The ''Murray Pioneer'' is a weekly newspaper published since 1892 in

Renmark, South Australia Renmark is a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area, and is located northeast of Adelaide, on the banks of the River Murray. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered ...

. It is now owned by the Taylor Group of Newspapers.

History

The forerunner of the newspaper was the ''Renmark Pioneer'' (9 April 1892 – 4 July 1913?), which was a weekly newspaper published in

. Originally published on a Saturday, it later appeared on Fridays. Its first issue was produced by the "chromograph" method (a gelatin pad transfer system); its second by a form of

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...

, with advertisements printed using a

Cyclostyle A monopteros (Ancient Greek: , from the Polytonic: μόνος, 'only, single, alone', and , 'wing') is a circular colonnade supporting a roof but without any walls. Unlike a tholos (in its wider sense as a circular building), it does not have w ...

machine by its first editor, A. P. Corrie. An ''Albion'' press was later procured. The last issue which has been digitised by 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 ...

for its "Trove" service is dated 4 July 1913. In 1913 it was renamed to the ''Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record'' subtitled ''"With which is incorporated The Renmark Pioneer"'' (which first appears in digitised form as the issue dated 2 January 1914; listed as Volume 19 No. 1 and Volume 1 No. 76 New series). In 1928, it absorbed rival publication '' The Loxton Clarion and Murray Lands Guardian'' from Jack Irving. In 1942, the name was simplified to the current title. In 1964, the newspaper bought out ''

The Loxton News ''The Loxton News'' was a weekly newspaper published in Loxton, South Australia, and published continuously between April 1960 and April 2020. History The earliest roots of what was to become ''The Loxton News'' began with the founding of the ''L ...

'' (28 April 1960-present), also founded by Irving. Along with ''

The Bunyip ''The Bunyip'' is a weekly newspaper, first printed on 5 September 1863, and originally published and printed in Gawler, South Australia. Its distribution area includes the Gawler, Barossa, Light, Playford, and Adelaide Plains areas. Along ...

'', ''

The River News ''The River News'' was a weekly newspaper published in Waikerie, South Australia, published from July 1956 until April 2020. History ''The River News'' was begun on 19 July 1956 by Colin Hetzel of the Waikerie Printing House with his wife, Meg He ...

'', and ''

,'' ''The Murray Pioneer'' is now owned by the Taylor Group of Newspapers. After many years of publishing two editions (Tuesdays and Fridays) per week, in July 2019 the ''Murray Pioneer'' switched to a single Wednesday edition per week.

Editors

Arthur Pitman Corrie (c. April 1871 – 9 September 1932) served an apprenticeship as a mechanic and worked at the ''

Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second oldest regional newspaper in New South Wal ...

'' before founding the ''Renmark Pioneer'' in 1892. He guided its progress from chromograph through cyclostyle to a small printing press, though he never mastered the art of

letterpress Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker comp ...

. He moved to Queensland, where he joined the Brisbane ''Daily Mail'' then in October 1914 enlisted with the AIF, and with the 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance saw action in the Middle East. He later became a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, (another reference has him training as a Salvation Army Officer) and aside from his pastoral duties he was Maryborough correspondent for the Brisbane ''

Courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

''. He married Flora Mary; they had one son, Leslie Robertson Corrie. Christopher James Ashwell (c. 1850 – 27 June 1905) was on the staff of the ''

Mildura Cultivator The ''Mildura Cultivator'' (1888–1920) was a weekly newspaper, the second newspaper to be published in Mildura, Victoria. History It was first published on Thursday 19 May 1888 as the official organ of Chaffey Brothers, founders of the irrig ...

'' before becoming in 1896 the proprietor and editor of the ''Renmark Pioneer''. He was particularly known in those towns as a chess enthusiast. He was largely responsible for founding the (community licensed) Renmark Hotel. Harry Samuel Taylor (13 January 1873 – 13 February 1932) was a grandson of Samuel Smith, founder of

Yalumba winery Yalumba is an Australian winery located near the town of Angaston, South Australia in the Barossa Valley wine region. It was founded by a British brewer, Samuel Smith, who emigrated to Australia with his family from Wareham, Dorset in August ...

. He was educated at

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

and began his working life as a teacher before becoming interested in horticulture. He married S. Helen Smith in 1897, took up an orchard on the

River Murray The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. He progressed to journalism with the ''

'' (later named the ''

Sunraysia Daily The ''Sunraysia Daily'' is a local newspaper in the north-western Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia, it is published on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. From its first publication in 1920 until 14 September 2007, it was published ...

''), writing as "H. S. T." and "The Rambler", before taking over the ''Pioneer'' in 1905. He was lauded by an editor of ''

'', another South Australian regional newspaper, as being well informed on foreign affairs, and uniquely cool headed during the

Great War 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 an idealist who did not see his newspaper as a "money-making megaphone".

"With Pipe and Book"

A regular book review, which also served as an editorial on cultural and political matters, ran from 26 April 1912 (conducted by "NORASTYL", another Taylor alias, abandoned after a few issues) to 16 August 1929. Issues commencing 8 July 1921 deal with Professor

Coleman Phillipson Coleman Phillipson (25 April 1875? 1878? – 1958) was an English legal scholar and historian. He was Professor of Law at Adelaide University 1919–1925. History Phillipson was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, the eldest son of Mr and Mrs S. ...

's defence of the swingeing peace terms of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, and are particularly prophetic.

Distribution

Like other Taylor Group publications, the newspaper is also available online.

Notes and references

External links

''The Murray Pioneer''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray Pioneer Newspapers published in South Australia Newspapers established in 1892 Weekly newspapers published in Australia 1892 establishments in Australia