''The Bunyip'' is a weekly newspaper, first printed on 5 September 1863, and originally published and printed in

Gawler, South Australia Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of South Australia, Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. ...

. Its distribution area includes the

Gawler Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the st ...

, Barossa,

Light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

, Playford, and

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast ( Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of A ...

areas. Along with ''The Murray Pioneer'', ''

The River News ''The River News'' was a weekly newspaper published in Waikerie, South Australia, published from July 1956 until April 2020. History ''The River News'' was begun on 19 July 1956 by Colin Hetzel of the Waikerie Printing House with his wife, Meg H ...

'', and '' The Loxton News,'' ''The Bunyip'' was now owned (since 2003) by the Taylor Group of Newspapers and printed in Renmark. On 1 April 2020, ''The Bunyip'' announced that it would cease publication "indefinitely" as a result of losses due to the coronavirus crisis. However, due to public support, the newspaper was able to return shortly afterwards. In August–October 2020, with the temporary closure of ''

The Border Watch ''The Border Watch'' is an Australian newspaper based in Mount Gambier, South Australia, as of October 2020 owned by TBW Today Pty Ltd. The paper services Mount Gambier, the South Australian Limestone Coast, and parts of Western Victoria. It ...

'', ''The Bunyip'' briefly became South Australia's oldest rural newspaper still in print.

History

Originally a monthly publication, the first issue of ''The Bunyip'', subtitled "''Gawler Humbug Society's Chronicle''" was issued on 5 September 1863, consisted of eight pages and was priced at 6d. The name was chosen because "the

Bunyip The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia ...

is the true type of Australian Humbug!" It was warmly greeted by the ''

South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and ...

'', observing that it was "full of racy articles and local hits ... a very humorous article on the Gawler Agricultural Society's last dinner, which (was) not only very amusing but strictly correct ... (and should) undoubtedly prove a great success." With the paper's success, publication increased to bi-monthly in February 1865 (there was none printed in January), appearing on the first and third Saturday of each month. With new printing machinery, the paper upsized to

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

format, and its title had become ''The Bunyip or Gawler Chronicle and Northern Advertiser''. The following year it became a weekly. By this time however, the paper's original offbeat stance had quite vanished and it had become a regular newspaper. With three newspapers published in Gawler at the time, conditions allowed William Barnet, the proprietor, to purchase rival the ''Gawler Times'' (5 March 1869 to 27 June 1873). Another rival, the weekly (later biweekly) ''Gawler Mercury'' (27 November 1875 – 8 July 1876) also folded after a brief run of less than nine months. In February 1885 ''The Bunyips building was destroyed by fire. Barnet again wasted no time in having its competitor of seven years, the ''Gawler Standard'' (11 January 1878 – 27 February 1885), take over printing duties, then arranged with J. N. Richards (died 23 August 1886), its proprietor, for an immediate merger. In January 1969, the newspaper absorbed the '' Junction and Gilbert Valley News'', which had been published in

Hamley Bridge Hamley Bridge is a community in South Australia located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction. Named by the government of the day, in honour of the Acting Governor of South Australia L ...

since February 1940.

Controversies

''The Bunyip'''s first issue elicited a libel case against the publisher, William Barnet, by one Dr. Home Popham who had set up a hospital in the town and who had advertised boastfully in ''

The Northern Star ''The Northern Star'' is a daily newspaper serving Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia. ''The Northern Star'' is circulated to Lismore and surrounding communities, from Tweed Heads to the no ...

''. The court proceedings were a merry affair with Mr. Stow appearing for the defence and the jury found for the plaintiff, awarding damages of one shilling. Four years later, Barnet was sued in the SA. Supreme Court by Henry Edward Bright MP, for libel and found not guilty. This was greeted by both ''

The Register ''The Register'' (often also called El Reg) is a British Technology journalism, technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee (journalist), Mike Magee and John Lettice. The online newspaper's Nameplate_(publishing), masthead Logo, s ...

'' and the ''

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'' as a landmark decision.

List of owners

*William Barnet (1834–1895) married Hannah Burfield. His daughter Edith Violet Barnet married Frederic C. Custance, son of Professor John D. Custance in 1916. *Robert Henry Barnet (c. 1869–1917) was third son of William and Hannah *Frank L(indley) Barnet (1876–1941), a graduate of

Roseworthy College Roseworthy Agricultural College was an agricultural college in Australia. It was north of Adelaide and west of Roseworthy, South Australia, Roseworthy town. It was the first agricultural college in Australia, established in 1883. It is now pa ...

, was owner from 1917. He was fifth son of William and Hannah, married Clarice Isobel Carne in 1919. *Kenneth Lindley "Ken" Barnet (1919–2000) was son of Frank and Clarice. *John Barnet ran the paper from 1975. Son of Ken, he married Rosemary Stephens in 1973. *It remained in the Barnet family until 2003. It is now owned by the Taylor Group, also a family concern, who are also owners of the ''Murray Pioneer'', based in Renmark.

List of editors

*Dr. George Nott 1863 to 1866 *T. Godfrey 1867 to 1868 (went on to '' Wallaroo Times'' then

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

) *J. B. Austin 1868 (then founded '' Gawler Times'') *Benjamin Hoare 1869 to 1871 (later to have an illustrious career with the

Melbourne Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

) * Edward Grundy 1871 to 1875 ( ex-parliamentarian and political aspirant 1875) * George E. Loyau 1878 to 1879 (an important historian of the district) *Louis Joseph Wilson 1880 (arrested for embezzling £107 10s. 6d. from Mudla Wirra council, of which he was clerk. Was also secretary of the Jockey Club) *Alfred Drakard 1881 to 1882 *Henry John "Harry" Congreve 1885 to 1890 (also prominent writer to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

papers as "H. J. C.") *

E. H. Coombe Ephraim Henry Coombe (26 August 1858 – 5 April 1917) was a South Australian newspaper editor and politician. He was editor of the ''Bunyip (newspaper), Bunyip'' at Gawler, South Australia, Gawler from 1890 to 1914. He was a member of the Sout ...

1890 to 1914 *Robert Barnet 1914 to 1917 * Leslie S. Duncan 1917 to c. 1945 Duncan was M.P. for

, and with the Bunyip for 30 years. *Ken Barnet c. 1945 to c. 1965 *Paul Vincent c. 1965 to ?? *Ken Barnet *John Barnet 1975 to 2003 *Terry Williams 2003 to 2004 *Heidi Helbig 2004 *Rob McLean 2011 *Grady Hudd 2016 *Nick Hopton 2021 to 2022 *Vanessa Rose 2022 *Brendan Simpkins 2022 to 2023 *Ben Lennon, November 2023 - current

Distribution

Like other Taylor Group publications, the newspaper is also available online.

Notes

References

External links

Company website

"The Bunyip": Gawler Public Library Historical Pamphlet No. 5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunyip Newspapers published in South Australia Newspapers established in 1863 Gawler, South Australia Newspapers on Trove Weekly newspapers published in Australia