Arthur Lovekin (12 November 1859 – 10 December 1931) was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and owner, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Early life

Lovekin was probably born in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. He was partly educated at St Edmund's School,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, from 1871–75.

Victoria and South Australia

He came to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1879 and worked in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

for 12 months as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

. The next year he joined

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

as a journalist; he married Elizabeth Jane Letcher on 26 June 1882. In 1883 he joined the

South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and f ...

, "and with Thomas Harry formed a partnership as public

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

writers in 1885."

Western Australia

In 1886, Lovekin was a senior reporter on the ''

Fremantle Herald ''Fremantle Herald'' and similar names have been used for three different newspapers serving Fremantle, Western Australia: ''The Herald'' (1867–1886), ''Fremantle Herald'' (1913–1919) and a current publication, founded in 1989. Colonial ''H ...

'': "the colony's first radical newspaper", according to the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography''. The ''Herald'' was absorbed by the owners of a rival newspaper, '' Daily News'', and in 1890, Lovekin became company secretary and director. In 1893, in England, he bought machinery which enabled ''Daily News'' to install the first rotary printing press and Linotype typesetting machines in Western Australia. By 1894, he was managing director and editor of ''Daily News''. In 1896, Lovekin launched the ''

Morning Herald The ''Morning Herald'' was an early daily newspaper in the United Kingdom. The newspaper was founded in 1780 by the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley, former editor of ''The Morning Post''. It was initially a liberal paper aligned with the Prince o ...

'' in competition with

John Winthrop Hackett Sir John Winthrop Hackett Sr. (4 February 184819 February 1916), generally known as "Winthrop Hackett", was a proprietor and editor of several newspapers in Western Australia, a politician and a university chancellor. Early life Hackett was b ...

's ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

''. He provoked Australia's first newspaper

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

in 1912, when he rejected a claim from ''Daily News'' journalists for equal pay with ''West Australian'' journalists. The strike lasted a week before Lovekin granted the claim. In 1916, he became sole owner of the ''Daily News''. By the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was very wealthy thanks to stockpiles of

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...

he sold to newspapers affected by wartime shortages. Lovekin sold the ''Daily News'' to

News Ltd News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

for £86,000 in 1926.

Politics

In the 1890s Lovekin and Hackett, and

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

and David Forrest, were regular attendees at Sunday morning discussions at the home of

Sir John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

. During World War I Lovekin helped organise the

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

campaign in 1916, and "matched the 'King's Shilling' with his own", according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography. From 1919 to 1931 Lovekin was a member of the Legislative Council for the

Metropolitan Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of severa ...

Kings Park

In 1893 Lovekin was a foundation member of the Kings Park honorary committee, which became the King's Park Board in 1896 (and now known as Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority). In 1918 he became president for 13 years until his death. It was Lovekin's idea to honour WA's war dead by planting rows of commemorative trees in the park. His initiative was based on the Avenue of Honour in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

, Victoria. In 1920 Lovekin and board member Sir

William Loton Sir William Thorley Loton (11 June 1838 – 22 October 1924), was an Australian politician. Early life Born at Dilhorne in Staffordshire, England on 11 June 1838,Pat Simpson, 'Loton, Sir William Thorley (1838–1924)', Australian Dictionary of ...

each donated £500 to clear and plant Forrest Avenue with sugar gums. Forrest Avenue was renamed Lovekin Drive after his death.

Other interests

Lovekin was a chairman of the Children's Hospital board of management, helped set up the Perth Children's Court (and served on its bench for nearly 20 years), and was interested in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. He established the

Arthur Lovekin Prize in Journalism The Arthur Lovekin Prize for Excellence in Journalism is an annual journalism award in Western Australia. The Prize was established with the University of Western Australia in 1928 by journalist, newspaper owner and politician, Arthur Lovekin, ...

in 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovekin, Arthur 1859 births 1931 deaths People educated at St Edmund's School Canterbury Journalists from Western Australia Settlers of Western Australia