Brought printing press and pre-fabricated office with him.
1863 fought duel with Henry HARRISON DK
subscriber to a fete may 1840 Wellington PP 23 may 1840
PPA JOURNALISM IN WELLINGTON
New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4681, 16 June 1902, Page 3 (Supplement)
AN INTERESTING SKETCH. HOW THE ?NEW ZEALAND ?TIMES? AND ?MAIL? WERE FOUNDED. . ? MR T. W. MdKENZIE?S REMTNIS- Œ CENCES. . Journalism in Wellington began with that bright morning of the 18th April, 1840, when Mr Samuel Revans issued the ?New Zealand Gazette? from his modest printing-office at Petbno, where the site of the future metroplis had been chosen by the first settlers. This, the second number of the ?Gazette?? the first had been published in London in September, 1839?was?the first news'paper issued in the colony. Mr Revans was the editor and proprietor, and the paper, which was of demy size, bore the imprint of Mr P. T. Yates, who had come out with Mr Revans to superintend the printing of the journal. - This little journal, the pioneer of the important dailies of to-day in the four chief centres of New Zealand, contained the proclamation of Captain Hobson on his assumption of the Lieutenant-Go-vernorship at Kororareka (now Russell) in the Bay of Islands. When this : was read amongst the tents and whares on Petone beach, how many, wo wonder, thought of the scrub-covered plain and hills on the opposite shore as we know it to-day after the lapse of sixty-two years?the capital of New Zealand, bustling and progressive, with a population of 80,000. ŒThe press on which.'the ?New Zealand Gazette? was printed was a Columbian double ? crown, brought out from London with the remainder of the plant. Mr T. W, McKenzie, from whom many of the facts in thisjustor-
ical sketch have been, obtained, was the first apprentice of Mr Horans, who came out in the ship in which Mr McKenzie was also a passenger, the Adelaide. On the removal of the town from He tone to the present side of the harbour, the name of the paper, if not the paper itself, was enlarged. It then assumed the imposing title of ?The Now Zealand Gazette and Britannia Spectator,? the word ?Wellington? being substituted later on for ?Britannia? when the name of the town was altered to Wellington. The printing office was just? behind the spot now occupied by Mr George Winder?s store, at the corner of Manners street and Cuba street. In October, 1841, came the next important stage in the history of the newspaper, for it was vigorous enough to appear twice a week instead of weekly, and in 1842 it met with opposition. That year there sprang into existence a rival j cranial. 1( Tho Colonist and Hort Nicholson Advertiser ? established by Mr R. D. Hanson, a barrister, who had had experience in journalism as a contributor to the London ?Globe.? The fight between the two papers was fierce enough while it lasted. (Mr Fox, afterwards Sir William Fox) wrote many of the leading articles in the ?Gazette,? and in Mr 'Hanson ho had a worthy opponent. However, the ?Gazette? triumphed ; the ?Colonist? went the way of many newspapers after a year of existence, and Mr Hanson, who whilst he was editor was also_ Crown Prosecutor, left New Zealand in 1846 for South Australia, where he became chief Justice ond was knighted. ?Ho died in 1876. 'ln the course of time, the ?Gazette? was placed under the management of a committee, one of whoso members was Dr. Featherston; but as some disagreement arose between the printers and the employees, the latter obtained a printing plant from Sydney, and on the 2nd April, 1844, published the Wellington ?Independent.? About this time, Mr Kevans sold the ?Gazette? property to the Hon. R. Stokes, and became a settler in the Wairarapa Valley, where he died on the 15th Julv. 1888. Mr F. T. Yates, the first printer, was drowned from a new schooner belonging to Mr John Wade, on her trial trip, off Jerningtiam Point;. It is interesting to note that while Mr Fox wrote leading, articles for the ?Gazette? his wife was a frequent contributor to its columns upon agricultural topics, _ . The ?Independent,? which may justly be regarded as the pioneer of the ?New Zealand Times,? was issued thrice weekly.- Its proprietors were Messrs William Edward Vincent, T. W.-McKen-zie, - Geoige Fellingham, and James Muir, whose names appeared on the imprint. Though the name of Mr Edward 800 also appeared on the first imprint, he declined to have any share in the venture, believing apparently, that it had little hope of success. The
printing press need for tlie new journal a double domy machine, was the one on ?which the ?Sydney Morning Herald? was originally printed, and it is believed that it is still in use in the Manawatu and Wanganui district. There was a spirited rivalry between the ?Independent? and ' the ?Gaaette.? The which had been re-named by Mr Stokes ?The Zealand Spectator and Cook Strait Guardian.?? had amongst its contributors Mr Alfred Domett while the redoubtable ?Throe F.?s?? Fox, Feotherston and Fitzhcrbcrt?wrote for the ?Independent." ?Times were different then," fciys Mr McKenzie, reflecting upon those days of pioneer journalism. ?When the stocks of printing paper ran out, we had to nse blotting or wrapping paper while we waited for the next ship, and often two sheets of demy were pasted together to meet the needs of the situation. Very often, also, the printer had to take firewood or potatoes in payment for his newspaper. Hew they would look at you nowadays if you backed np to the office of your daily newspaper with a cartload of firewood or a few sacks of potatoes to pay your billl" Mr McKenzie and his friend, Mr Vincent, shared the editorship of the ?Independent" in its earliest days. ?I can say what very few men in the colony 'can sow ? claims Mr McKenzie?that I have stood at the case and set np my own leading' article without having written it. And Vincent often did the same.? The ?Independent" achieved a high reputation for its vigour and literary tone; nor is this to be wondered at when wo remember that its contributors included the two Wakefields, Robert Godley, James Edward Fitzgerald, Dillon 8011, Edward Stafford, the two Richmonds and the | Throe F.?s.? As a leader-writer said in its columns about the time that the ?Independent 1 ? was becoming inooiporated with the "New Zealand Times?:? ?The paper began very humbly thirty years ago. But even in those days, 'when the settlement was in a state of chronic siege, and there was a possibility of 'cold editor* being found among the dishes on a Maori sideboard, the ?Independent* was conducted in a spirit worthy of its name.? Two of its earliest editors were Messrs B. Wakelin and John Knowles; and under Air. Knowles was trained Mr, Henry Anderson, the redoubtable ?Jack Anderson," one of the most vigorous writers the colony has yet seen, and a man of whose quips and oddities many stories are told amongst New Zealand journalists to this day. To Mr Wakelin _ belonged the credit of naming Wellington the ?Empire City.? When members; were leaving for the session of 1856' in Auckland, an article appeared from his pen in which Wellington rjr mentioned as the future ?Empire City? of the..colony. -The Auckland papers
took up the title in a spirit of derision; but the name was not got rid of so easily, and it has remained to this day, when AVcllington has become, in fact the Empire City. Another newspaper, the ?New Zealand Advertiser,'? Was started in 1859 by Charles Roe, Joseph Bull and Edward Bull, but after varying success, it died in 1868, from libel action. Meanwliilo the ?Independent? flourished under the editorship of ? Mr A. F. Haloombe and Mr H. Anderson after him; and about TB6s? year in which the ?Evening Post?* made its appearance?Air McKenzie be-t came solo proprietor of the ?Independent,? and successfully conducted it for many years. Ho established also as part of the business the ?New Zealand Mail? and the Wellington Almanac. It was during 1865 also that Mr Stokes, the proprietor of the "Spectator,? abandoned his paper and sold the plant to Mr McKenzie. Finally, in 1874, Mr McKenzie sold his property to the ?New: Zealand Times? Company, and on June Ist of that year the brave old ?Independent? disappeared, and the ?New, Zealand Tunes'? took its place. From that day the ?Times? has grown until it has become one of the most influential journals in the colonies. One, of its first editors, after the incorporation of the ?Independent,? was Mr, Robert Creighton an able journalist who afterwards became agent for theNew Zealand Government in San Francisco: and amongst others were the late Dr. Pollen, whose articles were . always trenchant and full of interest; Messrs W. H. Harrison, J. Perrier, Patterson,, Brown, J. C. Hay, the Rev. Hr Bruce (now of Sydney),, and Mr Rous-Marten, now London correspondent for a number of New Zealand papers. Mr R. A. Loughnon (the genial, and breezy ?R.A.L.?) occupied the editorial chair for some years before ho went to Australia, and he was succeeded by Mr J. T. M. Hornsby, now member for the Wairarapa, and the latter, in turn by Mr' H. Taperoll, now jot ?Daily, Telegraph.? The present editor of the ?New Zealand Times? l is Mr J. L. Kelly, whose wide experience! and able pen have contributed materially to the brilliant pragma ei the ?Tunes? of late years. ? About fiver years after the disappearance oftbo ?Independent,? the ?New Zealander? 1 started into life, tinder the editorial control of the late Mr E. T. Gillen, ene of the most notable figures in New Zealand journalism. The ??New Zaaloacter,? however, after a _ career
its present handsome proportions. Mr McKenzie and the late Mr E. Tioehurst, of Greytown, were the first two ' white persons to sleep on the site of 1 the. city of Wellington. This occurred in a house which was - being built for ? Dr. Evans, end hardly had the two Œyoung men prepared their bed for the night than a party of Maoris appeared, the leader 'of whom began a frenzied dance, whilst he playfully toyed with a tomahawk, with which ho intended; no Œ doubt, lo despatch the two Europeans. It would have fared badly with McKenzie and his companion had not the, chief?s wife thrown a mat over them both, for seeing her do this, the chief at once turned on his heel and went back to his whare* followed by the other natives. That Mr McKenzie may . bo spared for many a long year to on- a joy his? honoured old age. is the sincere, wish of troops of friends not only in .; Wellington,, but throughout the colony, , . Samuel Revans immigrated to arrived Wellington 7 mar 1840 from London on the Adelaide on 18 September 1839.1 He was a publisher / editor Wellington, barrister in 1841.1,3 He was in farmer Wairarapa in 1847.1