 Front page from April 1918 | |
| Type | Weeklynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Founder | Howard Spensley |
| Founded | 1860 |
| Ceased publication | 1930 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | various inPrahran, Victoria |
ThePrahran Telegraph was a weekly newspaper published from 1860 to 1930 inPrahran, an inner-suburb of the city ofMelbourne, Australia.[1] No copy pre-1866 is known to have survived. From 1866 (or earlier) until December 1888, the paper was called theTelegraph and St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian. From January 1889 until 7 December 1902, the paper was known simply as thePrahran Telegraph. From 13 December 1902 the banner head read thePrahran Telegraph, with which is incorporated theSt Kilda Advertiser and the Malvern Argus.[2]
The newspaper was probably started byHoward Spensley, who sold it within several years to William Osment.[2] The precedingPrahran and St Kilda Advertiser was first published by John Hartley in 1857, and continued until at least 1861. The Osment family owned theTelegraph until 1882, and again from 1895-1905. Henry Osment was prominent in local affairs and onPrahran Council, serving as Mayor for 1888/89.
In general, the paper was published weekly, though at various times the frequency was increased to twice weekly. On 5 January 1889—the same issue in which the banner head was changed (see above) -- the paper moved to bi-weekly publication, declaring itself "... the first bi-weekly suburban newspaper ever issued in Australia".
In 2012microfilm copies of the newspaper held at theState Library of Victoria began being digitised and made available in theNational library of Australia'sTrove newspaper search repository.
Various sources confirm the paper as starting in 1860, with Howard Spensley sometimes identified as the first owner. However, ratebook research shows that Spensley took over the printery office from John Hartley only in 1862, so it is possible that Hartley in fact started theTelegraph. Alternatively, it is also possible that Spensley was publishing theTelegraph from another address from 1860-1861, but he has not as yet been noted in ratebooks or directories. An obituary for Spensley published in theTelegraph (23 August 1902) referred to Spensley somewhat enigmatically as "... practically the founder of this journal, being the first editor and proprietor".
John Hartley was publishing thePrahran and St Kilda Advertiser from offices in Chapel Street in 1857. He is listed in the ratebooks from 1857-1861 at the address subsequently occupied by Spensley. The property is listed as a printery in 1858 and 1860, but not in 1859. The Sands & McDougall directory[3] lists thePrahran Advertiser Office (Goulding & Co) at this address in 1862, and the following year,Prahran Telegraph and Advertiser under Spensley. Perhaps publication of the papers overlapped at that printery in 1862 and 1863. Note that Goulding & Co were the publishers of theSt. Kilda Chronicle and Prahran,South Yarra,Windsor,Brighton, & South District Advertiser from issue No. 1 in August 1858 until at least August 1861, the latest known extant edition of that paper. During that period, the paper was published from Barkly Street, Junction, St Kilda.
In the 1864 ratebooks, W.H. Osment, a printer, is shown 4 doors south of Spensley's printing office in Chapel Street, not far south of Greville Street. In 1865, the printery is shown in the ratebooks at Osment's rented property, with Spensley having moved on. This is consistent with J.B. Cooper’sHistory of Prahran (1924)[4][5] p. 279 which claims that Spensley still owned the Telegraph in 1864. Note however Henry Osment's obituary (Prahran Telegraph 3 March 1906): "... In March 1862, Mr W.H. Osment (deceased's father) acquired the goodwill and copyright of thePrahran Telegraph, which subsequently fell into his son's possession".
By 1865, thePrahran Telegraph occupied 223 Chapel Street, where it remained until 1910 when it moved to new premises in King Street, Prahran. It was published from there until at least 1930.[6] In 1866, Osment's printery is shown two doors further south again along Chapel Street, south of Coulson's corn store. This appears to be the location of theTelegraph office from that time until the move to King Street in 1910.
In the 1870s, the office was numbered as 101 Chapel Street, two doors south of the Telegraph Hotel. It was later renumbered as 223. It is shown on the MMBW plan c. 1896, with the office opposite and slightly north of Anchor Place, and with the printing room set back behind the shopfronts of 219-223.[7]
The Osment family owned and published the paper until 1882, when it was sold to Crabb and Brotherton. Aubrey Brotherton left the company in 1887 to take over a rival paper, thePrahran Chronicle. In 1891, the paper was owned and published by John May Yelland, with Yelland "proprietor in his own right and as Administrator of estate of James Halls Crab [sic] deceased".[8] Yelland was Crabb's brother-in-law.[9]
The Osment family purchased theTelegraph again in March 1895 from Crabb & Yelland, retaining ownership until Arthur Tilley took over on 22 Oct 1905. Brotherton returned as owner and publisher of theTelegraph on 22 October 1910, and remained in that position until at least 1928.[10] (page 65). For a photo of the paper's second site (in King Street, Prahran), see p. 69. Detail on this photo shows a sign on the office 'Established 1860-1910', confirming the starting year.
Another owner of theTelegraph was Aubrey Brotherton. From 1882-87 this was in partnership with James Crabb, before Brotherton left to take over a rival paper, thePrahran Chronicle (published c. 1879-1919). In 1910, he returned as owner and publisher of theTelegraph, and continued until at least 1928.
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