The Salisbury Journal’s founder Benjamin Collins must wait before his return to the city.

A portrait of the man who began publishing the title nearly 300 years ago was due to be handed over to Salisbury Museum at a special reception tonight (Tuesday December 14), but now the event has been postponed.

Read more: Portrait of Journal co-founder has a new home, and so has our team

It was to take place at Sarum College, which is the base for the Journal’s staff. However, the many business people and supporters of the Journal who were set to attend the reception were told yesterday that the handover was being postponed because of the latest Covid advice.

The oil painting of Benjamin Collins, who jointly founded the Salisbury Journal with his brother William, will remain in storage until the Journal can find a suitable time to present it to Adrian Green, Director of Salisbury Museum.

The Salisbury Journal remains one of the longest-running newspapers in the UK, second only to the Worcester Journal, having first been published in 1729. It faltered slightly at the start but has been published continuously since 1736.

Benjamin was the main force behind the Journal, taking the title to be one of the most widely circulated regional newspapers in England.

By the 1750s it was being delivered around neighbouring counties and could be purchased in the best coffee houses in London.

By the time he died in 1785, a father to eight children, he had well and truly put Salisbury on the map in publishing terms.

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