Western Grazier (Wilcannia, NSW) - Front Page 1 January 1896
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The ''Western Grazier'' was a newspaper published from 1880 until 1951, covering the central
Darling River The Darling River ( Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longes ...
region of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. It was published in
Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th ce ...
until 1940, when it moved to
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
.


Newspaper history

Wilcannia's first newspaper was the ''Wilcannia Times'', a bi-weekly founded in 1873 by William Webb (March 1848 – 15 November 1910), and ceased publication in 1888. The ''Western Grazier'' was established on 2 December 1880 by
James Smith Reid James Smith Reid (c. 1848 – 15 January 1922) generally referred to as "J. S. Reid" and familiarly as "Smith", was an Australian newspaper owner, editor and businessman. History Reid was born in County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Con ...
. Reid was an Irish printer-journalist who had previously established several mining journals 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_ ...
, including ''The Miner'' in
Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...
and Thornborough. After the establishment of ''The Western Grazier'' Reid went on to in Silverton, where he founded the bi-weekly ''Silver Age'', whose printing presses were used to print the first prospectus of
BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
. Reid and his brothers were to amass considerable wealth from their mining interests. In 1886,
Thomas William Heney Thomas William Heney (5 November 1862 – 19 August 1928) was an Australian journalist and poet. Heney was the son of Thomas William Heney (Snr), a printer, and Sarah Elizabeth, ''née'' Carruthers. He was born in Sydney and educated at Cooma ...
became editor of ''The Western Grazier'', a position he held for three years. The first issue which is available to the public via
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 ...
is dated Wednesday, 1 January 1896, is listed as Volume XVII No, 1571 and consisted of 4 pages, priced 3d., at which time the paper was published twice weekly; on Saturday and Wednesday by Albert John Esau (1863 – 24 December 1940). Esau, son of Dr. Esau of
Woodside, South Australia Woodside is a town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. The town is between Balhannah and Lobethal, from the state capital, Adelaide. Mount Barker is also nearby. Description The town is a useful traffic hub linking Oakbank, Lobe ...
, purchased the ''Western Grazier'' around 1891 and until 1897 was solely responsible for the paper's production and distribution, then took on Thomas Henry Bell as assistant. It was in that year that Esau was successfully sued for libel. Esau subsequently was proprietor of the '' Armidale Chronicle'', where in 1899 he attracted another libel suit, which was settled out of court. In 1905 he founded the Corowa Chronicle, which he ran for around 23 years, and was involved in many other regional newspapers. He later had a stationery shop in
Singleton, New South Wales Singleton is a town on the banks of the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. Singleton is 197 km (89 mi) north-north-west of Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city ...
where he became insolvent in 1937. He died in Adelaide at the end of 1940 after being struck by a
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
. Thomas Henry Bell took over publication of the paper in October 1898, and ran it for 14 years, during which time it became a weekly, published on Saturday, with the price doubled to 6d. Bell was succeeded in 1900 by John Atkinson (ca.1857 – 16 February 1923), who had returned to Wilcannia in 1899 to take charge of the Lion Brewery, and was dubbed the "
Pooh Bah Grand Poobah is a satirical term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Mikado'' (1885). In this comic opera, Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord C ...
of Wilcannia" for the way he entered into all facets of the town's life. Editorship passed to longtime employee of the ''Western Grazier'', Robert Varcoe "Bob" Patterson (ca.1863 – 2 October 1939) 1n 1909, but continued as proprietor until 1911, when ownership passed to Lewis Downs (ca.1860 – 8 February 1943), a businessman (partner in Knox & Downs) and accountant in Wilcannia. Patterson (who, unlike Esau, was constitutionally unable to say or write anything that might be hurtful to others) became proprietor a few years later. With the coming of railways and improved roads and motor vehicles, the Murray-Darling's importance as a conduit for wool and wheat, and Wilcannia's importance as a river port, declined dramatically and its population slumped. The Depression contributed to a drop in readership and nearly led to the paper's demise in 1933. On Patterson's death, ownership of the ''Grazier'' passed to Michael Hayes (publisher) and G. Lawrence (financial backing). Their partnership was dissolved in October 1940, leaving Hayes the sole owner. Lawrence regained ownership in 1941 and arranged with Ernest Wetherell of Broken Hill's ''
Barrier Daily Truth The Barrier Daily Truth was a local newspaper for the mining town of Broken Hill in Australia. It coverered a range of stories that affect local residents, including industrial news relating to the mines and stories submitted by readers such a ...
'' to take over the printing and distribution of ''Western Grazier'', with J. Brand as the Wilcannia editor. Day of publication moved from Saturday to Friday; the cover price remained unchanged at 6d. With the
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
providing fresh headlines every day, and with most families personally involved, newspaper sales picked up dramatically. Post-war shortages combined with local factors to make the newspaper unprofitable and the newspaper ceased publication on 29 June 1951.


Digitisation

Issues of the paper from 1 January 1896 have 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 ...
project 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 ...
*
List of newspapers in New South Wales This is a list of newspapers in New South Wales in Australia. List of newspapers in New South Wales (A) List of newspapers in New South Wales (B) List of newspapers in New South Wales (C) List of newspapers in New South Wales (D) Li ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Western Grazier, The Newspapers established in 1880 Publications disestablished in 1951 Defunct newspapers published in New South Wales Newspapers on Trove 1880 establishments in Australia 1951 disestablishments in Australia