Thomas J. Nevin's "decennium horribilis" with the press 1880s-1890s

The Hobart "Mercury" Editorial Staff ca. 1880
Men's office wear and hair styles 1880s
Photographer Thomas J. NEVIN in the press 1880s-1900s
A merry Xmas, happy new year.
Full of love, devoid of care.
Peace on earth goodwill to men,
And may God speed the mighty pen.
Though on politics we may outward fall,
We men of the pen are "comrades all".
For other men may rant and blow,
But the fourth Estate, aye runs the show.

To the ' Mercury' Staff, Mackay Mercury (Qld.), Saturday 6 January 1894, page 2

Editorial staff Mercury Hobart 1880s

Caption: 'MERCURY' EDITORIAL STAFF [ca. 1880 Hobart Tasmania]

Subscription and circumscription
Without the digitisation of Australian newspapers (and archival records) since the early 2000s, much of the information published on this weblog would carry only those few voices of professional historians and their exclusive cohort of colleagues for whom they write, underwritten by the commercial imperatives of established corporations, the publishers who support them.

The greatest revelations, both distressing and amusing over the last two decades (2003-2025) while researching the life and times of photographer Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923), his wife Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin (1847-1914) and their extended family, have come less from self-referencing "information" in art books and academic articles published during the last 50 years which all too quickly becomes outdated, than from browsing a thousand and more 19th century press reports of contemporary events as they happened, analysing how these reporters constructed their story, how they animated their characters and how they voiced their arguments. Press reporters daily circumscribed the decisions their reading public would make to survive safely in the small, displaced society of colonial Hobart, founded as a penal colony on the edge of Empire, and in that capacity they educated, sometimes misinformed, and inevitably held sway over public opinion.

The earliest press notices concerning the extended family of Thomas J. Nevin predate his arrival at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in July 1852 as a child settler with parents Mary Ann (Dickson) and former soldier of the Royal Scots, John Nevin, a pensioner guard on the convict transport Fairlie. Thomas' three younger siblings Rebecca Jane, Mary Ann and William John Nevin, were all under 12 yrs old. From the 1830s to 1850s, the press celebrated the skill and generosity of merchant mariner Captain Edward Goldsmith (1804 -1869), whose niece Elizabeth Rachel Day would later marry photographer Thomas J. Nevin at Kangaroo Valley (Hobart) in July 1871. Newspaper reports dwelt at length on Captain Goldsmith's difficulties with the colonial administration in financing ferry and patent slip construction prior to his permanent departure from the colony in 1856.

From the 1860s the press was publishing the "original poetry" of pater familias John Nevin snr (1808-1887), while the photographic work of his eldest son Thomas J. Nevin, exhibited at bazaars and poultry shows at the Town Hall, or commissioned on excursions oganised for visiting VIPs, was praised as "very well taken". His photograph of Odd Fellows' Hall (formerly Del Sarte's) on the corner of Davey and Harrington, Hobart was lauded as "creditable to the artist" (Mercury 25 July 1871) and "from its excellence, is likely to command a large sale" (Mercury 10 August 1871). There are notable instances where the press praised the work of photographer Thomas J. Nevin, particularly during the 1870s, and there are instances where they denigrated him, especially during his years as Office and Hall Keeper at the Hobart Town Hall and beyond (1880s).

In short, newspaper editors served up the plat de jour of these peoples' lives for their readers' delectation. Whenever needed, their daily fare was commissioned from free-lancers who sold these editors their coverage of court trials, government business, and elite social events. However close or far from the facts they strayed, reporters and their editors deployed a set of skills rarely acquired by their profession today.

In the absence of a Hansard service, considered a costly luxury by consecutive Tasmanian governments until endorsed in 1979 (!!), early reprints from Parliamentary proceedings were taken down verbatim, including interjections and instances of laughter. Performances by politicians intended to create a sensation were deplored by others in the House, Mr Innes for example, who said in 1873 during debate on the call for the immediate abolition of the Port Arthur prison, that Hansard was needed ...
"... in order that they might have an accurate and reliable record of what took place in that House. In the absence of that, however, he had referred to the journals to what he said on that occasion"
Source: House of Assembly, Friday, July 18th, 1873.The Mercury Sat 19 Jul 1873 Page 2 PARLIAMENT OF TASMANIA.
Link: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8920046

The author of a letter to the editor of the Tasmanian Tribune, writing under the pseudonym "Monitor" made a case for the appointment of a Government stenographer on three grounds:

1. expediency, in reducing time spent on recording government returns from two days to two hours
2. impartiality, in forestalling personal bias in decisions made by the Board of Investigations into suspensions of officials, and
3. accuracy in recording in full all details of judgments in Supreme Court trials.

"Monitor" also made the case for the records to be offered to lawyers etc as compilations for future reference, their purchase a means to off-set costs to the Treasury for their production.

Source: Extract, The Tasmanian Tribune (Hobart Town, Tue 25 Aug 1874 Page 2
A GOVERNMENT REPORTER.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201168805
MERCURY REPRINTS
In 1937 the Premier Robert Cosgrove said that the cost of Hansard was 'prohibitive'. In 1945 a joint select committee felt that the Mercury Reprints were a reasonable solution because a true Hansard, whilst desirable, was impractical. These Reprints appeared from 1920 to 1978 via an agreement between the Parliament and the newspaper. The earlier reprints contained almost verbatim reports, taken down by the journalists, rather than the edited newspaper versions.
Source: TASMANIAN PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY
July 2005 https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/Backg/Hansard.htm

During 1880s and 1890s, the merits of Pitman's shorthand system over others were debated in the press. In 1880 Mr. Brownell of Liverpool St. Hobart was advertising his classes in Pitman's phonetic shorthand in 1880 for young men - and ladies - but only if he were offered sufficient inducement! So, how accurate, expedient and objective were the journalists - the non-government stenographers, in other words - who sold their transcriptions to the press of every parliamentary debate, every court trial and every dinner hosted for and by the elite? The press published their accounts at great length as both a source of entertainment and a means of enlightenment. With nothing but pen, paper and shorthand code, there is little doubt the stenographers of the day were the enablers of incremental literacy in 19th century Tasmania. Virtuosic in detail, the work of these heirs to the Dickensian linguistic universe should never be sidelined, discarded or ignored: theirs is a richly eccentic resource, a counterweight to the bloodless mush served up by AI.

Read more here about Charles Dickens, court reporting and Hansard:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2019/06/shorthand-hansard-port-arthur-and.html

Men's fashions and styles ca.1880
These men were writers, "men of the pen," pressmen. They handled the full baggage of local news, telegraphed reports of global events, parliamentary sittings and court trials. They decided on whose advertising, letters to the editor, and graphics they would print. They sat at an office desk almost every day when they were not in the printing room or out and about collecting printable stories, and perhaps their clothes, their stance, their gaze, their place in the group, might suggest corporate conformity, with one colourful exception.

Editorial staff Mercury Hobart 1880s

Caption on mount: ' Mercury' Editorial Staff, Hobart c1880
Subjects: ten editorial staff members, all males aged in their early 20s to late 30s, posed facing the camera inside the carriage access laneway of the old Mercury building on Macquarie St., the gate closed behind them; six are standing, four stand behind four seated in front of them, and two bookend the group, standing at either end of the front row.
Format: Large albumen photo 125 x 180mm on a modern board mount
Attribution and date: unidentified photographer ca. 1880 (per DSFB)
Provenance: Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Melbourne (eBay, September 2025)
Copyright © KLW NFC Group Private Collection 2025

Fashions by numbers 1-10

FACIAL HAIR:
Six of these young men are clean shaven; No's 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9
Two have small moustaches: No's 1 and 10
One has a full beard and a toothbrush moustache: No. 6
One has a wispy chinstrap: No. 10 - which looks inked in.

HAIR CUTS:
One has a buzz cut, shaved close to scalp: No. 9
One has hair brushed forward into a fringe: No. 7
Three part their hair from the right to left: No's 1, 5 and 10
Three part their hair from left to right: No's 3, 4 and 8
One brushes his hair straight back and up: No. 6
One parts his hair down the centre with pats on both sides: No. 2
None wore his hair long over his collar; all showed their ears.

SUITS, JACKETS, TROUSERS and SHOES
Four wore light trousers Nos' 1, 6, 8 and 10
Seven wore a dark jacket with a dark waistcoat: No's 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
One wore a light waistcoat; No. 10
The standout: he wore a complete three piece suit in a light striped fabric: No. 2
Of the six pairs of shoes visible, all appear to be ankle boots, no lace-ups.

COLLARS, TIES and HATS
Two took off their small bowler hats and held them over a crossed knee: No's. 6 and 9
Two hats - a bowler and a trilby - were removed and placed on timber posts to viewer's right of No. 10
All men wore light or white collars, peaked or rounded: No's 1-10.
One wore a dark tie with a modern knot : No. 1
Six wore a tie with a wide knot: No's 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10
One wore a soft winged bowtie: No. 4
Two wore a cravat pinned down: No's 2 and 7

POSTURE, STANCE and HANDS
Two bookended the group standing on either side, posed hand in pocket: No's 1 and 10
Back row: three stood with arms down, hands not visible: No's 2, 4 and 5
Back row: one stood with hand lightly rested on shoulder of man in front: No's 3 and 7
Back row: one stood with arm stretched behind man next to him, hand on shoulder: No's 2 and 3
Back row: relaxed, standing, leaning forward with arm on shoulder of man sitting: No's 1 and 6
Front row: two sat holding their hat, hands hidden: No's 6 and 9
Front row: one with arm raised to rest on shoulder of next closest: No's 7 and 8
Front row: the manspread, hands open placed firmly on either leg: No. 8
Front row: one stood slightly turned, flanking the group, one hand in pocket, the other firmly placed on the shoulder of his colleague sitting: No's 10 and 9.

THE GAZE
All 10 members of this Mercury editorial staff photograph held their gaze direct to camera.
None smiled or showed their teeth, their demeanour serious, fittingly professional, although the two younger sitters faltered slightly: No. 9 was withholding a sly smirk, and No. 7 was apprehensive, unsure he even merited a place alongside these power players of the press.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER and mise en scène
Decisions as to who was to stand or sit may not have been at the discretion or direction of the photographer, whether known to these staff members as a Mercury employee or commissioned from a commercial studio. The arrangement of who would sit or stand and where in the group may well have been predetermined by their status, friendships, service and influence at the newspaper or with the wider press community and reading public. If so, members No's 1 and 10 who flanked either side of the group occupied the place of guardian and protector, while those most junior, No's 7 and 9 sat either side of supremo staff member No. 8, who sat dead centre of the shot, assertively masculine with legs spread and hands on thighs in the place usually accorded to the captain in team and group photos. The most popular member of staff - the friendly, warm, fun-loving party-goer giving off obvious signs from head to foot in his bold striped three-piece suit and fashionable hair-cut parted centre, flattened with a double fringe, arm around his mate next to him, would have to be No. 2.

There was no photographer attribution nor exact date accompanying the sale of this photograph (DSFB September 2025). Assuming the photographer was not employed on the Mercury and operated a local commercial Hobart studio, this fine group photograph might be the work of any one of the following:

  • AMERICAN STUDIO CO. Collins St. 1880; Allen & Gove.
  • ANSON, Joshua at H. H. BAILY, 1872-1877.
  • ANSON Bros; 132 Liverpool St. 1878-1880; 36 Elizabeth St. 1880-1887; 52 Elizabeth St. 1887-9; 129 Elizabeth St.1894-95.
  • BAILY, H.H. (Henry Hall).Elizabeth St. 1865-1866; 94 Elizabeth St. 1866-1881; 88 Liverpool St. 1888-1897.
  • BEATTIE, John Watt. Amateur 1879. At ANSON Bros Elizabeth ST. 1882-1891. At 52 Elizabeth St. 1891-1900. ANSON Bros. studio proprietor. Official government photographer 1896 - .
  • BISHOP OSBORNE, John. 76 Murray St. 1879-93.
  • COTSWORTH, Haldane. Upper Argyle St. 1870s-90. Wilson, Cotsworth & co. 1880s.
  • DART, Harry. Harrington St. Hobart. Dart & Rollings, 1900.
  • RIISE, Harold. Macquarie St. 1880.
  • RIISE & BARNETT, Macquarie St. 1880-1882.
  • WHERRETT, Charles B. Charles Wherrett senior, 83 Elizabeth St. 1872-1881; Charles B. Wherrett (son) Melbourne Portrait Rooms, 113 Elizabeth St. 1884-1897 (or longer?). With R. McGuffie until 1897.
  • WINTER, Alfred. 29 Bourke St. Melbourne 1860-1864; 90 Bourke St. Melb 1865-1867; 172 Latrobe St. Melb 1866; Bathurst St. Hobart 1869-1891; 19 Elizabeth St. 1874-1875; 23 Elizabeth St. 1878-1880; 91A Elizabeth St. 1880-1881.
Read more here:
Launceston studios, regional and travelling photographers.

Below: unidentified young man (not in the editors' group above) modelling the latest hair style, this one a favorite with Americans - parted centre, fringe on each site of part flattened forward onto the forehead, short back and sides.



Cdv of young man in suit and 1890s hairstyle
Photographer: BISHOP OSBORNE, John. 76 Murray St. 1879-93.
Source: https://ebay.us/m/2SSXZN

Photography in the press 1880s-1900s
The first pictures in newspapers were woodcut illustrations and lithographs (fine pen and ink drawings). Lithographed views from photographs taken by Tasmanian photographers in the 1860s-1870s were published in the intercolonial press in the interests of tourism. On this page, for example, accompanying visitors' accounts to the Derwent Valley and Salmon Ponds published in the Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers,1869, two of the lithographed views were originally taken and imprinted as stereographs by Thomas J. Nevin with his studio mark "T. NEVIN PHOTO" although accredited to Nevin's colleague and friend Samuel Clifford.

Stereograph of Salmon Ponds Tas by T. Nevin 1868

At the Salmon Ponds, Tasmania
Stereograph by T. Nevin ca. 1868-1873
Blind stamp impress on side of left image, recto; verso blank
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection Ref: Q1994.56.7



Photo by Nevin, bottom right, accredited to Clifford
Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic.) Monday 29 November 1869, page 222

The first photographs to be used in Australian newspapers appeared in 1887 in the Adelaide newspaper The Pictorial Australian. The first photographic images in the Sydney Morning Herald appeared on 21 August 1908 to illustrate the arrival in Sydney of a visiting United States Navy squadron. However, they were at first used very sparingly, mainly small portraits of people in the news. A small section of the paper was put aside especially for photographs before they gradually made their way to the main news pages. In Tasmania, the Weekly Courier used the services of commercial photographers John Watt Beattie, Stephen Spurling II, Carl Burrows, Richard McGuffie, Charles Wherrett and Percy Whitelaw, to name a few.

"The Weekly Courier" 1901-1935.
Professional photographers Beattie, Spurling, Burrows, Whitelaw, and a dozen others worked on contract or commission for this weekly.



Saturday July 6, 1901:
Beattie photos of the Fern Arch and Marine Board Lighthouse Arch for visit of HRH Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, 5 July 1901
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/weeklycourier/weeklycourier-1901-07-06-pi-p0030-0031

"The Tasmanian Mail" inserts
In addition to out-sourcing photographic work to commercial photographic studios, the Tasmanian Mail and the Illustrated Tasmanian Mail published "Snapshots by our own artists"



Publication:[Hobart] : [Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office], 2015.
Physical description:online resource : illustrations (some coloured)
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/tasmailinserts/TM1899_01-07-2
The Tasmanian mail : a photographic index, 1894-1908
Summary:Collection comprises digital copies of illustrations and photo-lithographic inserts published in: Tasmanian mail (1877) 1877-1921, and, The Illustrated Tasmanian mail 1921-1935.
Additional formats:Reproduced from The @Tasmanian mail (1877). (Hobart : Davies Brothers Limited, 1877-1921)
Reproduced from The illustrated Tasmanian mail. (Hobart [Tas.] : Davies Brothers Limited, 1921-1935.)

Photographing prisoners in court 1895
During the famous Conlan case of 1895, in which a scam and fraud was attempted on the estate of an old ex-convict John Conlan who had lived life as a pauper but died apparently having hoarded a small fortune, the attention of Parliament was drawn to the irregular presence of newspaper photographers from the Tasmanian Mail taking photographs of the four accused inside the court room. The Attorney-General's response was that he had given the press permission, although his recall about the details was hazy, and asserted in any case, that the taking of photographs of persons arrested both before conviction and after it was customary. The objection to being photographed before he was found guilty had been raised by one of the accused, John Marchant Frazer of California, arrested on suspicion, found guilty in the course of events, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment at the Hobart Gaol. The concerns voiced in Parliament regarding the impropriety of photographing persons both innocent and under suspicion, as well as the disregard of personal privacy and the potential harm to personal reputation, was punctuated with a some very witty comments and loud outbursts of laughter.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Permission was asked for, and granted by me. It is the custom to photograph persons arrested both before conviction and after it.
Mr. URQUHART : It's a piece of cheekiness.
Mr. BROWN : I think it time such a practice was put an end to.
Mr. URQUHART moved the adjournment of the House in order that the matter might be discussed. He thought such a practice might result in innocent persons being ruined. He was not aware there was any law by which photographs could be taken in this way. When a man was found guilty he was in the hands of the gaol officials but not before. Many a man was arrested on an unfounded suspicion, and he would like to know why there should remain in the hands of the gaol officials an imprint of that man's features. It was highly derogatory to the administration of justice that photographers should be allowed into the Police Court to take photographs.
Mr. MULCAHY: It does not hurt them. (Laughter.)

Source: FOR ADJOURNMENT. (1895, July 13). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas), p. 1
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9305012

The "Mercury" in Macquarie Street, Hobart

Editorial staff Mercury Hobart 1880s

The windows of the building visible behind this group, across the back gate and on the opposite side of Macquarie street, are the two large upper windows of the Hobart Town Hall (built 1864) with balconies to the right of the portico patio, and the smaller upper windows of the wing to extreme right.

Hobart Town Hall 1880s

Hobart Town Hall (Tasmania) with figure at front, possibly the keeper Thomas Nevin
No date, ca. 1876-80, unattributed, half of stereo
Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/AI/PH6-1-2

Reverse view (below) The Mercury & Tasmanian Mail Office, 11 Macquarie St. Hobart: the carriage access laneway with gate open on the left of the old Mercury office is visible in this photograph taken from the Hobart Town Hall in 1889 on the day the Federation referendum results were displayed on a large board. The new office building rising three floors above the street was completed in 1902.



Photograph - "Mercury " & "Tasmanian Mail " offices, Hobart, Federation referendum results, crowds, elections
Sharland, Box 11
Item Number:NS4023/1/159
Mercury Historical Collection"
Start Date: 01 Jan 1899
Source: Tasmanian Archives
Format: Photograph
Creating Agency:Davies Brothers Pty Ltd - the Mercury (NG302)01 Jan 1853
Series:Historical Negatives - Sharland (NS4023)31 Dec 1945
View online: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Archives/NS4023-1-159

The New Offices completed 1902



Photograph - Former office of The Mercury, Macquarie Streert, Hobart, buildings, Sharland, Box 11
Series Historical Negatives - Sharland (NS4023)
Start Date 01 Jan 1930 End Date 31 Dec 1940
View online https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/NS4023-1-167

J. Walch and sons' MAP 1893



J. Walch and sons, Plan of the city of Hobart showing property boundaries, various buildings and reserves 1893
Source: https://www.vintage-maps-prints.com/products/old-map-of-hobart-australia-1893

Thomas J. Nevin & the press - in his own words
Thomas Nevin's "decennium horribilis" (horrible decade) with the press during the 1880s-1890s kicked off with the accusation that he was terrorising the women of Hobart dressed in a white sheet pretending to be a ghost. Further accusations that he repeatedly drank while on duty as the Hobart Town Hall keeper were brought in revenge for dobbing in constables for the same charge while they were on duty at the Town Hall. Dismissed from the keeper position, disparaged for his coloured photography of prisoners and others, his subsequent deployment with detectives as assistant bailiff became a source of amusement and a reason for harrassment until he finally complained to a judge that both police and the press had "stereotyped" him with the same offence, year after year over the decade. The harrassment of three of his adult sons by police intensified in the next decade, the press showing little regard for factual accuracy in reporting each incident.

Hobart Mercury, 4 December 1880:
“I hope that you have not got it in your mind that I am implicated with the ghost“.

Hobart Mercury, 9 March 1881:
"Nevin said, 'We'll not move till we're forced', and took a piece of chalk out of his waistcoat pocket, and marked with it on the footpath. He then stood on the mark and said he would continue to do so until he was taken into custody. Nevin then waved his hand to witness [Constable Beard] and told him to 'move on' .

Hobart Mercury, 11 August 1886:
"Defendant said that he was the father of a large number of children, and did not know which one was referred to. (Laughter.)"

Hobart Mercury, 19 July 1888:
"Mr. Thos Nevin was under the impression that the police should be under stricter supervision."

Hobart Mercury, 21 September 1898:
Defendant [Nevin] remarked that he was always brought up on the same charge. He thought he must be "stereotyped" with the offence [obscene language]

It all began with the Town Hall trees
Commercial photographer Thomas J. Nevin's appointment to civil service by the Hobart City Council at the Town Hall appeared in the Mercury Supplement on January 24, 1876, Page 1, column 6:
Mr. Thomas Nevin, photographer, has been appointed Town Hall keeper, Hobart Town, in succession to the late Mr. Needham. There were 24 applicants for the office.
He took up residency with his wife Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin and two children (five more were born to 1888, four surviving to adulthood) in the Keeper's apartment. Nothing unpleasant was reported regarding Thomas J. Nevin's incumbency as Town Hall keeper from his appointment in 1876 until September 1879 when this sneer-and-smear paragraph (below) appeared, the first of several over the next twelve months that would contribute to his dismissal in December 1880.

1879: Watering the trees too infra dig for Hobart Town Hall keeper
On a dry Spring afternoon, a day or so before 19th September, 1879, a reporter at the Mercury newspaper office looked out his window and across the street to the Hobart Town Hall, sized up the state of the saplings struggling to survive in front of the portico, and sat down to pen a vituperative paragraph about the "caretaker" whom, he insinuated, considered himself above a task as trivial as watering the trees. He wrote:
THE TOWN HALL TREES. -
A few of the chestnut trees that were some time ago planted on the footpaths around the Town Hall are determined, in spite of adverse circumstances, to keep in existence - but only a few. We sincerely regret that these trees are allowed to wither and perish for the want of an occasional watering, which might be done by the Town Hall caretaker, if indeed, he does not consider pastime of that character positively infra dignitatem. It would, we feel sure, be a source of gratification to that functionary, as a result of any little forethought in that direction, to see all the trees around his residence putting forth such evidence of life and vigour as one solitary tree in front of the Hall is now doing, while an additional recompense would be the knowledge that the rate-payers had proof that they had a suitable man to take care of their property. Perhaps a word from His Worship the Acting-Mayor (Mr. Harcourt) would have the desired effect, and save the trees from perishing, when Nature is not so bountiful with her refreshing showers, as at present.

Source: THE MERCURY. (1879, September 19).The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.) p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8981446

Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2010/05/watering-town-hall-trees-too-infra-dig.html

1879-1880: the Chiniquy riots
Editors at the Mercury by September 1879 had published several attacks on the Hobart City Council's mismanagement of the Hobart Town Hall, some specifically directed at Superintendent Richard Propsting working from the Municipal Police Office housed within the building. The attacks centred on his lack of action in controlling the Chiniquy riots which took place there in June 1879 during the visit of Canadian renegade Catholic priest, Charles Chiniquy. Architect Henry Hunter wrote to the Mercury (24 June1879), complaining of "orgies" at the Town Hall; Thomas Midwood caricatured Propsting's incompetence in his cartoon "The Light of Other Days," and Mayor William Henry Burgess called out the volunteer corps.

Thomas J. Nevin as both the Town Hall keeper and a special constable sworn on oath, 28 June 1879, was also a primary target for criticism along with Sup't Propsting, though both men were not without their supporters. A pledge of support expressing total confidence in Propsting appeared in the Mercury on 8th July 1879. "We, the Working Men of the City of Hobart Town" was how his supporters - the man held chiefly responsible for police mismanagement of the Chiniquy riots - identified themselves in the Mercury on 8th July 1879.

A few months later, Richard Propsting resigned. Thomas J. Nevin was the continued target of attack, resulting in his dismissal from the position of Town Hall keeper in December 1880 when detained on suspicion of scaring the women of Hobart at night while pretending to be a ghost in a white sheet. The charge was not proven, and although Nevin knew the identity of the offender, he did not reveal it. So the police committee sought his dismissal on a trumped-up charge of drunkenness while on duty, brought by Constable Blakeney in revenge for his own demotion as a result of Nevin's complaint months earlier that Blakeney was drunk while on duty at the Hobart Town Hall.

Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2007/09/the-chiniquy-riots-hobart-town-hall-1879.html
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2014/08/constable-blakeneys-revenge-on-thomas.html

1880: the Hobart Town ghost and dismissal
The journalist called "Lynx" at the Tasmanian Times published an account of the incident which was reprinted in the Launceston Examiner on 13th December 1880. Lynx not only suggested Thomas Nevin knew which individuals were the actual culprits, but that they occupied senior positions in government and council. Tongue in cheek, the journalist not only derided the energy spent on this trivial incident - hinting at Nevin's alleged inebriation while on duty that night when the Municipal Council had much more serious issues to resolve, such as sheep scab - he took additional delight in punning on "cart" as in cartes-de-visite for which Nevin was better known professionally as a photographer, whose reputation should - as the pun went - be "cart-tailed" around the town for not revealing what he did know.

TRANSCRIPT
THE GHOST, - The latest intelligence with regards to "the ghost" (says "Lynx" in the Tasmanian Mail) has made things look very black indeed for some people. The apprehension of the man Nevin has not, unfortunately, afforded any clue to the personality of the invisible spirit. Rumours are, however, in circulation which, if true, reflect in a very serious manner upon a certain Government official, and even a former Municipal magnate. I can hardly imagine it possible that those individuals would so far forget themselves and the positions they occupy as to have any complicity in the ghost scare. It is a strange thing that nothing further has been heard or seen of the spectre since the apprehension of the fellow Nevin, who, by the way, ought to have been "Cart-tailed" round the town, if only for concealing what he does know. Other circumstances connected with Nevin's apprehension can hardly be passed by the Government and the Superintendent of Police. There are more evils, evidently, to get rid of than the scab in sheep.

Source: Launceston Examiner 13 December 1880. p.3
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38265366

A fortnight later, on Boxing Day, December 26th, 1880, the Mercury reported that Thomas J. Nevin was cleared of any involvement with the ghost incident by the Police Committee of the Hobart City Council, but was nevertheless discharged from the position of Town Hall keeper because of drunkenness, shaming him in effect for rendering his family homeless.
The "Ghost."-
Elsewhere we published an account of the proceedings connected with the arrest of a man named Nevin, on a charge of helping in the representation of the "ghost." The "ghost" has always been spoken of as a great coward. Perhaps he will now show that he is not so bad as he has been represented by taking upon himself the responsibility of saving his colleague and his wife and family from being turned out of their living.

Source: THE MERCURY. (1880, December 4). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. ), p. 2.
Link; https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8990909

Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2007/05/nevin-arrested-for-acting-in-concert.html
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2014/08/constable-blakeneys-revenge-on-thomas.html

1881: obstructing the footpath
After dismissal from full-time civil service at the Town Hall, Thomas Nevin held a retainer with the Hobart Municipal and New Town Territorial police, as both prisons photographer and assistant bailiff with senior detectives. Not all reporters, nor even the judiciary in these post-Town Hall years were set on mockery or approbation. In this report, for example, of an incident on the footpath outside the All Nations Hotel, Nevin's open defiance of a constable's orders to move on under a by-law was demonstrated by taking a piece of chalk out of his waistcoat pocket and marking with it on the footpath. He then stood on the mark and said he would continue to do so until he was taken into custody, waving the constable off, suggesting he should be the one to move on. Although charges were brought, William Tarleton on the Bench dismissed them.

OBSTRUCTING THE THOROUGHFARE - Thomas Nevin, Thomas Paul and Thomas Hodgson were charged with having on the 28th of last month stood on one of the footways of a public street within the city, so as to prevent the free passage of others, and refused to pass on when ordered to do so by a constable ...

...Mr. TARLETON said that the Bench did not think it necessary to ask for any defence, as the by-law under which the charge was enacted, as its preamble explained, for the preventing of the congregation of idle and disorderly persons in the streets and public places, and was certainly never meant to prevent two or three respectable citizens talking over social matters or business affairs, as in this case. It would be a monstrous strain of the by-law to consider this a breach of it, and the information was therefore dismissed.

Thomas J. Nevin: Obstructing the Thoroughfare
Source: Mercury (Hobart, Tas.) Wed 9 Mar 1881 Page 2 CITY POLICE COURT.

Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2011/05/chiniquy-rioters-injuring-town-hall.html

1886: assistant bailiff and father of many children
On July 26, 1886, Inspector John Dorset(t) of the Hobart Town Municipal Police visited Thomas Nevin's house with a request for his services as assistant bailiff. Insp. Dorset found a child in bed with the whooping cough, and two weeks later gave testimony to the City Police Court of the situation when Nevin faced charges of a Breach of the Education Act by schools truancy inspector Mr Moore for not sending his child to school. Because of Inspector John Dorset's testimony, the charge against Nevin was dropped.

Thomas Nevin caused laughter in the court with this comment:
Defendant said that he was the father of a large number of children, and did not know which one was referred to. (Laughter.)
How many is a "large number of children"? Thomas and Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin were parents of five living children by 1886: Mary Florence (aka May) born 1872; Thomas (aka Sonny) born 1874; Sydney born 1876, died 1877; William John born 1878; George born 1880; and Mary Ann (aka Minnie) born 1884. In all probability, it was either William or George who was reported as not attending school. The last child Albert Edward was not yet born: he arrived in 1888, and fathered in turn eight children.

Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2010/02/thomas-nevin-1886-assistant-bailiff-to.html

1888: the police should be better supervised
Thomas J. Nevin was reported to say at a meeting at the Hobart Town Hall on 19 July 1888 on the occasion of a bill to be introduced in the House of Assembly to effectively centralise the various municipal and territorial forces that he "was under the impression that the police should be under stricter supervision." Reported as such, it gave no real indication whether Nevin was for or against the motion, as described:

Dr Benjafield moved the first motion:"That in the opinion of this meeting the Centralisation of Police Bill is a desirable reform on the grounds of economy and efficiency." He thought that he contributed more to the cost and maintenance of the police than perhaps anybody about Hobart, but he got very little return for it. He happened to live just in the city boundary, and a city policeman would only come up to the boundary line and look over his fence. He believed that if he was being murdered the policeman would not have power to come over and help him. (Hear, hear.) The Glenorchy policemen only come to the top of the hill and looked down it ; but never came to his place to see whether he wanted protection or not. However, he paid the greatest part of his rates in the Glenorchy district, and with that district he had to deal with more than any other. He supposed the public there were as good as they were in other municipal districts but that municipality, or parish as it would be called in the Old Country took £800 to support its police. He believed that he could give better protection to that district for £400 per annum. The reason why there were so many who were desirous of keeping up the municipal system was in order that the local magnates should have control over them. If they were all put under one head there would not be so much pettifogging disturbance as there was at present, and he asked all present to do what they could to assist the Attorney-General in the move he was making to bring about a better state of things, (Applause.)
Source: CENTRALISATION 0F THE POLICE. (1888, July 19). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.), p. 3
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9194110

1880s-1890s: Nevin stereotyped by police and press
Losing residency at the Hobart Town Hall on his dismissal from the Keeper position, Thomas J. Nevin moved his family in the early 1880s to the house at No. 82 Warwick St. Hobart, directly opposite Domeney's cab business. Rosanna Domeney retained ownership of her family properties in Warwick St. on the death of her husband William in 1898, but left the neighbourhood. Once the Domeneys had gone, Thomas Nevin began to falter. He found himself numerous times in front of magistrates at the City Police Court on charges of using obscene language and fined. The police were awarded part of the fine, which was a ready incentive to "construe any words into bad language for 2s. 6d." (Colonial Times, 17 February 1835, p. 7). The complainant was usually a business competitor or former colleague bearing a grudge. Tasmanian law allowed for charges to be brought, because even though Nevin was not on public property, he could still be heard by passers-by. He was inside the yard "abutting on Warwick Street" when using "very filthy language" according to the constables who seemed to appear out of nowhere at just the right moment.

A HEAVY FINE
Thomas Nevin pleaded not guilty at the Police Court today to using obscene language on the 22nd inst. in a yard abutting on Warwick Street. Police Constable Bevis stated on the date mentioned his attention was drawn to the defendant making use of very filthy language. Neighbours and children were round him. The Bench found the man guilty, and told him it was an odd game of his. Even the presence of children did not deter him. He would be fined £5 and costs or three months, and the Bench expressed the hope that it would be a lesson to him.

Thomas Nevin's very filthy language
Source: Tasmanian News Hobart Tue 18 Feb 1896 Page 2

His fines over three years totalled £30, which is close to £3800 in today's money. The charge "Obscene Language" might have denoted any mild curse or epithet. These sorts of menial and trivial charges were a source of revenue for the Colonial Government in an era when personal income tax was yet to be formally legislated. Of course, Thomas Nevin pleaded not guilty on every charge at every court appearance, because he felt he was being targeted as a "stereotype" as he put it in his defense:

CITY POLICE COURT. - The Police Magistrate (Mr. B. Shaw) and Mr. James Harcourt, J.P., adjudicated yesterday.
Thomas Nevin, labourer, was charged with having used obscene language in a house in Warwick street on the 9th inst.. He pleaded not guilty, but Constables Crane and Clark proved the offence. Defendant remarked that he was always brought up on the same charge. He thought he must be "stereotyped" with the offence. The Police Magistrate : I am afraid you are ; you have been convicted 33 times of the same charge. We order you to pay a fine of £5, in default you will be imprisoned for three months.
Source: Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Wednesday 21 September 1898, page 2

It remains to be discovered exactly which words or phrases the police considered obscene enough to drag the offender before the City Police Court. Blasphemy and oaths alone were considered offensive enough - "damn", "Jesus Christ", "God Almighty" - are likely candidates, and words used today such as "bloody" "bugger" and "bastard" were already in the profanity repertoire of police.

But what was Thomas Nevin really angry about? His verbal abuse of police was justified, in his mind. The lack of effective control over police behaviour was certainly one of his complaints which he aired at a Town Hall public meeting in 1888 where re-organisation of police administration was proposed, and no doubt he witnessed more than his fair share of brutal behaviour when working on contract as the police photographer in prisons and courts. The ugly affair of retribution involving his reporting of Constable Blakeney drunk on the job was also never far from his mind, as it cost him the Town Hall keeper position back in December 1880. When fined 50/s- on Thursday, 14th March 1895 for obscene language which could be heard from the street, the Magistrate also appplied for a notice to be issued to publicans prohibiting them from supplying liquor to Thomas Nevin, "operatic for twelve months". He also advised Thomas Nevin to seek medical attention.

Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2019/11/rosanna-domeney-nee-tilley-at-thomas.html
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2010/02/thomas-nevin-1886-assistant-bailiff-to.html

Timeline: excerpts 1853-1923
Source: "The Hobarton Mercury Special Supplement" 2004



Significant dates which coincide with the history of the Mercury and events in Thomas J. Nevin's life:
"John Davies, a newcomer to Hobart Town, acquired from John Moore a newspaper called the Guardian which had been in circulation for about eight years, published from 11 Macquarie St. Davies leased these premises from John Ingle, redesigned the Guardian and renamed it the Hobarton Mercury...."
In 1854, two years after former soldier of the Royal Scots, journalist, poet and gardener John Nevin arrived at Hobart with his family and settled at Kangaroo Valley, VDL (Lenah Valley, Tas) on land in trust to the Wesleyan Church: -
"1854, 5 July The first edition of the Hobarton Mercury, incorporating the Hobarton Guardian, appeared. It was published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and was up to four pages with six columns to a page..."
In 1872, the year professional photographer Thomas J. Nevin became a first-time father, a member of the Loyal United Lodge, with contracts to produce photographs of the Glenorchy landslide and prisoners at trial and discharge:
"1872, 11 June: The founder, John Davies, died. His sons John George Davies and Charles Ellis Davies inherited the business and traded as Davies Brothers.
In 1877, the year when Thomas J. Nevin was 18 months into his appointment as resident Keeper of the Hobart Town Hall, as office-manager for the Hobart City Council and as photographer of prisoners for the Municipal Police Office: -
"1877, July, The Tasmanian Mail, Davies Brothers new weekly, was issued for the first time, edited by J. Paterson"

In 1921,Thomas J. Nevin was still operating his livery business and stables, registered in 1913, which kept and boarded horses for owners who paid a weekly or monthly fee, at 279 Elizabeth St. Hobart. Photographs of his stables, and horses at the track were published in both illustrated issues: -
"1921, 7 April: The name of the Tasmanian Mail was altered to the Illustrated Tasmanian Mail. The pages became smaller and were well illustrated with photographs and cartoons."

In 1923, the year of Thomas J. Nevin's death:-
"1923. A larger, faster American-made Hoe rotary press was installed. It could print in one operation a newspaper of two to eight pages at the rate of 48,000 copies an hour, eight to 16 pages at 24,000 copies an hour or 16 to 32 pages at 12,000 copies an hour."
Read more here: Key Dates in Thomas J. Nevin's life and career
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2007/04/key-dates-in-thomas-j-nevins-life.html

Mercy 2004

"Pressing Ahead" by Peter Mercer and Rod Boucher, page 5.
Published in the Special Supplement of the Mercury, Monday 5 July 2004, celebrating 100 years of continuous publication since 1854

Editors, affiliations and methods

Editors 1854-2001
This short article published in the Special Supplement of the Mercury, Monday 5 July 2004, celebrating 100 years of continuous publication since 1854, points to the likelihood that one of the ten editorial staff photographed ca. 1880s (in photo at top) was a son of John Donellan Balfe, whose descendants in turn would carry the family's journalistic tradition into the 20th century.



TRANSCRIPT: EXTRACT
There have been 18 editors of The Mercury in a history spanning two centuries, and one of them held the position twice.
He was Thomas Lockyer Bright (1863-64 and 1865-68).
The first editor was William Coote, who held the position from the paper's inception in July, 1854, to 1857.
Coote was a grocer who had a shop next to the printing office and he was able to combine the two occupations.
One of the most short-lived editors was John Donellan Balfe.
A native of County Meath, Ireland, Balfe was engaged by Mr John Davies in 1868 for a one-year term as editor.
He was regarded as an able political journalist and was a member of the House of Assembly from 1857 to 1881, except for a short period between 1872 and 1874.
His contract with Mr Davies was for 12 months, under an agreement that pledged him total abstinence.
He was also obliged to vote in the House of Assembly consistently with his editorials.
Balfe was dismissed after only four months, following a breach of the first clause. He sued the company for £500 and lost, but a select committee in 1869 found the second clause to be a breach of parliamentary privilege.
The Balfe name lived on, with his descendants continuing the journalistic tradition into the 20th century....

Extract from page 12 of the article "Eighteen Helmsmen", Share the Journey, Special Supplement to the Mercury, Monday 5 July 2004.
Source: © KLW NFC Private Collection 2025

1860s: journalists' methods examined in court
Thomas Nevin had operated as a commercial photographer and government contractor since 1868, when W. R. Giblin acted on behalf of his interests in the dissolution of his partnership with Robert Smith advertised as the firm "Nevin & Smith" at 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart. In June 1872, for example, Nevin provided the Lands and Survey Department with a series of stereographs recording the damage caused by the Glenorchy landslip. As likely as not, he also provided lengthy witness reports to the officials at the Municipal Council, to reporters at the Mercury, and to Public Works Department contractors who regularly gathered at James Spence's hotel "The Royal Standard", next door to Nevin's studio, 142 -140 upper Elizabeth St. Hobart Town (looking south from the corner of Patrick St.). As a contractor himself, he would have taken a keen interest in the meetings at which James Spence's cohort of contractors' aired their "grievances received at the hands of the Public Works Department".

Thomas J. Nevin successfully applied for the full-time civil service position of Town Hall and Office Keeper with the Hobart City Council in December 1875 and shortly afterwards installed his family in the Town Hall Keeper's apartments. James Spence was not so fortunate in his aldermanic campaign to serve on the HCC in 1872. The Supreme Court case in 1868, in which senior public officials mounted a case of slander against James Spence, had earned him notoriety as a whistle blower.



Detail of larger photograph -Hobart - view from North Hobart (Swan's Hill)
Callouts here show the rear view of James Spence's Royal Standard Hotel at 142 Elizabeth St. Hobart and Thomas J. Nevin's studio, glass house and residence, 138, 138½ and 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart
Archives Office Of Tasmania online at PH1/1/35, unattributed, dated 1870
Link: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/PH1-1-35/PH1-1-35

Allegations of corruption made by James Spence at a meeting at his hotel, "The Royal Standard" on the 3rd December 1867 were published in a lengthy report by the Tasmanian Times, detailing names, places, and specific instances of jobbery, embezzlement and bribery. At the Supreme Court sittings whereby the three plaintiffs associated with the Public Works Department - Wm. Rose Falconer, Wm. H. Cheverton, and James Gray who were accused of profiting from the sale of timber from Port Arthur - brought two actions of slander against the defendant James Spence, the Jury and Bench verdicts awarded nominal damages against James Spence, not the £1000 sought by William Cheverton who did not make a personal appearance. Two reporters Thomas C. Just and Ansley Spurling who attended that meeting gave very different versions of events. As a result, they were questioned in court as to their methods of note-taking.

1868: reporters Thomas C. Just and Ansley Spurling
Newspaper reporters Thomas Cook Just and Ansley Spurling were questioned by both sides as to the relative accuracy of their note-taking from speeches made at James Spence's gathering of contractors at the Royal Standard Hotel on 3 December 1867; for example, if they used shorthand (supposedly verbatim) or longhand (written after the event); or if they reported the speeches in the first person (conveying the speaker's subjective viewpoint) or in the third person (assumed objectivity from the listener's viewpoint).

The following paragraphs are extracts from the Mercury report of 29 January 1868 taken from our article about contractors Thomas J. Nevin and James Spence.
Read more here:
https://tasmanianphotographer.blogspot.com/2019/09/contractors-thomas-j-nevin-and-james-spence.html

EXTRACT - CHEVERTON v. SPENCE.
First Action for Slander
LAW. (1868, January 29). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8850257

Thomas Cooke [sic] Just, examined by Mr. Adams : I was reporter to The Mercury newspaper on 2nd December, 1867. In that capacity I attended a public meeting held on that date at the Royal Standard Inn, in Elizabeth-street. I was there in consequence of an advertisement that appeared in The Mercury newspaper. (Advertisement admitted and read.) There were about eight persons present. Some of these were Mr. Spence, Mr. Seabrook, Mr. Wiggins, Mr. Spurling, and myself, and one or two others I did not know. On that occasion Mr. Spence made a speech. I wrote out a condensed report of what he said at the time. I did not take the notes in shorthand. What I did take down was a correct report of what Mr. Spence said, except that I wrote in the third person, while he spoke in the first ....

Cross-examined by Mr. Cansdell: The report is in accordance with the notes, which I produce; (The whole of the notes were here read.) My report is an exact account of the words, with the exception of its being in the third person instead of the first. The report was written out at the time. The speakers were not fast spoken. Had I reported all that was said it would have filled ten or twelve columns of The Mercury. It is a verbatim report of what was spoken, and reported with the exception to which I referred. I am sure the words " that office" were used....

... The learned counsel reviewed the evidence as to the two reports, and said that on most important points the reports of the two reporters wore substantially the same. Then Mr. Pross was brought for-ward to contradict the reports, but he had supported almost all the words sworn by Messrs. Spurling and Just. All that was said was that these words were not said of Cheverton in his capacity in the Public Works Office, but simply as a contractor. There were the words as to his having erroneously stolen the property of the government, and worked it up in the Town Hall, and was that spoken of Mr. Cheverton as a contractor ? He really began to think his learned friend did not know what an honest man was. He seemed like Diogenes to be looking with his lantern to see if he could find an honest man. There was no doubt that the report was substantially a correct one, and the best proof of it was that there had been no previous denial. Mr. Spence had no doubt received the congratulations of his friends in his house upon it; he had complimented Mr. Davies on the public good that had been done by the publication of the re-port; he had read the leading article in The Mercury published two days afterwards, and yet he wanted them to believe that he knew the report was incorrect, and did not think it worth while to contradict it....

EXTRACT - FALCONER v. SPENCE.
Second Action for Slander
LAW. (1868, January 29). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8850257
... He called Thomas Cooke Just, reporter for The Mercury, who said : I attended a public meeting at the Royal Standard on tho 2nd December. I took notes of what took place there--not every word spoken. I certainly feel sure that my notes contain no words that were not spoken. I find among them this sentence, " he referred to a quantity of timber." I am sure that the expression was, " there should be an investigation into these matters," and not " that office." ....

... Then as to the evidence of Mr. Just, that gentleman possessed of course the private knowledge which gentlemen in his position could not help acquiring, and they were imperceptibly guided, he would not say to distort reports, but to use words which speakers were likely to use. A reporter went fully armed, he might say forearmed, with a knowledge of all the reports that were about. He knew before people opened their lips what they were going to say, and although he desired to give the very best and most correct account of what was said, still if he did not give a verbatim report, but wrote in the easy flowing style for which Mr. Just was well-known, he was as likely as not to allow his special knowledge to influence the words he used. He did not attribute anything improper to the reporters, but he would not have the jury attach too much weight to the reports. Both the gentlemen seemed to have written a kind of commentary. Neither made a verbatim report, and therefore neither was to be depended upon as to any particular word. Reporters were apt to make use of words which were equivalent to others, or which appeared so, but which might be of different signification altogether, and therefore the jury could not attach much importance to that evidence....

... It was, however, entirely a question for the jury, and it became more material because two reporters for the press differed in their versions, one saying that the word used was matters, and the other office. These reporters who said they were both present conceived different impressions of what was said. Mr. Just thought that Mr. Spence attributed culpability to Mr. Falconer, and Mr. Spurling that he did not, and it was remarkable that the one who took down words which admitted of no doubt came to one conclusion, and the other to a different conclusion. The jury would first make up their minds as to which was the word used, and if they thought it was office and not matters, they would then consider whether it did or did not make a difference, remembering that one person disclaimed the use of the word matters, and that one reporter said that from the impression made on him he did not think there was imputation thrown on Mr. Falconer. It was very necessary that the jury should be satisfied what the words used were for all persons in the habit of attending public meetings or the courts of justice must be aware how great a difference a word sometimes made, and that by leaving out a sentence between two others they might make a man say exactly the opposite of what he did say.

Source: LAW. (1868, January 29). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas, pp. 2-3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8850257

When editors speak for each other

1880: Thomas Cook JUST, former editor of the "Mercury"
Source: VALEDICTORY. (1880, August 30). The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas), p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72355656

VALEDICTORY.
Being compelled by circumstances to relinquish the business of a newspaper proprietor in Tasmania, at least for the present, I feel it due to the people of the colony, to whom I have been indebted for a large measure of generous support, to pen a few words on vacating the editorial chair of the "Cornwall Chronicle."
It is within a few days of seventeen years since I joined the literary staff of the Hobart Town "Mercury," and commenced my connection with the Tasmanian press. After serving six years and two months on that journal, I became interested in the "Cornwall Chronicle' with Mr. ROBERT HARRIS. The paper had at that time practically ceased to exist, but it was resuscitated under my literary control, and published tri-weekly. Rapidly it grew in public favor, until acknowledged the leading journal of Northern Tasmania. In 187l it passed into my hands entirely, and I spared neither expense nor labor to maintain and advance its status. The paper became well established with every prospect of permanence, when a change in Northern journallism occurred which completely altered the situation.
The proprietors of the 'Examiner," in a creditable spirit of enterprise, produced their journal on the 1st January 1878, as a daily newspaper. The change was made suddenly, and at a time when I was quite unprepared to adopt the same course, having neither premises nor machinery equal to the requirements of a daily paper. Further, I entertained serious doubts - since fully warranted by facts - as to the probability of the public adequately supporting two daily newspapers. Two tri-weeklies publishing on alternate days were, in my opinion, ample for the wants of the community. I resolved, for the time, to continue publishing three times weekly, relying for success upon the established character of the paper, its old connection, and the fact that it was regarded as the special exponent of liberal and progressive, as distinguished from a conservative and timid policy, in the administration of public affairs.
I soon discovered that this would not answer. The extension of mining in various parts of the country had led the Government to afford greatly increased postal facilities, and the public required the quickest information. A daily newspaer being obtainable, they would not support a tri-weekly, and after six months trial I was induced, by the advice and assistance of friends, to issue the "Cornwall Chronicle" also as a daily. This was on the 1st July 1878. The "Examiner" having obstained six months start, placed me at great disadvantage, and, after running the paper for twelve months. I found myself unable to meet the large weekly outlay, and compelled, on 1st July, 1879 to revert to a tri-weekly issue. This was unfortunate, but a compulsorty movement. I soon again found the paper could not be maintained on this footing, and on 1st January 1880, I once more issued it as a daily with the result I have now the nmisfortune to announce. The cash income of the paper is not sufficient to enable me to meet the large and regular weekly expenditufre necessary to produce it, and I am forced, for the time, to abandon a business which I worked hard to establish, which I have struggled still harder to maintain, and which is entirely congenial to my tastes and feelings.
In thus retiring from a position I have held over eleven years, I desire to return sincere thanks to my fellow colonists for the patronage and support received during that period, and to express great regret that I am unable longer to supply the '"Chronicle" broadsheet, so familiar to many of them. I hope, however, that my connection with the newspaper press of Tasmania will not be entirely severed. I intend opening a business in Launceston, in connection with which I trust, as a journalist, yet to do good public service.
It may interest some of my friends to know, that so soon as the estate can be adjusted, their claims against it will be liquidated in full, and I shall catch it a particular favor if those who are indebted to me will facilitate the operation, by remitting the amounts owing with the least possible delay.
THOS. C. JUST.
Source: VALEDICTORY. (1880, August 30). The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas), p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72355656

More Information:
1. Will of Thomas Cook JUST, August 1900
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/AD961-1-8/AD961-1-8-2150_1
2, Biography note from SLNSW:
Watercolour: Old Rats' Castle (Roxburgh House)...at the corner of Brisbane and Elizabeth Streets, Hobart, 186+ /
Thomas Cook Just arrived in Australia in 1851 and went to Tasmania in 1863. Died in 1901.

1883: Henry NICOLLS, editor



Biography - ADB
Henry NICHOLLS (1830-1912)
Link: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nicholls-charles-frederick-4295

In 1883 Nicholls became editor of the Hobart Mercury where his themes remained the same. 'The interests of society are less carefully guarded than those of the individual', he claimed, and kept calling for public men to work in a 'lofty spirit' for Federation, for trade unions free of self-interest, for equality between the colonies and the mother country and for an intellectual life transcending class and creed. His liberalism derived from the study of history and humanity, not from 'dry formulas'. 'Great things are not going to be done by men who have not great ideas', he thundered, taking equally to task Tasmanian, mainland and British legislators. In the 1890s he called with fervour for the achievement of nationhood. Outspokenness took him to the High Court in 1911 for contempt of the Arbitration Court, but the (test) case was dismissed and he was honoured with a crowded reception at the Hobart Town Hall. As 'Henricus' he had, throughout his career, written significant articles for the Argus and Australasian, thereby becoming a national figure. He had also been president of the Hobart Club. With a leading article unfinished on his desk he died of pneumonia at his home in Battery Point on 13 August 1912 and was buried in Queenborough cemetery. Predeceased by his wife Ellen, née Minchin, whom he had married at Ballarat with Anglican rites on 9 June 1863, he was survived by two daughters and six sons. One of them, Herbert (1868-1940), became chief justice of Tasmania in 1914 and was appointed K.C.M.G. in 1927.

Sources: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Richard_Nicholls
https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWBarAssocNews/1986/22.pdf

1887: George Nixon STEWART, editor
Source: LAUNCESTON. (1887, June 2). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.), p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9134617
LAUNCESTON.
[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT]
Wednesday.
This morning there died one who has been connected with the Press for over 30 years, George Nixon Stewart, editor of the Launceston Daily Telegraph. He was taken ill five days ago with dysentery, and died from exhaustion and weakness at 2 o'clock this morning. There is no quarter of the island where his writings have not appeared, as he was connected at various times with nearly every paper that has been published during the last 30 years.
He was born at Belfast on May 8th, 1817, and has spent nearly 40 years of his life in Tasmania. For some time he was in the commissariat under commissary Swan, and joined the Cornwall Chronicle in 1853, when it was connected with Messrs L. Goodwin and D'Arcy Murray. He conducted the paper in the face of difficulties which the slow means of communication at that time gave rise to with great success, and at the same time acted as correspondent to The Mercury.
At this time the most important feature in the journals of the day was the English news arriving by mail, and many a trip down the river was made by him to meet the vessels and obtain the newspapers in time for next morning's publication. The river was a much greater difficulty in those days, as far as navigation was concerned, and the delay that often occurred in getting up stream made it imperative on many a rough night for some one to pull down the river to where the vessel was anchored for the night, and obtain the only news that was eagerly looked for, so that the public could have it in the local journals next morning.
Mr. Stewart was always equal to the emergency, and proved a valuable correspondent by means of his untiring energy in obtaining the earliest items of news. But his chief strength was soon limited to his work in the editorial chair, where he soon became noted for the whole hearted way in which he took up any subject or opposed it. His mind always seemed made up from the outset of any important question, and he always wrote in consequence with the utmost confidence on every question that arose which in most cases carried the opinion of the majority with him. Occasionally he was single in his opinions and met with a good deal of opposition, but in this case he never retracted from the position he had taken up, and on finding himself in the minority would at most simply let the matter drop without ever yielding to the views of his opponents in the slightest particular. As a rule, he managed to divine with considerable success the bent of the public mind, and gained their respect for the tenacity and vigour with which he advanced his views. He was a good friend and a steady foe, from whom little quarter could be expected till his point was gained, and those who found him a supporter of their views had little cause to complain that they were not furthered to the utmost of his ability.
In his relations to his staff no man could be better liked, and there are few whom his juniors would strive harder to please mainly on account of his unfailing courtesy towards them, and the evident pleasure he took in seeing his staff'work successfully. Launceston and the North have lost an ardent advocate, and his friends a genial kindly old man, while the Press loses one of those few whose hearts are unceasingly in their work, and who never seem so happy as when they have too much to do. His health, although feeble of late, and he was suffering a great deal at times, never prevented him filling his seat at his office if he could possibly reach it, and he continued to work when most men would have been laid up altogether. This perhaps caused his death earlier than otherwise, as when his last illness seized him he had brought himself to a very weak state by failing to attend to himself properly. He stuck to his post till the last, and may be said to have died in harness, having just completed his three score years and ten, The last 30, except for a brief period, when he was in the Mines department after the Cornwall Chronicle had expired, being entirely devoted to the Press. He has been editor of the Daily Telegraph since Captain Beeston left it in 1883.
Source: LAUNCESTON. (1887, June 2). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.), p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9134617

1888: an early death for Ansley Spurling
1847: Ansley Spurling 23 married Sarah Harriet Beaumont 20 30 January 1847, Hobart
1849: insolvency
1855; insolvency grocer and butcher Glebe Sydney
1868; poll clerk to Hobart City Council



Ansley Spurling's advertisement
Source: Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas), Saturday 17 December 1870, page 12

Ansley Spurling's death notice, 30 June 1888:
SPURLING.—On June 30, 1888, at his daughter's residence, 120, Macquarie-street, Ansley Spurling, in the 64th year of his age.
Source: Family Notices (1888, July 7). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.), p. 4.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article919352

Death of an Old Pressman.— The Mercury: says : — Mr Ansley Spurling, who has been a resident of this city for upwards of 40 years, breathed his last at his daughter's residence, Macquarie-street, last Saturday evening. The deceased gentleman in his early days was connected with the Press of the colony, and at various times, held positions on the Courier and Advertiser, and at a subsequent period on The Mercury and Launceston Examiner. As a pressman he became widely known in the community, but his ability and experience as a competent accountant obtained for him a reputation which was no doubt of much greater service to him. During the last few years of his life he was employed in the accounts branch of the Lands and Works department, and was looked upon as a valuable Civil servant. He enjoyed the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

Source: GENERAL NEWS. (1888, July 7). The Colonist (Launceston, Tas.), p. 14.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201172854

Addenda:

1. In their own words, the "men of the pen"

To the ' Mercury' Staff, Mackay Mercury (Qld.), Saturday 6 January 1894, page 2

To the ' Mercury' Staff

To the ' Mercury' Staff, Mackay Mercury (Qld.), Saturday 6 January 1894, page 2
To the ' Mercury' Staff
Dear Brethren of the Fourth Estate, I greet ye, one and all.
Believe me that my pride is great,
Although my skill is small.
Thus, when your loving greeting came,
My heart went out to thee.
That you should join my humble name
To your fraternity.

I thank the boss who fills the Editorial Chair.
I also thank the comps ; though I own sometimes swear.
A big D when they make me say some rot which wasn't mine,
Or alter in their wisdom (!) what I deem sublimely fine.
To something very commonplace or absolutely drivel,
Or make my hero stead of tragedy, jolt, whine and snivel,
Good luck attend ye brethren all, may merry Xmas revel
And mirth go with you every one, aye even to your devil.
May care go by your thresholds, no sorrows dim the eye,
May all your forms be safely locked and not fall into pie.
But don't imagine that the men who print are just fellows
Who run the show, oh, no you know they only blow the bellows,
But still the bellows must be blown to make the world go round.
For if the bellows didnt blow the organ wouldn't sound,
And if the organ didn't sound the editor would cuss
And go straight for the foreman's scalp and then ther'd be a muss.
The boss, would wildly brandish his scissors and paste pot.
And if the devil came along he'd give the devilish hot.
And if this poet came just then, instead of a Xmas card,
I reckon that he'd kick him out, or kill the wretched bard.

A merry Xmas, happy new year.
Full of love, devoid of care.
Peace on earth goodwill to men,
And may God speed the mighty pen.
Though on politics we may outward fall,
We men of the pen are comrades all.
For other men may rant and blow,
But the fourth Estate, aye runs the show.

Yours lovingly.
JAMES AUGUSTUS EDWARDS,
Benvenue, Marian Mill, 2nd January, 1894.
Source: To the "Mercury" Staff (1894, January 6). Mackay Mercury (Qld.), p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169000647

2. Christmas & New Year Holidays by rail



The Weekly Courier, 21 December Vol. 1 No. 25
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/weeklycourier/weeklycourier-1901-12-21-special1

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