Maitland Mercury

the Maitland Mercury
Maitland Mercury masthead
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Australian Community Media
Founded7 January 1843
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersMaitland, New South Wales
Websitemaitlandmercury.com.au

The Maitland Mercury is Australia's third oldest regional newspaper, preceded only by the Geelong Advertiser (estab. 1840) and the Launceston Examiner (estab. 1842). The Maitland Mercury was established in 1843 when it was called The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. The Maitland Mercury is still in circulation serving the city of Maitland and the surrounding Lower Hunter Valley. It has a weekly print edition which appears on Fridays.

History

The front page of The Maitland Mercury, 7 January 1843

It was originally a weekly newspaper, founded by Richard Jones, an English migrant from Liverpool who also served as treasurer of NSW for a brief period. The first issue was published as The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser on 7 January 1843.[1] It has been a daily since 1894.[2] when it was issued under two banners as The Maitland Daily Mercury[3] during the week and The Maitland Weekly Mercury[4] on Saturdays. From 1870 to 1873, Margaret Falls was the proprietor.[5] In 1939 the weekly edition was absorbed into the daily and it became known as The Maitland Mercury.[6] It was issued simply as The Mercury from 1960 to 1973[7] when it reverted again to The Maitland Mercury.[8]

Even when it was first published The Mercury was more than just a local newspaper reporting on local issues. It published national and international news, which was critical to the financial survival of the newspaper at the time, and it continues to do so.

Digitisation

The paper has been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program of the National Library of Australia.[9][10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser". Catalogue record. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  2. ^ Kirkpatrick, Rod (2000), Country conscience : a history of the New South Wales provincial press, 1841-1995, Infinite Harvest Publishing, ISBN 978-0-646-40270-3
  3. ^ "The Maitland Daily Mercury". Catalogue record. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  4. ^ "The Maitland Weekly Mercury". Catalogue record. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  5. ^ Kirkpatrick, Rod (2000). Country conscience : a history of the New South Wales provincial press, 1841-1995. Canberra, ACT: Infinite Harvest Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 0646-402706.
  6. ^ "The Maitland Mercury". Catalogue record. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  7. ^ "The Mercury". Catalogue record. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  8. ^ "The Maitland Mercury". Catalogue record. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Newspaper and magazine titles". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Newspaper Digitisation Program". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  11. ^ 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.