The first edition of the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate appeared on 3 April 1876. The result of a merger in 1876 between the Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News (1858-1876) and the Miners' Advocate and Northumberland Recorder (1873-1876), the paper's founder was John Miller Sweet. It was originally published three times per week.
The Herald's ornate masthead, which included a sketch of a colliery pit-top, remained for 104 years. It was replaced in 1980 when the paper's name was shortened to Newcastle Herald.
The Newcastle Herald
1980
Newcastle
:
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate Pty Ltd
,
1980-2003
9472957
1980
newspaper
(269 issues)
The Newcastle Herald is a regional newspaper published in Newcastle, New South Wales (the largest non-capital city in Australia). The only local newspaper to serve the greater Hunter Region and Central Coast region six days a week, it was published as a broadsheet until 1998. In making its move to the tabloid format the paper played a key role in pioneering the trend by Australian newspapers to reduce their size.
The Newcastle Herald was first published under that title on 6 October 1980 when the words 'Morning' and 'Miners Advocate' were removed from its former title, the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (1876-1980). That paper was itself the result of a merger in 1876 between the Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News (1858-1876) and the Miners' Advocate and Northumberland Recorder (1873-1876).
Although the Herald's publisher between 1980 and 2003 is recorded as being Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate Pty. Ltd, that company was established in 1980 by Sydney-based John Fairfax Holdings (presumably to maintain the paper's 'local' integrity). The Fairfax company had actually acquired the paper (as The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate) from John Miller Sweet's company in 1977. The Newcastle Herald has since been published by John Fairfax Holdings (2003-2007) and Fairfax Media (2007-).
'Leathermouth is the nickname of Colonel Gantian, who has been engaged by Scotland Yard to look after the welfare of Paul, rule of a small East European kingdom, while he is on a visit to England. The king has made enemies in his own country, and the presence of some of them is soon made apparent to Leathermouth. The king and he are associated in some thrilling experiences, including attempts on their lives, but eventually they come through safely.'
Source:*
'Leathermouth's Luck', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 22 August 1935, p.6.
