliamentary reports mixed with local news and events. The proprietor and editor was Conway Pilson, a member of a distinguished Downpatrick family living at Rathdune House in New Bridge Street. He probably inherited his taste for writing from his father, James Aynsworth Pilson, who was the author of a book entitled Notable Inhabitants of Downpatrick.
The cover price of the first Recorder was 4d per copy, a considerable sum at that time, bearing in mind that an agricultural worker earned only three shillings per week. Most of the cover price went to the government in the form of stamp duty. Because the paper was so expensive, working class people could not afford it, limiting circulation largely to the upper classes. When stamp duty was abolished twenty years later, the price was reduced to 3d per copy.
Pilson’s aim was to supply the latest parliamentary and foreign news to East Down readers before any other provincial papers. He succeeded, and consequently the paper became very popular. In a short space of time, circulation grew to 5,000 copies per week, an incredible achievement.
In the early days of publication, producing the paper required a great deal of manpower. Every story had to be set by hand, word for word and line for line. Compositors worked with large wooden trays containing compartments of individual letters, non capital letters in the lower tier and capital letters in the upper tier. This is how the terms “upper case” and “lower case,” still used today, originated.
It was a laborious process, but a skilled compositor could set a line of type in a minute. Once printed on both sides, the completed sheets were manually folded and individually wrapped for posting, hand delivery, or parcelled for transport by horse and cart and later by train.
Over the years, Pilson built up the paper and increased circulation. His journalistic and commercial flair was strengthened by major events. The County Down fishing tragedy in January 1843, when 74 fishermen lost their lives in the Mourne area, struck a chord with readers. The paper carried lengthy lists of subscribers to the appeal fund. Two years later, in 1845, the Irish potato crop failed, causing the famine in Ireland. Pilson wrote several articles supporting farmers and the general public. Global news was also covered, including reports on the Crimean War and the American Civil War.
Pilson was a major figure in Downpatrick civic affairs and held important posts on various committees. He remained editor for more than ten years before passing the role to a succession of editors: J. Finlay, who left in 1858; J.J.M. Kenney in 1871; and Joseph Clarke, who held the post until his death in 1890. His wife was also part of the team.
After his death, his wife Eliza carried on running the business. In 1894, she married W. Y. Crichton, and after a settlement with the Clarke family, he became proprietor of the Recorder.
Expansion continued over the years, and with modern technology the format of the paper changed. There was an increased focus on local topics, including sport. In 1983, the paper changed from a broadsheet to a tabloid format. The size of the paper generally rose to a maximum of 64 to 70 pages per issue. In 1992, full colour printing became available on every page. Computers later played a major role in weekly production.
The Crichton family remained proprietors until the paper ceased publication after 189 years, on 12th November 2025.
In February 2026, it was announced that Newcastle-based newspaper, Mourne Observer, would publish a weekly Down Recorder edition stating, “we are determined to do all we can to continue the Down Recorder’s proud legacy”.
