The ''Williamstown Chronicle'' was a

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspaper is published once every two weeks. Weekly n ...

published in

Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census. ...

, a suburb of

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 met ...

. Publication began in May 1854, trading under the name ''Williamstown Trade Circular''. In September 1856, the name was changed to the ''Williamstown Chronicle'', which lasted until the paper was absorbed by the ''Williamstown Advertiser'' in 1964. The ''Williamstown Chronicle'' was the first newspaper for the area and the third suburban newspaper to exist in Australia. It was started by John Bennett Stephens, who produced the paper in his office in Ann Street and distributed it for free. The paper lost currency in 1874, which led to John. B. Stephens standing aside as editor. His son, J. C. Stephens, took over as editor,Strahan L. (1994). At the Edge of the Centre: A History of Williamstown. North Melbourne, Victoria: Hargreen Publishing Company, p. 9 promising to create a "re-modelled and enlarged" version of the paper. J. C. Stephens was unsuccessful at his venture and by 1880 the paper had been bought by Robert G. Neale. As the new editor, he enlarged the paper to forty-six

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

by 1882. After competing with the ''Williamstown Advertiser'' (started 1874) for over a decade, Neale decided to sell the paper in 1892. Ownership passed into the hands of Mr Bower and Frank Young who retained control until 1933 when Bower retired, leaving Young as the paper's

sole proprietor A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. A sole ...

.Elsum, W.H. (1934) The History of Williamstown: From its First Settlement to a City 1834-1934, Melbourne: Williamstown City Council, p.114

References

External links

* {{trove newspaper, 193, Williamstown Chronicle, Vic. : 1856 - 1954 Defunct newspapers published in Victoria (state) Newspapers established in 1854 Williamstown, Victoria 1854 establishments in Australia Weekly newspapers published in Australia Publications disestablished in 1964 Newspapers on Trove