The ''Darling Downs Gazette'' was a newspaper published from 1848 to 1922 in
Drayton and
Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...
in
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
,
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 ...
.
History
''The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser'' was founded in 1858 by
Arthur Sidney Lyon
Arthur Sidney Lyon (1817–1861), was a journalist and newspaper proprietor in Queensland, Australia. He was known as "the father of the press in colonial Queensland". He was the founder of the '' Moreton Bay Courier'' (later '' Brisbane Courier'' ...
.
The first issue of four pages was published on Thursday 10 June 1858 from ''Willow Cottage'', a wooden shanty, in Drayton.
After two years, it was purchased by W. H. Byers. Later,
William Henry Traill
William Henry Traill (7 May 1842 – 21 May 1902) was an Australian journalist and politician, commonly referred to as W. H. Traill. He was an early editor and for a period the principal proprietor of '' The Bulletin'' in Sydney.''Sydney Morning ...
was the proprietor for a brief period.
While Drayton, being established in 1842, was the first substantial settlement on the Darling Downs, by the 1860s it was clear that it would be overtaken by nearby
Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...
in size and importance, leading to Byers relocating the Darling Downs Gazette to Toowoomba in 1861.
As the Darling Downs was a rural district occupied by squatters
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
, the newspaper focussed on farming and trade issues. Its politics were aligned with the interests of the squatters (a significant force in early Queensland politics), and lead to the creation of opposition newspapers that represented opposing political interests.[
From June 1858 to November 1864 it was published weekly on Thursday. From December 1864 to November 1865 it was published twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday. From November 1865 to September 1868 it was published three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. From September 1868 to March 1879 it reverted twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday (but occasionally published three issues in a week). From April 1879 it became a daily paper published Monday through Saturday.][
In 1922 the Dunn family bought the Darling Downs Gazette and amalgamated it with as the ]Toowoomba Chronicle
''The Toowoomba Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs regional areas in Queensland, Australia.
As of 2016, the newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia, and forms part of their Regional Medi ...
under the new title ''Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette
''The Toowoomba Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs regional areas in Queensland, Australia.
As of 2016, the newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia, and forms part of their Regional Med ...
'', first published on 2 October 1922.[
]
Digitisation
The paper has been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program
Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...
of the National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
.
See also
* List of newspapers in Australia
This is a list of newspapers in Australia. For other older newspapers, see list of defunct newspapers of Australia.
National
In 1950, the number of national daily newspapers in Australia was 54 and it increased to 65 in 1965.
Daily newspape ...
References
External links
*
*{{trove newspaper, 257, The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser, Toowoomba, Qld. : 1858 - 1880
Defunct newspapers published in Queensland
Publications established in 1848
Publications disestablished in 1922
1848 establishments in Australia
Darling Downs
Drayton, Queensland
Toowoomba
Newspapers on Trove