The first issue of the Maidstone Telegraph, which was to become the Kent Messenger, heralded the arrival of a “cheap newspaper”.

The paper, which cost one penny, promised to “steadily uphold liberal principles of justice, progress and utility.”

The Maidstone Telegraph provided its readers with the railway time tables; national and international news; and prices at the markets, including the price of wheat, oats and barley.

There was also Local Intelligence, featuring stories from around Kent and the latest court cases.

There were also details of the numbers of bathers at Maidstone Public Baths, which that week were 85 males, 63 females and 16 children.

To see the front page from the first edition from Saturday, January 1, 1859, buy the Kent Messenger on January 16.