John Fawkner used the Launceston Advertiser 'as "the active and avowed friend of the emancipist class in Van Diemen's Land, dealing heavy and repeated blows upon officialdom and the reputed respectable class in the island". He attacked capital punishment in a colony that valued "a man's life at less than a sheep", and made forceful remarks on cruelty to assigned servants.'
Henry Dowling, who had worked on the newspaper, became editor and publisher in 1831.
During his time with the newspaper Dowling relinquished the proprietorship but continued his involvement with the newspaper, 'the cares and labours of a journalist', until the paper's cessation on the last day of December 1846.
Sources: Hugh Anderson, 'Fawkner, John Pascoe (1792 - 1869)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp 368-370; Isabella J. Mead, 'Dowling, Henry (1810 - 1885)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp 316-317 (sighted online 30/03/2011); [Henry Dowling], 'Our Farewell', Launceston Advertiser (31 December 1846): 2-3.
