Press timeline 1802 - 1850

Select chronology of significant Australian press events to 2011 Compiled by Rod Kirkpatrick for the Australian Newspaper History Group. 1802 - 1850
Year DateCentreDetails
1802UnknownSydneyGeorge Howe, second NSW Government Printer, prints the first book produced in colony of New South Wales: The New South Wales General Standing Orders.
18035 MarchSydneyFirst issue of Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser; publisher George Howe.
1807April-MaySydneySydney Gazette fails to appear for six weeks (lack of paper); No. 214 was 19 April and No. 215 was 7 June.
180830 AugSydneySydney Gazette suspends publication; resumes 15 May 1809 (lack of paper; no Gazette during Rum Rebellion on 26/1/1808 which overthrew Governor Bligh).
18108 JanHobartFirst issue of Derwent Star and Van Diemen’s Land Intelligencer; 12 issues; probably ceased 11 June 1810.
181414 MayHobartFirst issue of Van Diemen’s Land Gazette and General Advertiser. Final issue is dated “from September 10 to September 24” 1814.
18161 JuneHobartFirst issue of Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter. Bent remains as printer until 24 June 1825 (No 481).
182111 MaySydneyDeath of father of Australian press, George Howe, at 51.
182414 OctSydneyFirst issue of the Australian; published without prior restraint, and, immediately, at Robert Howe’s request, censorship of the Gazette ceases.
18255 JanLauncestonFirst issue of Tasmanian and Port Dalrymple Advertiser, Australia’s first provincial newspaper. Appears irregularly; ceases 18 May 1825.
18252 MaySydneyFirst issue of Howe’s Weekly Commercial Express. Ceases 26 September.
182525 JuneHobartGovernor Arthur pirates Hobart Town Gazette title; appoints James Ross and George Terry Howe as government printers; Bent continues to publish.
182519 AugHobartFirst issue of Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser.
1825OctSydneySydney Gazette is published bi-weekly – after Robert Howe closes the Express.
182619 MaySydneyFirst issue of the Monitor; ceases end March 1842.
18271 JanSydneySydney Gazette becomes a daily. Final daily issue is 10 Feb 1827. (It was bi-weekly immediately before daily issue and tri-weekly immediately after.)
18273 MarHobartFirst issue of Tasmanian.
18275 AprilSydneyFirst issue of the Gleaner; ceases 29 Sept.
1827 25 April Sydney Governor Darling’s “Gagging Act” passed by Legislative Council.
18273 MaySydney“Stamp Act” (a duty on newspapers) passed by Legislative Council, but never enforced.
182720 OctHobartFirst issue of Hobart Town Courier.
1828MarchHobartFirst issue of Colonial Advocate and Tasmanian Monthly Review, a magazine published by Andrew Bent to avoid the necessity for a newspaper licence. No 8, October 1828 was final issue.
182929 JanSydneySydney Gazette proprietor Robert Howe drowns in boating accident on Sydney Harbour.
18299 FebLauncestonFirst issue of Launceston Advertiser.
182924 FebLauncestonFirst issue of Cornwall Press and Commercial Advertiser. Ceases with No 20 on 7 July 1829.
1830UnknownFremantleFirst issue of Fremantle Journal and General Advertiser (manuscript; short-lived)
1830UnknownPerthFirst issue of West Australian Gazette (manuscript; short-lived)
183128 MarLauncestonFirst issue of Independent; ceases 31 Jan 1835.
183118 AprilSydneyFirst issue of Sydney Herald. Started by Alfred Ward Stephens, 27, Frederick Michael Stokes, 26, and William McGarvie, 21.
183125 AprilFremantleFirst issue of the Fremantle Observer, Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal .
1831UnknownPerthFirst issue of the West Australian Chronicle and Perth Gazette (manuscript; short-lived)
1831UnknownPerthFirst issue of the Western Australian (manuscript; short-lived)
18327 MarchSydneyFirst issue of the official Government Gazette for New South Wales. Contained only orders and notices; no news and adverts. End of the arrangement by which the Sydney Gazette, alone among newspapers, was paid to publish Government Orders.
183217 MaySydneySydney Herald becomes bi-weekly. Price per copy drops to sixpence, but rises to 9d when size enlarged on 3 March 1834.
1832JuneSydneyG.T. Graham replaces Ralph Mansfield as editor of Sydney Gazette.
18326 JulySydneyAlfred Hill, printer of Hall’s Monitor, launches Hill’s Life in New South Wales, sporting weekly modelled on Bell’s Life in London; 5d. SMH only cheaper Sydney paper. Ceases Jan 1833.
18326 JulyHobartFirst issue of Colonist and Van Diemen’s Land Commercial & Agricultural Advertiser.
183225 AugSydneyFirst issue of Currency Lad, published by executors of Howe estate and Horatio Wills, George Howe’s step-son. Ceases May 1833.
1832NovSydneyEdward O’Shaughnessy (an emancipist) replaces Graham as editor of Sydney Gazette.
1833UnknownPerthFirst issue of Western Australian Colonial News (manuscript; short-lived)
1833UnknownPerthFirst issue of Inquisitor (manuscript; short-lived)
18335 JanPerthFirst issue of Perth Gazette, forerunner of today’s West Australian.
183326 FebHobartFirst issue of Hobart Town Chronicle. Ceases 2 July 1833.
1833JuneSydneyThe widowed Mrs Howe, as executrix, takes over direct control of the Sydney Gazette, but O’Shaughnessy remains as editor.
183422 AugHobartFirst issue of People’s Horn Boy. Ceases 13 Dec 1834.
183428 NovHobartFirst issue of Morning Star and Commercial Advertiser. Ceases 23 Oct 1835.
18351 JanSydneyFirst issue of the Colonist. Proprietor John Dunmore Lang. Incorporated in Sydney Herald from 1 Jan 1841.
183618 JuneAdelaideFirst issue of South Australian Gazette & Colonial Register (this issue published in London, six months before colony is proclaimed; 2nd issue published in Adelaide on 3 June 1837). Ceases 20 Feb 1931.
18366 OctPerthFirst issue of the Swan River Guardian (survives 16 months)
1836OctSydneyFrederick Stokes, co-owner of the Sydney Herald, ‘had some difference with Mr Stephens’, sells him his half share and withdraws from the paper.
18381 JanMelbourneFirst issue of Melbourne Advertiser; manuscript; printed from 5/3; discontinued in April as was not registered.
18382 JulySydneySydney Herald becomes tri-weekly.
183827 OctMelbourneFirst issue of Port Phillip Gazette.
18382 JuneAdelaideFirst issue of Southern Australian; appears under that title to Oct 1844; then South Australian.
18396 FebMelbourneFirst issue of Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser.
183910 AprilPort LincolnFirst issue of Port Lincoln Herald. First, sixth and seventh issued printed in Adelaide; 2-5 printed at Port Lincoln. Ceases with No. 7 on 28 Sept. 1841.
183920 JuneAdelaideSouth Australian Gazette appears as separate organ from South Australian Register.
18397 SeptAdelaideFirst issue of Adelaide Guardian; becomes Adelaide Chronicle 10 Dec 1839. Thomas and Co buys it in March 1840 and continues to publish it on Weds, with Register on Sats.
1839DecSydney
Robert Howe, son of Robert Howe (1795-1829), buys Sydney Gazette at auction and becomes third generation of Howe family to own the paper. Sells in October 1841.
183931 DecSydneyFrederick Stokes buys back Sydney Herald from Ward Stephens.
18403 JanMelbourneFirst issue of Port Phillip Herald. Becomes Melbourne Morning Herald Jan 1849 and the Herald from 1855.
18401 JulySydneySydney Monitor becomes a daily; published daily only until year's end.
18401 OctSydneySydney Herald becomes daily, reducing its price to sixpence.
184012 NovAdelaideThomas and Co issue unauthorised South Australian Gazette, claiming it to be “authorised”; forces SA Government to change title of the authorised version to the South Australian Government Gazette.
184021 NovGeelongFirst issue of Geelong Advertiser, first regular provincial mainland newspaper; still published.
1840unknownSydneyTransportation of convicts to NSW ceases.
18411 JanSydneySydney Herald incorporates John Dunmore Lang’s Colonist.
18418 FebSydneyJohn Fairfax and Charles Kemp buy Sydney Herald from Frederick Stokes.
1841MayAdelaideDeparture of Gawler as Governor of SA. End of government intervention in SA newspapers. Depression forces sale of the SA Register to James Allen, Baptist preacher.
184111 DecMaitlandNSW First issue of Hunter River Gazette, first provincial newspaper in NSW. Ceases 25 June 1842.
184129 DecSydneyMonitor ceases publication.
1841unknownSydneyNSW Government Printer appointed to run a government printery and print Government Gazette. This ended annual tendering arrangement that gave Government some influence over the press. [Contract was held by proprietors of Sydney Gazette, 1832-34; Herald, 1835, 1837 and 1840; Australian, 1838-39; and a non-newspaper printer, 1836.]
1841unknownSydneyPopulation of NSW: 130,000, including 46,000 convicts and ex-convicts (1851: 187,000, including 26,000 convicts and ex-cons).
184212 MarchLauncestonFirst issue of Launceston Examiner; still published.
1842JulySydneyPublication of Sydney Gazette suspended when owner Patrick Grant could not pay his printers; printer Richard Sanderson resumed publication on 2 August.
18421 AugSydneySydney Herald becomes Sydney Morning Herald.
18426 AugAdelaideSouth Australian Register announces partnership between its proprietors, Robert Thomas and George Stevenson, is dissolved; paper and plant auctioned to James Allen for £600.
184220 AugPortlandFirst issue of Portland Guardian; ceases 1964
184231 AugPortlandFirst issue of Portland Mercury; ceases 29 June 1844
184220 OctSydneyAustralia’s first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette, ceases (after publication had been suspended for a few weeks in July).
184226 OctAdelaideFirst issue of the Southern Star. Ceases 15 Feb 1843.
18437 JanMaitlandNSW First issue of Maitland Mercury; still published.
18431 JulyAdelaideFirst issue of Adelaide Observer; edited and owned by John Stephens, a teetotaller Methodist who later plays influential role in the anti-state aid to religion campaign; Observer rises out of ashes of Examiner, which was one of the victims of the depression of early 1840s (Carey, p.16).
1843unknownSydneyInstitution of a two-thirds elected Legislative Council in NSW. Press takes on additional responsibility for there is no official Hansard until 1879 and there are now periodic elections. Press had been reporting the nominee Council since 1838.
1843JulySydneyFirst issue of W.A. Duncan’s Weekly Register. Ceases December 1845.
18441 JanSydneyEditor Thomas Forster and printer E.H. Statham buy the Australian and make it a daily; it remains a daily for a year and then becomes a tri-weekly and later a bi-weekly.
184423 DecAdelaideSA Register appears as a daily – for seven weeks, under James Allen’s ownership. Allen had already lifted it to bi-weekly issue. Ceased daily issue on Wed 12 Feb 1845. Became a Wed/Sat bi-weekly.
18443 JulyPortlandFirst issue of Portland Gazette. Ceases 23 March 1849
184430 NovSydneyFirst issue of the Atlas [full title: Atlas, Sydney Weekly, Journal of Politics, Commerce and Literature]. Ceases 30 December 1848.
184515 JanPortlandFirst issue of Portland Bay Examiner; ceases 13 May 1845.
184515 MayMelbournePort Phillip Patriot becomes a daily, Melbourne’s first
1845JulyAdelaideJames Allen sells South Australian Register to John Stephens, owner of the Adelaide Observer; the latter becomes the weekly edition of the Register, and both are controlled from same office until Register’s closure in 1931
18454 JulyHobartColonial Times incorporates the Tasmanian.
18455 JulyAdelaideFirst issue of Mark 2 of the South Australian Gazette & Colonial Register, with George Stevenson in control. Confusing title and the Register is still being published, as is the SA Government Gazette. In Oct 1847 Stevenson changes Colonial to Mining in the title.
18462 JuneMelbourneFirst issue of Argus; William Kerr is editor/proprietor.
184620 JuneBrisbaneFirst issue of Moreton Bay Courier. Courier-Mail of today is descended from it.
1848JuneTanundaSA First issue of Deutsche Post fur die Australische Colonien in Adelaide on 6 Jan 1848. Bilingual English-German weekly. Ceases after three months and proprietor transfers seat of operations to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley where a large number of German-speaking migrants have settled. Publication resumes in June.
184815 SeptMelbourneThe Melbourne Argus banner becomes simply the Argus. Damages in a libel action against the Argus force founder William Kerr to sell the newspaper. Contributor Edward Wilson buys it for £300, but has to borrow.
184823 SeptSydneyClosure of the Australian.
18482 OctSydneyFirst issue of Daily News and Evening Chronicle; ceases 29 Nov
18482 OctAdelaideFirst issue of the Adelaide Times. Weekly.
18489 OctMelbournePort Phillip Patriot becomes Melbourne Daily News.
18491 JanMelbournePort Phillip Herald becomes a daily (Melbourne’s second) and changes title to the Melbourne Morning Herald
184917 JuneSydneyFirst issue of Sunday Times, Australia's first designated Sunday paper; published by Thomas Revel Johnson; survived only three or four issues.
184918 JuneMelbourneArgus becomes a daily, Melbourne’s third
18499 SeptSydneyFirst issue of the Australian Sportsman.
184913 NovGeelongGeelong Advertiser becomes Australia’s first provincial daily.
18501 JanAdelaideSouth Australian Register appears as a daily for the second time.
185026 JanHobartFirst issue of the Irish Exile: Freedom’s Advocate; ceases 12 April 1851.
18501 AprilAdelaideThe Times, Adelaide (formerly the Adelaide Times) becomes a daily (until Sat 29 November 1851, then weekly [Sat]).
185019 JulyBrisbaneFirst issue of Moreton Bay Free Press.
1850OctTanundaSA First issue of Deutsche Zeitung fur Sudaustralien. Ceases March 1851.
185028 DecSydneyFirst issue of the Empire. Launched by Henry Parkes. Daily from 20 Jan 1851.

Updated 25 January 201