The Comber Herald And The Comber Independent
Comber Independent (published 1883-1890)
The Comber Independent was founded by Alfred Mellish on August 9th, 1883. It was a weekly publication
and came out on Thursdays. The Windsor Evening Record (1904/01/23 p.7) published a detailed account
of this paper’s early years: “In the fall of 1887, the paper changed hands no less than four times in quick
succession, and finally the plant was moved to Tilbury, and Mr. E. J. Lovelace, then foreman of the “Essex
Liberal”, brought a new plant to Comber, and commenced the publication of a larger and much improved
sheet, retaining the old name “Independent”. In February 1890, Mr. Lovelace sold his plant to Mr. Jas.
McCollum, who moved it to Windsor, and started “The Twin City Quill”, afterwards changed to the
“Sentinel”. The books and goodwill were sold to Messrs. Johnson & McKay, of the “Leamington Post”. The
business was transferred to Mr. Chas. Clark at the same time, and the plant formerly used by the defunct
“Leamington Tribune” was moved to Comber and “The Herald” trumpeted forth the same week, the new
paper retaining only the volume numbers of the old sheet.” There are no known existing issues of the
Comber Independent.
Comber Herald (published 1890-1967)
Currently Available Online
At OurOntario Newspaper Index (http://ink.ourontario.ca/browse/comber): 1892, 1894, 1896-1902, 19061917
The Charles Clark Years….
Charles Clark was born on July 25th, 1862 in London, England and came to Canada in 1874 as an orphan.
He married Permilla J. Parke and they had 3 sons: Cecil O., Roy L., and Elmer H. He spent his whole
working life in the printing/publishing industry. He began his journalistic career in 1883 working for the
Ridgetown Plaindealer, which was then owned by Emmanuel McKay (Kingsville Reporter, 1916/03/30
p.5). During the mid to late 1880s he worked for a number of local newspapers: Windsor Clarion, Essex
Liberal, and the Leamington Post.
On February 20th, 1890, Charles Clark took over the Comber Independent and changed its name to the
Comber Herald (Comber Herald:1915/03/11 p.1). It continued to be a weekly, publishing on Thursdays.
Later, the paper published as the Comber Independent was often referred to as the Comber Herald.
The Comber Herald called itself “The People’s Paper” and was “issued in the local interests of the Village
of Comber, and the Townships of Tilbury West, Tilbury North, and Rochester”. It was published from an
office on Main Street and cost $1 per year in advance. As well as a local audience, the newspaper also
had American subscribers. For them, the cost was $1.50 per year. On November 29th, 1900, p. 4, Clark
describes the paper’s content as follows: “The Herald furnishes you with a complete epitome of all
happenings of the district, and gives you in addition a first class serial story, the Talmage sermon and
other valuable features.”
Politically, Clark was well known as a liberal and had strong liberal connections, but in the 1908 provincial
election, he did run as a conservative independent in protest of the behaviour of Dr. C. M. Anderson, the
official conservative candidate. The Leamington Post (1907/04/04 p.1) commented: “Mr. Clark has been a
favorite of fortune….the Herald always got a slice of [federal liberal] government pudding, while it
occasionally got a nice meal from the conservative dish.”
Charles Clark also liked to wax poetic and was both appreciated and teased by other newspaper men.
Several times, his “poetic” language was reprinted in other county papers. Below is his acceptance of an
invitation to Victoria Day celebrations in 1895 (Windsor Evening Record 1895/05/21 p.2):
We are coming toward the setting sun,
For a full day of solid fun;
To view the Scottish Kilties fair,
To enjoy the breeze of Lake St. Clair;
To hear sweet music from the Battalion bands,
To gaze on maidens wearing “tans”.
A day of real enjoyment and a lark,
Is the desire of your friend, Charlie Clark.
Charles Clark was also quite active in the Comber community, for example, as a police trustee and a
commissioner for the local telephone system.
During the years of Clark’s editorship, the paper was a successful and growing concern, and Clark himself
was well liked and respected by his peers. Upon his retirement from the Comber Herald in 1916, the
Windsor Evening Record (1916/04/14 p.5) describes Clark as follows: “The trait of character which shone
forth most brilliantly in his writings was that of straight-forwardness. He always stood for anything which
was for the betterment of the community which he so ably and diligently served. In following closely the
rules of impartiality which he had rigidly set himself to from the start in this newspaper business, Mr. Clark
made a host of friends who are indeed sorry to lose him.”
The same year, Clark purchased the Walkerville Printing Company, which he then ran with his sons. He
later published the Walkerville News.
The Comber Herald was taken over in April 1916 by E. E. Lancaster, a native of Madoc, Ontario. It
continued publishing until 1967, when it was absorbed by the Tilbury Times.