SA Newspapers: Illustrated

This was a comic journal commenting on current issues and prominent figures of the day. Political figures were the major target. Sport and the theatre also received regular coverage. In 1875 and 1876 the paper printed the Licensed Victuallers' Advertiser as a supplement. The Lantern's first editor was the lawyer and politician George Stevenson, son of the first editor of the Register. Early cartoonists included Alfred Clint, John Hood and J.H. Parr, and Samuel Calvert the well-known engraver. In 1881 an entirely new format was taken as the Adelaide Bulletin and Lantern, modelled perhaps on the Sydney Bulletin. This contained more serious articles and no cartoons. From July 1882 the Lantern was re-issued in its old format. In 1884 the paper absorbed Adelaide Punch. In 1890 the Lantern itself was absorbed by a new venture, Quiz, which became the state's longest running comic paper.

The Adelaide independent was an experimental weekly newspaper, and possibly the first illustrated newspaper in Australia. It was the brainchild of colourful early auctioneer Nathaniel Hailes. Hailes wrote for various newspapers under the pen-name ‘Timothy Short’. Its illustrations were a series of pen and ink sketches, or cartoons, as lithographed inserts. These were possibly the work of the engraver George Hamilton. Editor Hailes was the subject of several of the sketches. The newspaper was forced to close in 1841, allegedly due to the outcry caused by publishing a sketch portraying a drunken brawl between bank manager Edward Stephens and wealthy land-holder Osmond Gilles at a dinner in honour of Edward John Eyre. Hailes went on to produce the Adelaide Free Press, but unfortunately no copies of this later newspaper have survived. He was the first secretary of the South Australian Institute, forerunner to the State Library.

The Adelaide Observer was established by John Stephens with a country readership in mind. He also aimed for an apolitical newspaper, and this was a stance largely followed throughout the Observer’s long life. In 1845 Stephens purchased the Register, so that the Observer then became a weekly summary of the daily news reports in the Register. Many articles were simply copied from the daily title. By 1852 the Observer was printing two editions - the first an early country edition on Friday, sent to Burra and other distant places, and a second 'town edition' appeared on Saturday morning. As the rail network spread through the 1870s, the delivery of daily city newspapers to the country eroded the need for the country weekly summary. The Observer then changed its focus, becoming more of a week-end leisure newspaper. While still summarising the week's news, it included literature, a 'ladies column', agricultural articles, etc. Many of Adelaide’s earliest women journalists and aspiring writers had their work published in the Observer. This included Catherine Helen Spence, Winifred Scott and Ellen Liston. From 1902 it contained a regular four-page photographic supplement. Earlier supplements had appeared intermittently since September 1895.

Adelaide's earliest comic paper - as distinct from satirical newspapers - was the Adelaide Punch. There are references to the existence of the title as early as 1865, however the earliest existing copy dates from 1868. Modelled closely on the English Punch, it was published by William Roberts and William Fawcett. The illustrations were by Tom Carrington, previously of the Melbourne Punch. This incarnation however, lasted for only twelve issues.
In 1878 Adelaide Punch was revived by Caleb Dalwood, a nephew to the Frearson brothers of the Illustrated Adelaide news. In July 1878 Adelaide Punch passed to Scrymgour & Sons, a large firm of Adelaide printers. Dalwood continued to contribute cartoons to Frearson's weekly and Frearson's monthly through the following year, and also contributed cartoons to Adelaide Punch until 1880. Editorship is unclear until December, when JCF Johnson took over as owner and editor. Johnson was formerly drama critic for the Register. 'WJK' remained the artist of the main cartoons until early 1880. Johnson, an accomplished writer, was also an able artist and contributed the 'side pictures' for Adelaide Punch. In 1882 he sold the paper and in 1884 was elected to South Australian Parliament. The new owner of Adelaide Punch was Edward Derrington of the Port Adelaide news.
In early 1884 the paper was taken over by its chief cartoonist, Herbert Woodhouse. Woodhouse had begun drawing the side pictures for Adelaide Punch in 1881 and by 1884 seems to have been contributing almost all the cartoons. Other cartoonists had previously included 'A.E.' or A. Esam, 'H.R.', E. Dale and 'Dane'. In October 1884 Adelaide Punch was sold to its rival, the Lantern and ceased as a separate title.

This was an early Victorian illustrated newspaper. Although based in Melbourne, it included significant South Australian content. From December 1874 the Sketcher incorporated WA Cawthorne's Illustrated Adelaide Post as the basis for an Adelaide edition of the newspaper.

The Chronicle newspaper (originally South Australian Weekly Chronicle) was established in 1858 by John Barrow as an adjunct to the Advertiser and competitor to the Adelaide Observer. It was originally intended as weekend reading, but after the Second World War focused increasingly on rural readers and agricultural topics. The women's pages of the twentieth century, written by Eleanor Barbour and Mary Broughton, were especially popular with readers. From 1902 a four-page photographic supplement was included. Photographic supplements were included intermittently from October 1895.

The Critic was a popular newspaper covering the social scene of Adelaide in the late 1890s and early twentieth century, with articles, social notes, photographs and cartoons. It also covered sport, mining, fashion and the theatre, with later issues including literary news and poetry submitted by readers. The newspaper was also the official organ of the Automobile Club of South Australia, giving coverage to early South Australian motoring.

In 1880 the Frearson brothers changed the title of their popular Illustrated Adelaide News to Frearson's Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News. There was also a change from the earlier conservative editorial policy and sensational reporting to a more neutral stance and an emphasis on illustrations. Frearson’s Monthly was filled with illustrations of places and buildings around South Australia, often including a coloured art supplement and also published ‘birdseye views’ of Adelaide and Port Adelaide.

This illustrated newspaper was published by brothers Samuel and Septimus Frearson. The Frearsons were also the printers of Duncan Moodie’s comic paper, the Portonian. The introductory editorial promised more local content than the colony’s other illustrated newspaper. The editorial stance of the newspaper was initially liberal. By mid-1877 an apparent change of editor saw a shift to a more conservative political stance. From 1879 the newspaper reporting also became more sensational. This change was probably influenced by the co-publication of the more satirical Frearson’s Weekly in 1878. In 1880 the title changed from Illustrated Adelaide News to Frearson’s Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News.

This was South Australia’s first fully illustrated newspaper. As a subsidiary of the Illustrated Melbourne Post it contained predominantly Victorian news and illustrations. Local content was usually restricted to one illustration and a front page column of South Australian news. Illustrations were of a variety of subjects, including buildings, scenery, people and Aboriginal subjects. Some may have been engravings of original artwork by the paper’s founder, the amateur anthropologist William Anderson Cawthorne.

This was a title variation of the long-running official Methodist newspaper for South Australia. Its illustrations were syndicated lithographs on both religious and a variety of other subjects.

This newspaper naturally focussed on Victorian scenes and events. From late 1863 it regularly included illustrations depicting other states. South Australian artist and amateur anthropologist, WA Cawthorne, began contributing illustrations at this time. Later he founded the Illustrated Adelaide Post. The Melbourne Post’s ‘Adelaide edition’ varied only marginally from the main edition, with one article of local news and a page of South Australian advertisements.

Only one issue of this sporting newspaper has survived. Sport and the theatre tended to be reported together in the 19th century.

The Kapunda Herald was founded by Charles Barton of the Tanunda Deutsche Zeitung. Two months later he sold to the printers James Elliott and James Scandrett. For almost 90 years the Kapunda Herald was a quality country newspaper, printing news reports from the myriad of tiny settlements stretching across the lower and mid-north of South Australia. It also published interesting political commentary. Until 1918 when the Angaston Leader began, it was the only English language newspaper for the Barossa Valley and Murray flats. Between 1903 and 1911, the Herald was also unique as a country newspaper with a pictorial supplement. In 1951 the newspaper was merged with the Barossa News to become the Barossa and Light Herald.

This newspaper was published by William Hammond. It contained short items of Adelaide news, court reporting, horse racing and other items. It also included satire of local people and events. This was the first South Australian newspaper to make widespread use of (woodcut) illustrations in articles, cartoons and advertisements. Artist ST Gill was employed to create some of the illustrations. The newspaper has been called ‘scurrilous’ and ‘anti-religious’ (Depasquale), however it has also been described as the only newspaper of the period which appealed to the working-class population. Hammond later published a newspaper under the same title in Melbourne.

The Mirror was a short-lived comic paper published by the engraver Joshua Payne. The chief artist was Alfred Clint, principally known for his stage design work in Melbourne and Sydney. Clint went on to contribute cartoons to the long running Lantern.

This was South Australia's first comic magazine. It was published by the colourful early newspaper man James Allen, of the Adelaide Times. Each issue contains an almanac for the month, with phases of the moon, historic dates and weather reports. The Monthly Almanac is also filled with parodies, puns, send-ups and cartoons. It includes South Australia’s first comic depiction of Aborigines, one in which Europeans are the butt of the joke. Various character types were satirised by Allen, particularly 'new chums,' who were portrayed as impractical snobs. There are derogatory references to the reporting of Allen's newspaper rivals, the South Australian Register and the South Australian Gazette and Mining Journal. Interesting business advertisements are printed on the outer coloured wrappers. The printer was Thomas Strode, an important Australian colonial newspaper man. The engraving was probably the work of Penman and Galbraith.

The Observer was established by John Stephens with a country readership in mind. Stephens claimed it would be apolitical, and this was largely the case throughout the Observer’s long life. In 1845 Stephens also purchased the Register, and the Observer became a weekly summary of the Register’s daily news. Many articles were simply copied from the daily title. By 1852 the Observer appeared in two editions. First was an early country edition sent to Burra and other country places on Fridays. A second 'town edition' appeared on Saturday morning. As the rail network spread through the 1870s, the delivery of city newspapers to the country eroded the need for the country weekly summary and the focus of the Observer changed to week-end leisure reading. While still summarising the week's news, it included literature, a 'ladies column', agricultural articles, etc. Adelaide’s earliest women journalists and aspiring writers had work published in the Observer. This included Catherine Helen Spence, Winifred Scott and Ellen Liston. From 1902 a regular four-page photographic supplement was included. Earlier supplements had appeared intermittently since September 1895.

The Pictorial Australian was the culmination of local newspaper illustration by the Frearson brothers, Septimus, Samuel and Robert. It was the last of the old-style illustrated newspapers published in South Australia. Early editions featured the work of established local artists, but by 1893 almost the entire pictorial content was photographic. By 1887 the text expanded to include columns for women and children, reflecting the move to broader newspaper audiences of the time. This innovative and lively Adelaide newspaper closed in 1895, when the surviving Frearson brother moved to Western Australia.

James Taylor was a successful Gawler photographer. In the early 1880s he moved the business to Port Augusta. A family concern, his wife Isabella was one of the colony's first women 'portrait operators', and two sons followed their parents’ lead, experimenting in collotype publishing. (Collotype, a process used for printing photographs within publications, predated the cheaper offset lithography.) The Taylor’s small illustrated newspaper ran to just seven issues. Each contained collotypes of residents, sporting teams, visiting ships and local works – including the building of the copper smelters. Although well received, the newspaper ceased due to the pressures of the printing business, the family's main concern. News articles included local social events, sport, concerts, and club activities. The building of the smelters, shipping news and the early stages of the Transcontinental Railway were also covered. Apart from Port Augusta news coverage included the towns of Stirling, Tarcoola, Leigh Creek, Iron Knob and Quorn.

The Portonian was founded by the eccentric South African Duncan Moodie. The intention was to provide a news reporting forum for Port Adelaide. However, most space was given to criticising the South Australian Parliament. Politicians, including local M.P. John Hart, religious leaders and the governor were targeted. The journalist Spencer Skipper wrote for the Portonian and John Eden Savill ('Cerberus') provided cartoons. The Portonian articles were of a high quality and Savill's political cartoons were a major attraction. (Some of these were re-published as a book.) W. Pyndar Willis was a later cartoonist. South African news filled the columns later, in particular news of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. The Portonian ceased without notice in May 1879.

This was a small comic paper founded by the cartoonist Jeffery Bruer when the long-running Lantern ceased. Besides cartoons, there was some coverage of sport and the theatre, and the usual satirical/political comment found in most 19th century comic papers. Bruer initially drew the front page portraits and the main cartoon himself, while the unsigned inside double page montage of the week's events is in the style of Ambrose Dyson's work for the Critic. Quilp seems to have ceased in 1891. In 1897 Bruer was contributing cartoons for the first issues of the Critic newspaper.

Quiz was founded by Harry Evans and Alfred Chandler, two Advertiser journalists. The pair purchased the old satirical comic paper, the Lantern, as the basis for their venture. Harry Craker, James Hutchison and Alfred Smith were also involved in the publication. Quiz appealed to the new, more educated readers of late nineteenth century Adelaide. It mixed political and social comment with cartoons and quips, sports and theatre reporting, and snippets of social news. The tone was light and racy, and at the proprietors twice found themselves in court for libel over less flattering reports of theatre performers. By 1898 Quiz included photographs, including sporting photographs. In 1914 Quiz combined with the Sporting Life newspaper. In its final years the journal concentrated increasingly on sports reporting, particularly horse racing.

Quiz was founded by Harry Evans and Alfred Chandler, two Advertiser journalists. The pair purchased the old satirical comic paper, the Lantern, as the basis for their venture. Harry Craker, James Hutchison and Alfred Smith were also involved in the publication. Quiz appealed to the new, more educated readers of late nineteenth century Adelaide. It mixed political and social comment with cartoons and quips, sports and theatre reporting, and snippets of social news. The tone was light and racy, and at the proprietors twice found themselves in court for libel over less flattering reports of theatre performers. By 1898 Quiz included photographs, including sporting photographs. In 1914 Quiz combined with the Sporting Life newspaper. In its final years the journal concentrated increasingly on sports reporting, particularly horse racing.

Quiz was founded by Harry Evans and Alfred Chandler, two Advertiser journalists. The pair purchased the old satirical comic paper, the Lantern, as the basis for their venture. Harry Craker, James Hutchison and Alfred Smith were also involved in the publication. Quiz appealed to the new, more educated readers of late nineteenth century Adelaide. It mixed political and social comment with cartoons and quips, sports and theatre reporting, and snippets of social news. The tone was light and racy, and at the proprietors twice found themselves in court for libel over less flattering reports of theatre performers. By 1898 Quiz included photographs, including sporting photographs. In 1914 Quiz combined with the Sporting Life newspaper. In its final years the journal concentrated increasingly on sports reporting, particularly horse racing.

Quiz was founded by Harry Evans and Alfred Chandler, two Advertiser journalists. The pair purchased the old satirical comic paper, the Lantern, as the basis for their venture. Harry Craker, James Hutchison and Alfred Smith were also involved in the publication. Quiz appealed to the new, more educated readers of late nineteenth century Adelaide. It mixed political and social comment with cartoons and quips, sports and theatre reporting, and snippets of social news. The tone was light and racy, and at the proprietors twice found themselves in court for libel over less flattering reports of theatre performers. By 1898 Quiz included photographs, including sporting photographs. In 1914 Quiz combined with the Sporting Life newspaper. In its final years the journal concentrated increasingly on sports reporting, particularly horse racing.

This was South Australia’s first newspaper. It was founded by partners Robert Thomas and George Stevenson under the auspices of the Public Officers of the Colonisation Commission. It is the major printed source covering the establishment of the colony. In some cases it is the only source describing events such as the first government land sales, and the establishment of schools, businesses, churches and self-government. For nearly one hundred years it was Adelaide’s morning paper. It was arguably a better quality newspaper than its competitor, the Advertiser. The Register was purchased by Keith Murdoch of the Melbourne Herald in 1929. It continued under a new title and new format as the Register-News Pictorial, a pictorial newspaper. It finally closed in 1931. The Observer was the Register’s weekly version, and the Journal was its associated evening title.

Only one issue of William Cawthorne's illustrated newspaper is known to have survived. Cawthorne previously published the Illustrated Adelaide Post, a local version of the Illustrated Melbourne Post. His obituary claimed he was ‘the first to introduce illustrated newspapers for regular sale in the colony’ (Adelaide Observer, 2 October 1897, p. 35). The Review was largely an advertising medium for his shop, but also contained reviews of English periodicals sold by Cawthorne. The editorial contained comments on Adelaide religious happenings, in particular Bishop Shiel's denouncing of the Irish Harp during ongoing debate involving Mary MacKillop and her order of sisters.