''The National Advocate'' was a daily newspaper published in

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...

, Australia, between 1889 and 1963.

Newspaper history

The newspaper was established on 28 September 1889, co-founded by Australian businessman James Rutherford as a vehicle to put forward a protectionist viewpoint. The newspaper's board of directors included Francis Halliday who was at that time was president of the Bathurst National Protection League. The ''National Advocate'' had a reputation as the local mouthpiece of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

, in contrast to the conservative-leaning '' Bathurst Times''. For many years its manager was

John Percival John Percival (3 April 1779 – 7 September 1862), known as Mad Jack Percival, was a celebrated officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812, the campaign against West Indies pirates, and the Mexican–Amer ...

, a Labor member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

. Percival was forced to resign in 1923 after being caught misusing company money. In 1920, federal

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

Archdale Parkhill Sir Robert Archdale "Archie" Parkhill Order of St Michael and St George, (27 August 1878 – 2 October 1947) was an Australian politician who served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1927 to 1937. He bega ...

brought a libel suit against the ''National Advocate''. He was awarded significant damages, which combined with legal fees cost the paper almost £7,000 and nearly bankrupted it. However, the paper soon returned to profitability and in 1926 was even able to begin paying a 10 percent dividend to its shareholders. Future prime minister

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

was appointed to the newspaper's board of directors in 1921, occupying the place that had previously been held by his father. He eventually came to own about 10 percent of the company's shares, and his wife

Lizzie Lizzie or Lizzy is a nickname for Elizabeth or Elisabet, often given as an independent name in the United States, especially in the late 19th century. Lizzie can also be the shortened version of Lizeth, Lissette or Lizette. People * Elizabeth I ...

held additional shares in her own name. When his political career allowed – such as after his electoral defeat in 1931 – he acted as a sort of managing director. In 1939, ''The National Advocates circulation was approximately 3,200 at the cost of one penny. As with many other regional newspapers, it struggled financially during World War II and never recovered its previous influence or circulation. The newspaper ceased publication on 30 March 1963 after it merged with the '' Western Times'' to form the newspaper '' The Western Advocate''.

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:National Advocate The Defunct newspapers published in New South Wales 1889 establishments in Australia Publications established in 1889 1963 disestablishments in Australia Publications disestablished in 1963 Daily newspapers published in Australia Newspapers on Trove

Newspaper history

Digitisation

See also

References

External links