Newspaper in Sydney, NSW, Australia, active 1839–1846
This article is aboutThe Australasian Chronicle, later titledThe Morning Chronicle. For the British newspaper, seeThe Morning Chronicle.
Image of front page of the paper under one of its later titles,The Sydney Chronicle
The Australasian Chronicle was a twice-weeklyCatholic newspaper published inSydney,New South Wales, Australia. It was published in abroadsheet format. It was also published asThe Morning Chronicle,The Chronicle andThe Sydney Chronicle. It was the first Catholic newspaper published in Australia.
First published on 2 August 1839,The Australasian Chronicle was published by Andrew Bent, forWilliam Augustine Duncan, from 1839 to 1843. Its stated aim was "to explain and uphold the civil and religious principles of the Catholics, and to maintain their rights".[1] The paper was started by Bishop Polding, OSB, and a learned Scottish immigrant, Duncan, a convert to Catholicism.[2] It engaged in vigorous controversy in defence of Catholic interests.[3] It had several name changes toThe Morning Chronicle,The Chronicle andThe Sydney Chronicle. It was eventually superseded byThe Freeman's Journal which commenced publication on 27 June 1850.[4]
Duncan was followed as editor by the Rev. John McEncroe and after him came McEncroe’s nephew Michael D’Arcy.[5]Trove lists the Edward John Hawksley as the editor in 1848, just prior to him starting his own newspaper, The People’s Advocate and New South Wales Vindicator.[6]
The publication defended Governor Gipps against attacks from the squatters and denounced the ill-treatment of Aborigines.[7]
Cover page ofThe Morning Chronicle, 11 October 1843
^J.M. O'Brien, W. A. Duncan, the Irish question, and the NSW elections of 1843,Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, 4 (1) (1972), 40-57; B.J. McGrath, Catholic journalism in New South Wales to 1850,Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 1 (3) (1964), 27-32; C. Fowler, Anti-Catholic polemic at the origins of Australia's first Catholic newspaper,Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 37 (2) (2016), 147-160.
^Brown, Jerelynn (2011). "Tabloids in the State Library of NSW collection: A reflection of life in Australia".Australian Journal of Communication.38 (2):107–121.
