News of the Monmouth Rebellion

How was the Monmouth Rebellion reported in the News?

The London Gazette

In 1685 the official news was published in the London Gazette. This was printed as a board sheet twice a week, and contained a round up of all the political, domestic and foreign news. With reports from Scotland taking 5 to 7 days to reach the publisher, 2 days from the West of England and from 3 to 20 days from Holland. As a result, reports of the different events that happened on the same day, sometimes got merged by the editor in ‘one’ event, or printed after an earlier account, getting published in a later edition! Each London Gazette is numbered and give a date range.

The following extracts are taken from the London Gazettes that were published during the Monmouth Rebellion and give a perspective on the ‘official’ news, as read in the London Coffee shops, and of course agreed by King James II.

The Monmouth Rebellion in the News

Gazette #2036 Edinburgh 18 May 1685

Gazette #2037 Dunluce 18 May 1685

Gazette #2038 Edinburgh 25 May 1685

Gazette #2039 Edinburgh, 28 May 1685

Gazette #2040 Edinburgh, 1 June 1685

Gazette #2041 Edinburgh 6 June 1685

Gazette #2042 Whitehall 13 June 1685

Gazette #2043 Whitehall 16 June 1685

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