The Australasian Chronicle

This article is about The Australasian Chronicle, later titled The Morning Chronicle. For the British newspaper, see The Morning Chronicle.

Image of front page of the paper under one of its later titles, The Sydney Chronicle

The Australasian Chronicle was a twice-weekly Catholic newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was published in a broadsheet format. It was also published as The Morning Chronicle, The Chronicle and The Sydney Chronicle. It was the first Catholic newspaper published in Australia.

History

First published on 2 August 1839, The Australasian Chronicle was published by Andrew Bent, for William Augustine Duncan, from 1839 to 1843. Its stated aim was "to explain and uphold the civil and religious principles of the Catholics, and to maintain their rights".[1] The paper was started by Bishop Polding, OSB, and a learned Scottish immigrant, Duncan, a convert to Catholicism.[2] It engaged in vigorous controversy in defence of Catholic interests.[3] It had several name changes to The Morning Chronicle, The Chronicle and The Sydney Chronicle. It was eventually superseded by The Freeman's Journal which commenced publication on 27 June 1850.[4]

Duncan was followed as editor by the Rev. John McEncroe and after him came McEncroe’s nephew Michael D’Arcy.[5] Trove lists the Edward John Hawksley as the editor in 1848, just prior to him starting his own newspaper, The People’s Advocate and New South Wales Vindicator.[6]

The publication defended Governor Gipps against attacks from the squatters and denounced the ill-treatment of Aborigines.[7]

Cover page of The Morning Chronicle, 11 October 1843

Digitisation

The paper has been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program, a project of the National Library of Australia in cooperation with the State Library of New South Wales.[8][9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Barton, George Burnett (1866). Literature in New South Wales. Government Printer. p. 33.
  2. ^ "The Journey of the Catholic Church in Australia". Catholic Enquiry Centre. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  3. ^ J.M. O'Brien, W. A. Duncan, the Irish question, and the NSW elections of 1843, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, 4 (1) (1972), 40-57; B.J. McGrath, Catholic journalism in New South Wales to 1850, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 1 (3) (1964), 27-32; C. Fowler, Anti-Catholic polemic at the origins of Australia's first Catholic newspaper, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 37 (2) (2016), 147-160.
  4. ^ "The Catholic Weekly - Sydney". Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 25 June 2013. Catholic Weekly/About Us
  5. ^ Walker, R.B., (1976), The newspaper press of New South Wales, 1803-1920, Sydney University Press, p.150. ISBN 0424000237
  6. ^ "The Sydney Chronicle". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  7. ^ "The Aborigines". Australasian Chronicle. 4 December 1840. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Newspaper and magazine titles". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Newspaper Digitisation Program". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  10. ^ Brown, Jerelynn (2011). "Tabloids in the State Library of NSW collection: A reflection of life in Australia". Australian Journal of Communication. 38 (2): 107–121.