Kingston Press Services (now Kingston Press Ltd.) was established in 1958 by the successful technical journal and book publisher, Charles Robert Draper, to publish, at the suggestion of the late Professor D. B. Fry, a pioneering cross-disciplinary journal in the linguistics field.

That journal, entitled 'Language and Speech', was founded to cover original research across a wide range of disciplines including speech perception, speech production, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, language learning and development, communication disorders, and reading. Despite initial concerns over the viability of such a project, the journal proved to be a resounding success.

Kingston Press Services remained closely affiliated to the parent organisation until the mid nineteen-eighties when Charles Draper retired, with control of the company eventually passing to his son. Forty-five years on, 'Language and Speech' continues to move forward, the compass of the journal expanding to include new areas of research, and providing a valuable outlet for some of the most important papers within its field of reference. The current distribution is worldwide, with a readership in over 91 countries and presently has its editorial base at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, and at the University of Delaware.

More recently, the company has acquired the 'International Journal of Bilingualism' -an international forum for the dissemination of original research on the linguistic, psychological, neurological, and social issues which emerge from language contact, and currently has its editorial base at Birbeck, London University.

As part of its production policy, the company presently supports two post-graduate studentships, each based at the editorial office of each journal.

The company itself has always run on minimal staff levels, and takes pride in the care it takes in presenting each journal in the most helpful format for each journal's readership. Constructive criticism is, of course, always welcome.