SA Newspapers: Religious

The Adelaide Morning Chronicle was published specifically as a voice in support of state aid to churches. It was begun by the draper Andrew Murray when his previous newspaper, the South Australian, went broke. It had backing from a group of pastoralists. The newspaper particularly provided a voice for the influential Anglican section of the Adelaide community. Opposition opinions were voiced by the Non-Conformist churches in their newspaper, the Austral Examiner. The Adelaide Morning Chronicle was of a sufficient standard to be seen as competition to the South Australian Register. The newspaper ceased in early 1853 largely through the economic effects of the Victorian gold rush. Murray had left for the goldfields in September 1852 and went on to work for the Melbourne Argus, where he assisted his sister-in-law, Catherine Helen Spence, to have her work published. The plant of this newspaper was purchased by JH Barrow and a few years later used to establish his newspaper, the South Australian Advertiser.

This was a short-lived weekly newspaper, established particularly to oppose state aid to religion. It was established by experienced English journalist William Whitridge in partnership with Andrew Garran, and printed by George Dehane. Whitridge was, 'one of the most virile writers on the Register,' according to later editor William Sowden. The Austral Examiner commenced at the time of the election of South Australia's first Legislative Council. The newspaper includes general news, but its main focus is religion and politics.

The Australian Christian Commonwealth was formed in 1901, with its title reflecting the federation of the Australian colonies in that year, as well as the act of 'Methodist Union' in the previous year. Methodist Union saw the amalgamation of the Australian branches of the Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and Bible Christian churches. The newspaper differed very little in content or design from its earlier title, the Christian Weekly and Methodist Journal. Throughout its history the newspaper had a series of very good editors and a tradition of being fairly open in both its religious opinions and its social commentary and discussion. During the First World War under editor Rev Octavius Lake, the newspaper strongly supported Conscription. A much different attitude was shown through the 1930s, in the lead-up to the Second World War, with support for pacifism and the right of individuals to make their own decisions about their involvement in war.

The Australian Christian World varied publication between the states. For a number of years it was published in Adelaide.

From 1995 publication moved to Sydney and Melbourne. From 2007 this newspaper became available online through the muslimsaustralia web-site.

Prolific early newspaper printer and publisher George Dehane produced this newspaper in partnership with editor Marcus Collisson. It consists largely of tirades against Roman Catholicism and in particular Bishop Murphy. The South Australian Register was supportive of the Roman Catholic church at the time, to the annoyance of Australiana. Only three issues of this newspaper are held by the State Library.

The Central Times was the title used during the 1970s by South Australia's oldest religious newspaper. This was established in 1864 as the South Australian Wesleyan Magazine. It was published by members of the Wesleyan Church, which later became the Methodist Church. In 1977 the Methodist Church joined with most Presbyterian and Congregational churches to become the Uniting Church of Australia. The historic event is recorded in this newspaper.

This was the second religious newspaper published in South Australia. Henry Hussey was the instigator. The Rev William Nicholls, Pastor Thomas Playford and Samuel Reynell were the main co-contributors. Reynell and others wrote poetry for the paper. John Howard Clark, later editor of the Register, wrote under the pen name 'Laicus'. Rev JC Woods of the Unitarian Church was another contributor, while EG Day and others wrote about Swedenborgian (New Church) beliefs. Hussey saw the latter two groups as outside of his definition of 'pure Christianity' and he introduced some lively debates into the columns of his paper. The journal struggled financially and Hussey decided to discontinue it. He later worked for the Government Printer.

John McEwin was ordained as minister of the Hindmarsh Congregational Church in 1872, and in 1878 began producing an 'undenominational religious newspaper'. The popularity of the Christian Colonist was such that in 1884 McEwin was released from his parish work to run it full-time. The newspaper supported the temperance and social purity movements, Bible instruction and prayer in public schools, as well as broader social improvements such as the working men's blocks scheme and women's suffrage. It was against the British opium trade and state aid to religion.

This was Adelaide's first religious periodical. It was largely aimed at an Anglican readership. It contains much about the contemporary debate about state aid to religion. It also includes suggested Sunday School teaching material, as well as Sunday School reports, articles about converting Jews to Christianity, and more general religious material. Reports from the Aboriginal mission at Port Lincoln also appear. The editor was Matthew Hale, the minister supervisor at the mission. Other contributors were also Anglican ministers, the Rev's Woodcock and Coombs.

This is an interesting newspaper promoting the cause of Australian primary producers. It was also the organ of the Aborigines' Protection League, and contains lengthy discussions about the need for greater support for the Aboriginal people. The newspaper also espoused strong Christian and Socialist views.

Although this newspaper was a semi-official Catholic organ, it had a strained relationship with the church. When owner/editor Charles Fox was bankrupt in 1874 the newspaper passed to John Hewitt. It was originally titled the Irish Harp and Farmers' Journal. The newspaper began with the intention of focussing on news from Ireland for the Irish in South Australia.

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 was the ‘semi-official organ of the Roman Catholic Church.’ (Gawler Times, 22 September 1871, p. 2) However, its relationship with the church was at times strained. Bishop Shiel denounced the newspaper in 1871 for its support of Mary MacKillop at the time of her excommunication. The Franciscan, Br Charles Horan, declared the newspaper, ‘a cancer on the bosom of Catholicism.’ (Funeral oration on the Rt Rev Dr Shiel ..., p. 8) The newspaper was established by James O'Dwyer Hennessey, in part to provide more detailed home news for Irish immigrants. Charles Fox was the editor in 1871.

From the 1850s various individuals and groups began publishing religious newspapers and journals. The earliest denominational newspaper was the South Australian Wesleyan Magazine in 1864. Ten years later this became the Methodist Journal. The newspaper has continued under various titles until the present, and is South Australia’s longest running religious newspaper. The Methodist Journal was printed by Theophilus Carey, who left his newspaper at Mount Gambier to found the Journal. In its early years the newspaper was strongly anti-Catholic. Various prominent ministers edited the newspaper including the Rev Henry Burgess, author of the Cyclopedia of South Australia.

This small religious newspaper was the work of the gifted but unbalanced lawyer, Paris Nesbit. With his sister Agnes Benham, he was interested in the 'new thought' movement of the 1890s, with its socialism and sexual reform. Benham contributed book reviews and articles on religious topics. Poems by local and other contributors featured largely, particularly in the early years. Nesbit took a strong political stance, advocating the nationalising of the legal profession to enable access for the poor. He also suggested divorce law reform and more employment opportunities for women. The newspaper was strongly against the 'White Australia' policy. After four months Nesbit handed the editorship to the John Newton Wood, who took an interest in spiritualism and vegetarianism. The final issue discusses socialism and the Broken Hill strikes. It includes an article about effective voting by Catherine Helen Spence.

The Mount Gambier Standard strongly reflected the interests of the South-East’s farming community. It was published in opposition to the older Border Watch. The newspaper is notable for its reporting of two particular local communities, the Roman Catholic community (centred at Penola) and the large German Lutheran population of the district. Despite the newspaper’s success, publisher Theo Carey closed the title in 1874. He moved to Adelaide to found the Methodist Journal.

This is the newspaper of the Uniting Church in South Australia. Through changes in format and title, this has been published continuously since 1864. It began as the journal of the Wesleyan Church prior to the formation of the Methodist Church, which in 1977 became part of the Uniting Church. Its current title is New Times. As well as religious topics. the newspaper has always had strong discussions on social issues ranging through being pro-Conscription during the First World War, supporting conscientious objection during the Second World War, and discussing homosexuality and the church in the 1990s.

This religious newspaper was established with the backing of George Fife Angas, and was printed and published by James Heath Lewis. Angas worked hard during the 1870 election campaign to block Roman Catholic candidates from being elected to the South Australian Parliament. This newspaper continued the campaign. This was a particularly difficult period for South Australian Catholics, with the death of Archbishop Sheil amid internal conflicts and the excommunication of Mary MacKillop. The Protestant Advocate made the most of this, printing, for example, a letter in its issue of 6 April 1872 denouncing MacKillop and the ‘scandalous’ behaviour of her nuns. This article caused Lewis to be fined for libel. The Protestant Advocate was much berated by other newspapers of the time. It appears to have ceased in 1875. The Portonian published a barbed cartoon depicting the newspaper as a cart being driven by the devil in its issue of 14 September 1872.

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.

This was the journal of the South Australian Methodist church. Through changes in format and title, this has been published continuously since 1864. Its current title is New Times. As well as religious topics. the newspaper has always had strong discussions on social issues ranging through being pro-Conscription during the First World War, supporting conscientious objection during the Second World War, and discussing homosexuality and the church in the 1990s.

This publication is more of a newsletter in format than a newspaper. Its aim was to promote abstinence from alcohol.

This was a short-lived newspaper published for members of the South Australian Catholic Church. It followed the closure of the controversial Irish Harp. The State Library set of this newspaper is incomplete.

This newspaper was a continuation of City and Country. To begin with the newspaper focused mainly on sports and politics. Lengthy sports reports focused on early football. Theatre news was also included. Politically, the editor was outspoken against the government of Thomas Playford senior. In 1884 the topic of spiritualism was raised in letters and articles in the newspaper. Editor George Barrow was a believer in the phenomena and a heated correspondence between the musician Christian Reimers (a spiritualist), and Kirkham Evans of the YMCA (a sceptic) took place. Many readers joined the debate, and the newspaper had to print extra pages to accommodate the letters received. In July 1885 when Barrow published an article suggesting that Samuel Tomkinson MP was making money from corrupt land deals, he was charged with libel and sentenced to six months in jail. (South Australian Register, 16 October 1885, p. 7) The newspaper apparently ceased at the end of 1885.

This was the first Catholic journal published in South Australia. The Rev Julian Tenison-Woods was the editor. The aim was to provide Catholic news from Europe, as well as local news. A particular concern was the implications of the 1851 Education Act which had ended earlier funding for churches and church schools. When the Southern Cross closed, some of its coverage was taken over by the pre-existing Irish Harp.

This was a publication for the South Australian Anglican Church by Fred Banbury.

Truth and Progress was the newspaper of the South Australian Baptist Church. Its first editors were the Rev John Price and the Rev Silas Mead.

The War Cry was the newspaper of the Salvation Army in Australia. This was a national journal, but an Adelaide edition was published in some years between 1883 and 1898.