The ''Albany Advertiser'', also published as the ''Australian Advertiser'' and the ''Albany Advertiser and Plantagenet and Denmark Post'', is a biweekly English language newspaper published for Albany and the Great Southern region in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. First published in 1888 as the ''Australian Advertiser'', the paper is still in circulation. The paper is the oldest continuous-running non-metropolitan newspaper in Western Australia. The paper is printed twice weekly, on Tuesday and Thursday, and distributed to towns through the Great Southern region including Albany, Cranbrook, Mount Barker, Jerramungup, Ravensthorpe, Katanning and Walpole. The office of the newspaper is called ''Newspaper House'' and is located in the main street York Street, Albany.

History

''Australian Advertiser'' co-founder,

Lancel Victor de Hamel Lancel Victor de Hamel (10 September 1849 – 25 November 1894) was a publisher, solicitor and politician who represented the people of Albany, Western Australia, Albany in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western ...

, arrived in Albany in 1886 and announced his intention to run for mayor. De Hamel was given little support from the only paper in town, the conservative ''Albany Mail and King George's Sound Advertiser''. He then set up a second publication with his partner, William Forster, called the ''Australian Advertiser'' which first published on 14 May 1888. Shortly afterward De Hamel was elected as mayor. The ''Albany Mail'' was absorbed by the ''Australian Advertiser'' September1889. Forster took over the paper after De Hamel's departure in 1891. He remained the editor of the paper until 1900, when he left to work on the ''Morning Herald'' in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. After his departure Arthur Catling took over as editor, and the paper moved to a bi-weekly format. In February 1897 the ''Australian Advertiser'' became the ''Albany Advertiser''. From 9 January 1924 until 24 December 1927, it was known as the ''Albany Advertiser and Plantagenet and Denmark Post''.

Publications

In the pre-first world war era, the publisher ventured into publication of "

Alluring Albany "Alluring Albany" was a book published between 1910 and 1913 by the Albany Advertiser about the town and port of Albany, Western Australia. The printing company, a part of the Advertiser operation, had been founded by William Frear Forster � ...

", which was published in three consecutive years with the subtitle of "Handbook for the Port and Back Country and Guide to the Chief West Australian Health Resort". Photographs from the ''Advertisers collection included the 1901 royal visit, the

Great White Fleet The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships which completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. Its mission was ...

visit of 1908, as well as Stirling Terrace and local hotels and businesses. To commemorate Albany's centenary in 1927 a book with many photographs from the earlier volume included, was published. Histories of the newspaper and tourist guides for Albany were also published by the ''Advertiser''.

Takeover in 1973

The

Robert Holmes à Court Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court (27 July 1937 – 2 September 1990) was a South African-born Australian businessman who became Australia's first billionaire, before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 53. A great- ...

company, Bell Brothers, acquired the paper in 1973 along with local radio station 6VA. The paper was taken over by ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'' at some time prior to 2002; the ''Advertiser'' had a circulation of 9,000 per issue in 2003. Last printed in Albany in 2003, the paper was then printed in the suburbs of

, firstly in Victoria Park and since 2006 in Herdsman. In 1981 a fire damaged the building occupied by the Advertiser. The paper is currently owned by

Seven West Media Seven West Media Limited is an Australian Securities Exchange, ASX-listed media company and is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, print and online publishing. Seven Group Holdi ...

along with other Western Australian publications including ''The West Australian''. Circulation in 2013 was 5,576 per issue.

Availability

Issues (1897–1950) of this newspaper 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 documen ...

, a 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 "maint ...

in cooperation with the State Library of Western Australia. Hard copy and microfilm copies of the ''Albany Advertiser'' are also available at the State Library of Western Australia.

References

External links