Newsletter
The Monthly Courant
The first London daily newspaper was The Daily Courant, published on March 11, 1702, by journalist Elizabeth Mallet. She published under the gender-neutral E. Mallet, as a woman's name in the byline would've turned readers' noses. A stigma against women working in traditionally male occupations still existed. The paper was a one-page affair and consisted of articles and foreign news with ads printed on the back. Elizabeth's printing premises, and likely her home, sat beside the King's Arm's Tavern near the Ditch at Fleet Bridge. Not a very pleasant place to live at the time! The Ditch was just that. A river of smelly refuse.
Unfortunately, it is believed Elizabeth fell ill during this time. After nine issues, she sold the paper in 1703 and vanished from historical record until 1706 when she was mentioned posthumously.
As for now, she is fictionalized as a minor character in my work-in-progress, The Traveler. But only a tiny bit. Hopefully, she'll survive future revisions and edits!
