William Manning left school at age 13 to work as an apprentice printer at The Gympie Times, before moving to Brisbane at the age of 21 to work as a compositor at Figaro. In 1889 he was appointed manager of The Gladstone Observer, and a year later bought out the Kilfeder-Mellfont partnership to become proprietor-editor of the paper for the next 20 years. Manning was heavily involved in Gladstone civic life, serving as Mayor in 1897, 1898 and 1901, and acting as chairman of the Progress Assocation and the Hospital Committee.
In 1910 Manning sold The Gladstone Observer to John Kessel and moved to Mackay where he bought shares in The Daily Mercury. From 25 April 1910 he served as managing editor of the newspaper, and managing director as well from 28 March 1911. When Manning arrived the newspaper was in receivership, but his astute business practices turned the business around. From 1917, he served as chairman of directors, and from 1924 the Manning family became proprietors of the paper. His civic interests continued and in 1918 he stood unsuccessfully against the State Member for Mackay, William Forgon Smith.
Member of the Australian Provincial Press Association and director of Mackay Broadcasting Service Pty Ltd, Manning relinquished editorship of The Daily Mercury to H. A. Moore when his wife, Charlotte, died in 1938. However he remained chairman of directors and manager of the newspaper until his own death in 1943, when he was succeeded by his son, Henry Manning (q.v.).
Source: Rod Kirkpatrick. Sworn to No Master. Toowoomba: Darling Downs Institute Press, 1984.
