Cirrus@Austlit

This column by the editor, Geroge Cavenagh, takes the Monitor newspaper to task for incorrect reporting of judicial matters, something which the two newspapers, (Monitor and Sydney Gazette) had traded accusations in previous issues. The reports are not separately indexed in AustLit. This column includes the names of two of the Sydney Gazette's reporters 'Messrs Applegarth and Oliver, respectable young men' and alludes to the 'drunken disreputable fellow who writes the flash paragraphs for [the Monitor]'.

This column refutes information published in the Monitor newspaper of 12 October 1838 'ascribing the construction of the existing Newspaper Act'. The Sydney Gazette, however, agrees with 'the arguments adduced by The Monitor against the existing law'. The fate of the recent Newspaper Petition is also mentioned in this column.

This column is probably written by the editor of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, George Cavenagh. It is a justification for the writer's previous remarks on James Martin's 'Botany Bay' essay published in the Sydney Gazette issue of 4 October 1838 (2). 'The author of The Australian Sketch Book', states the writer, 'complains that we do him injustice in attributing to him the possession of opinions favourable to the doctrine of the efficacy of prayers for the dead ...'

This column is in the form of an editor's note preceding the publishing of James Martin's prose piece 'Botany Bay' taken from The Australian Sketch Book (1838). In this column the Sydney Gazette's editor (George Cavenagh?), though agreeing with much of the sentiments of the author ('particularly ... to the ... erecting a monument ... to the memory of the gallant [James] Cook') opines that 'we observe indications of the existence of opinions on the part of the author, which by no means meet with our assent ... we have marked a passage in italics, altogether inconsistent with our views of scriptural truth ...' The passage (in reference to the grave of a chaplain from La Pérouse's expedition) is: 'pray sincerely from the inmost recesses of their hearts, for the soul of the departed'. This is not consistent with the Protestant view of the soul.

An apology for an 'error in the statements made in our last number regarding the origin of the existing Newspaper Act'. The statements were made in an editorial 'The Proceedings of Council' published in the 2 October 1838 issue of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser.

An editorial on the petition from '"certain editors, proprietors, and publishers of newspapers," praying for sundry amendments in the Newspaper Act.' The existing Act required that the names and addresses of the editor, printer, publisher, and proprietor of each newspaper appear in the newspaper's imprint, and a sworn affidavit made to that fact. Sydney's newspaper fraternity argued that the Act was more restricted than the English version, where the names of the printer and publisher only were required to appear in the imprint. They also argued that the ability of persons to libel newspapers was not restricted by disclosing the name of the editor. The restrictive colonial version of the Newspaper Act was passed, the author of the column (George Cavenagh?) writes, 'to annoy the late Dr. Wardell, then the editor and proprietor of The Australian, and Mr E. S. Hall, Editor and Proprietor of The Monitor, both of whom were, at the time, at loggerheads with the Government.'

The petition is published on page 2 of the 2 October 1838 issue of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser.

This column was probably written by Cavenagh and includes correspondence from Kentish. See also 'Notes to Correspondents' on page 2 of the 18 August 1838 issue of the Gazette.

In this editorial the author (possibly George Cavenagh) notes that the Sydney Gazette has 'laboured under very great disadvantages' in not having a regular supply of the latest news from England. The author announces that the Gazette has 'at last succeeded in securing a regular supply of the leading journals of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by every [ship] arrival'. The column lists the newspaper titles lately received and their dates.

This column, probably written by the editor of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, George Cavenagh, reputes the Australian newspaper's assertion that William Jones 'as the proprietor of The Sydney Gazette exercises a control over the Editorial department of ...[the Gazette].' ... 'Mr Jones, as Executor to the estate of the late Robert Howe, has certainly in one sense, saddled himself, much against his inclination, with the legal proprietorship of The Sydney Gazette ; but that he exercises a control over the writings of its Editor, is, we repeat ... wholly untrue.'

A column probably written by the editor of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, George Cavenagh, in response to an untitled editorial published in the Commercial Journal and Advertiser on 26 May 1838 (p. 2). The editorial in the Commercial Journal attacked the Gazette over an article entitled 'The Chief Constable' published by the Gazette on 24 May 1838 (p. 2).

Cavenagh in turn attacks the Commercial Journal and its proprietor, William Jones, and Jones' reporter, William Corp. Cavenagh exposes Corp as a previous employee of the Sydney Gazette who was dismissed in May 1837 for intoxication. Correspondence by Corp to Cavenagh, dated '12 May 1837', apologising for the incident and asking to remain in the Gazette's employ is published by Cavenagh as part of the column. 'This expose', writes Cavenagh 'will, doubtless, show the "respectability" of The Commercial Journal, and the weight to be attached to the opinions of such a paper.'

John Hubert Plunkett, the New South Wales attorney general, objected to serving as a steward with George Cavenagh for the 1838 St Patrick's Day Ball in Sydney, New South Wales. At the request of Cavenagh, Plunkett laid out his objections in a letter which is published as part of this column. Both Plunkett's letter and the unattributed response (probably by Cavenagh) are measured. Plunkett's objections are political rather than personal and stem from Cavenagh's role as the editor of the Sydney Gazette. Cavenagh concludes that it is 'regretted that we do not ... banish politics and political feelings from our balls and drawing rooms' and that 'Irishmen can never meet, whether to make merry or to mourn, without "a bit of a row".'

The editor of the Sydney Gazette regrets the cessation of the Literary News, a magazine edited by James Tegg and published in Sydney, New South Wales from 1837 to 1838.

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser was the first newspaper published in Australia, and until 1824, the only newspaper published in New South Wales. Printed and published by George Howe, the first Gazette was produced in 1803 with the permission of the Governor of New South Wales and for much of its life the paper carried the slogan 'Published by authority.' It served as vehicle for the promulgation of government orders and other information, with other material inserted in the four-page issue by the editor as space permitted. Howe financed the paper from sales and advertising, and was permitted to keep any profits in return for this service to the government. He was also employed as the Government Printer, from 1810 on salary.

The Gazette was printed during its earliest years on a portable wooden and iron press which had been brought to the colony on the first fleet. Howe had enough print to set only one page at a time, and struggled to source adequate paper and ink. The quality of the publication improved gradually, notably following the arrival of a new iron Stanhope press in 1814. Initially housed in a room attached to the back of the first Government house, the press and the Gazette moved in 1810 to premises at 96 George Street, Sydney, which were extensively renovated in the following year to plans made by Francis Greenway to include a new printery and a substantial residence. The business moved again in 1824, to a new 2-storied L-shaped building running from a George Street frontage to Charlotte Place.

George Howe printed, published and edited the Gazette until his death in 1821, when it was taken over by his son Robert Howe. After Robert's sudden death in 1829 the Gazette entered a volatile period, with a succession of editors appointed and dismissed, while the Gazette continued to be published by executors for Robert Howe's estate. Robert's widow Ann Howe took over the management in 1833, then, from 1836, it was managed by an executor for the estate. In 1839 Robert's eldest son Robert Charles Howe gained full ownership of the paper, but the Gazette passed out of the hands of the Howe family when it was sold to Patrick Grant in October 1841. Grant in turn sold the paper to Richard Sanderson, but it had become economically unviable, and the Gazette finally ceased publication in October 1842.

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser is a source of the earliest Australian literature. Poetry by local residents was published throughout its lifetime, together with a range of poems, stories and other literary items reprinted from British sources. The Gazette noticed early theatrical productions in Sydney, publications by local writers, and the establishment of bodies such as schools, literary societies, libraries, and bookshops.

Sources: Sandy Blair, 'The Sydney Gazette and Its Readers 1803 - 1842' in The Australian Press: A Bicentennial Retrospect, edited by Victor Isaacs and Rod Kirkpatrick, Australian Newspaper History Group and State Library of New South Wales, Middle Park, Qld, 2003; R. B. Walker, The Newspaper Press in New South Wales, 1803 - 1920, Sydney University Press, 1976.