Rob Forsyth

Printers and Publishers in Deddington


 P-and-PHironsfrontispieceLHS

click on cover to download pdf of complete contents

The inside frontispiece of an excellent booklet published in March 2004 by Brian Carter who was previously a Deddington resident. It recounts the story of printing and publishing in Deddington between 1840 and 2004 as briefly outlined below.

Part I - the 19th Century

1840-1900 There were four individuals who ran printing businesses during this period - John Samuel Hiron, Thomas Calcutt, John Whetton and Charles Hobley.

Other local printing and printers  such as J W Dew of Upper Heyford and Walford of Banbury and various 'broadsides' with no printer's name attached.

Deddington Paper Mill - its ownership and papermaking history. The site is part of the Circular Walk round Deddington (Hempton loop) and is also described in Deddington & District History Society Magazine 224 Issue 1, October 1999 (pdf download)

Part II - the 20th Century

Reverend Maurice Frost had his own printing press in the Vicarage during his incumbency 1924-61.

The Deddington News first appeared in September 1976 and has fulfilled its original remit of being 'delivered free to every household in Deddington' monthly (except for January & August) ever since. It is edited, printed, compiled and delivered by a group of volunteers.

Oxon Publishing and Drake International Services were both fully commercial companies owned and managed by Norman Drake of Deddington (now retired).

Philip Allan, a Deddington resident, set up his own company, specialising in educational books for schools, in 1973. This subsequently became Philip Allan Updates, later part of Hodder.  

Other local interest publications published, but not printed, within the parish:

The Deddington Map Group  marked the Millennium by publishing The Millennium Map, Discovering Deddington and a number of leaflets about the parish. 

Brian Carter has also published Newman at Deddington.This relates Cardinal Newman's links with the parish.

Post-2004

The story of publishing in Deddington continues of course and the list that follows has been compiled to the best of our knowledge. If you know of any others then please email us for inclusion.

  • Brian Carter has published a third booklet about a 19th-century Deddington resident, Matthew Bishop.
  • The Map Group have published a facsimile of Mary Vane Turner's 1933 The Story of Deddington. Details are contained in the Published Histories section of this site.
  • Local author Sylvie Nickels has published a trilogy of novels in which her former home village is fictionalised but recognisable as Deddington. The three books - Another Kind of Loving, Beyond the Broken Gate and Long Shadows - are available from bookshops, the library or Oriole Press, 36 Foxhall Court, School Lane, Banbury OX16 2AU.  Her latest book, It'll be Better Tomorrow is an anthology of short stories dedicated to senior citizens.
  • The Friends of Daeda's Wood published A Diary of Daeda's Wood to celebrate the wood's 10th birthday (2006). It is available for £8 (all profits to the Woodland Trust) from annette-orchard@live.co.uk.