The Barman, January 11, 2019

In 1712 the government passed the Stamp Act which levied stamp duty on newspapers.

I was looking to blame our own Robert Walpole for this, but at the time he was serving six months in the Tower of London having been found “guilty of a high breach of trust and notorious corruption”.

It was not until the following year that he gained re-election to parliament as the member for King’s Lynn.