''The Tocsin'' (often referred to only as ''Tocsin'') was an Australian socialist newspaper, published from 1897 to 1906. It was co-founded by several prominent political figures, including Edward Findley, John Percy Jones and

Bernard O'Dowd Bernard Patrick O'Dowd (11 April 1866 – 1 September 1953) was an Australian poet, activist, lawyer, and journalist. He worked for the Victorian colonial and state governments for almost 50 years, first as an assistant librarian at the Supreme ...

. Jack Castieau served as the first editor, while artist

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...

drew its first cover design. Writers for the paper included Frank Anstey, Lilian Locke and

Frank Wilmot Frank Leslie Thomson Wilmot (6 April 1881 – 22 February 1942), who published his work under the pseudonym Furnley Maurice, was a noted Australian poet, best known for ''To God: From the Warring Nations'' (1917). Early life Wilmot was a son of H ...

, and John Arthur Andrews was editor for a time. ''Tocsin'' readers formed themselves into "Tocsin Clubs", conducting well-attended public meetings for political discussion in several places across

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 metrop ...

. Co-founder Findley was expelled from the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presid ...

in 1901 after ''Tocsin'' was found to have libelled King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. In the pre-federation era in Australia, ''Tocsin'' argued against

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing ...

. ''Tocsin'' was succeeded by the ''Labor Call''. It 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 ...

as part of the

Trove 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 ...

project.

References

External links

* {{trove newspaper, 961, The Tocsin, Melbourne, Vic. : 1897 - 1906 1897 establishments in Australia Defunct newspapers published in Victoria (Australia) 1906 disestablishments in Australia Socialist newspapers Newspapers on Trove