Something About Me

COMMENTS BY DAVID GODFREY

When I first became interested in investigating the future prospects of establishing a business in early newspapers I opened a Saturday outlet at No 65 Portobello Road, London in late 1972 to see what the general public thought of them. Lots of people visited Portobello Market quite early in the morning to get ‘the bargains’. The ladies were looking for Victorian Jewellery, Silver spoons and the like and their husbands were quite bored so I picked up a good quantity of customers interested in papers reporting their favourite subjects.

My first write up was in the Sunday Times issue dated 25^th November 1973 when I appeared in the Atticus Columns on the back page having been written up by Compton Miller under the heading ‘So don’t throw this away’. I’ve still got the whole paper (at least pages 1-32) although it is beginning to discolour – sadly not like rag paper!

When my shop in Knightsbridge/ Belgravia opened in January 1977 I was invited by the BBC to talk about ‘The first shop devoted entirely to historic newspapers’. I was to have 10 minutes after the 6 o’clock news and I turned up at the studio with lots of papers to make a display and guess what happened? The great Lord Avon died – he had been Anthony Eden the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister at the time of the Suez Crisis. So Edward Heath was in the studio with lots of newspapermen and my show was reduced to 2 minutes. Shame! Also the programme turned out only to be for London and not seen at my home base. Since then I’ve been written up in newspapers both in Britain and abroad. Later on I was able to take over the shop next door which I dedicated to modern newspapers (1900-1950). The main part remained for Antiquarian Newspapers 1665-1865 and my card stated ‘our speciality is to pack them in see-through polythene and sort them into trays under the most interesting content i.e. various countries and subjects that I had found were popular in my Portobello Road days. At the bottom it said ‘Visit the first shop of its kind and take home an unusual gift’. Here we are 30 years later doing much the same thing now but mainly with The Times. My shop closed down in 1989 after a very bad year and was taken over by an Ephemera Dealer who has now closed down.

I continued dealing by post supplying my research customers,especially the many people collecting Nelson the great British Naval hero who has been in demand from the anniversary of the Battle of Cape St Vincent 1797 to the Bi-centennial of his death at the Battle of Trafalgar 1805 even to his funeral in January 1806 when London experienced the greatest traffic jam of it’s history with a vast quantity (4000) of coaches and carriages and traps making St Paul’s Cathedral and all the streets around into a no-go area.

Now that we have passed the 200th anniversary for this event,I've opened a separate section for British Naval Events,the game of Golf for frameable front page advertisements for Golf matches,etc.(1790-1850), which will frame very well.Also very rare papers covering the rising in Scotland led by Bonnie Prince Charles(1745-1746).

I will also continue to supply Bi-Centennials whenever required and a new line in Birthday Gifts of 200 year old papers on their day and month.Maybe something big happened,but if not they still get an antique paper that most people will have never seen before.Very useful when you have forgotten the age of the person as this is 200 years back from now.

All the best

David Godfrey