Guardian of tradition

The author was William Potts, a highly-respected editor of the Banbury Guardian, the newspaper established by his grandfather and namesake in 1838. He was a popular figure in the town, easily recognisable by his large, tall, frame - he was more than six feet tall - and his loud, hearty laugh.

Ted Clark, who served as Potts' apprentice before succeeding him as editor, remembered him as "a most lovable man, kindly, considerate and given to praise rather than criticism. He loved his paper and his town and he was jealous of their reputations". (Banbury History and Guide, Sutton 1992).

Potts was born in Banbury in 1868 to John and Fanny Potts, the only son out of three children. His life, it seemed, was already mapped out for him; his father had just taken over as editor of the Banbury Guardian, following the death of William Potts the elder, and it was young William's destiny to follow in their footsteps.

It is sad, perhaps, to reflect that William Potts never knew his grandfather, who died the year before he was born. Originally from Daventry, the founder of the Potts empire moved to Banbury in 1822, and set up a printing and bookselling business in Parsons Street.

It was his support for the new Poor Law that prompted him to establish the Guardian; or Monthly Poor Law Register, a four-page newspaper that aimed to "disabuse the public mind when unfounded reports, likely to create alarm, and excite suspicion are circulated by those who, from the situations they occupy, may be supposed to possess better information than do the public generally".

The first edition was issued on April 5, 1838, and was distributed to Banbury, Bicester, Brackley, Chipping Norton, Daventry, Northampton, Shipston, Southam, Stratford, Witney and Woodstock. Its success was such that the next issue was twice the size, but retained the original price. Five years later, on May 4, 1853, the name was changed to the Banbury Guardian.

Potts the elder was a prominent pillar of Banbury society for more than 40 years, during which he served as a town councillor, mayor and member of the Unitarian Church. He died after a short illness on March 4, 1867, and was succeeded by his son, John.

John Potts held the editorship for the next 25 years, during which he increased both the paper's size and its circulation. Like his father, he was a pillar of the community, becoming one of the founding officers of the Corps of Volunteers in 1862, as well as holding many other official positions in the town.

When he died in 1892, his obituary in the Banbury Guardian described him a "considerate, urbane and truly conscientious chief". On the day of his funeral, all the shops in Parsons Street closed their shutters as a mark of respect.

And so the baton passed to the younger William, whose tenure of 55 years was the longest of all the Potts family. He lived in Parsons Street with his sister, Kate, an art teacher, and worked either in his small, cosy study upstairs, or in the small office behind the newspaper's front office. He was enthusiastic and diligent, working long hours and rarely taking a holiday.

Like his father and grandfather, he took an active interest in local affairs, becoming a churchwarden and vice-chairman of Banbury Parochial Church Council, and serving on the Horton General Hospital management committee. He was also a Freemason.

But it was his passion for local history that has earned him lasting fame. He published four historical booklets - Banbury in the Coaching Days, Banbury Cross and the Rhyme, Banbury Through One Hundred Years and The Story of Banbury Parish Church - as well as a special commemorative booklet published for the Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

For 50 years, he spent most of his spare time researching the history of Banbury, and by the time the Second World War broke out, he had completed the first draft of A History of Banbury, a comprehensive work that replaced a 1841 publication by Alfred Beesley, as the most authoritative book on the subject.

Potts' interest in the history of Banbury arose from the discovery that the town had evolved from two separate settlements on either side of the River Cherwell, named Banbury and Grimsbury. In his introduction he explained: "I set out to tell the story of Banbury, by which I mean the present municipal borough, and my constructional effort to show how the present borough has been evolved from these two Saxon settlements."

Paper shortages meant that publication of the book had to be put on hold, but he spent the immediate post-war years revising the material and condensing it to allow for the reduced paper allowance.

Sadly, he died in 1947, aged 79, before the book could be published. It was left to Ted Clark, his successor as editor of the Banbury Guardian, to put the finishing touches, and it was published in 1958 "in the form which I felt the author had in mind".

Twenty years later, Clark expanded the book to include more information, including the roles played by the men and women of Banbury during both world wars. Clark's version brings the story up to 1974, when control of the town was handed over to Cherwell District Council.

The erection of a blue plaque in Potts' memory in 2002 was a fitting tribute to a man who, as Clark says in his preface to the History, wrote a "fascinating story" and "made a valuable contribution to the life of Banbury".