''The Hutt News'' is a community newspaper circulated in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

, New Zealand. It is one of the earliest and longest running community newspapers in the country.

History

The paper was established in 1927 by Walter Harold Smith, a retired farmer. Smith felt Lower Hutt should have its own paper as its population was approaching that of neighbouring

Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...

(which had managed to sustain a newspaper since 1887). It was first issued in April 1927 via the patronage of the local Businessmen's Association. Prior to this the residents had access to ''

The Wellington Independent ''The Wellington Independent'' was an early newspaper published in Wellington, New Zealand. The first issue of it was on 2 April 1845 and it continued until 1874 when it was replaced by Julius Vogel's '' The New Zealand Times''.The Wellington I ...

'', '' New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator'' and ''Petone Chronicle''. In 1928, Smith was joined by brothers James and William Kerr of the ''Petone Chronicle''. They formed the Hutt Printing and Publishing Company to produce the paper. Smith remained Managing Director of the paper with William Kerr assisting him with James remaining with the ''Petone Chronicle''. The ''Hutt News'' thrived due to large population growth in the area in the 1940s and 1950s despite production being threatened during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

owing to staff shortages which forced it to rely on printers from the

Trentham Military Camp Trentham Military Camp is a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) facility located in Trentham, Upper Hutt, near Wellington. Originally a New Zealand Army installation, it is now run by Defence and accommodates all three services. It also hosts Joint ...

staff in

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...

to continue in circulation. In 1948 Smith died and William Kerr took over as the Managing Director. In 1953 the Hutt Printing and Publishing Company took over the ''Petone Chronicle'', continuing to publish it until 1967. In 1961 William Kerr's son Ted became Managing Director after his father's death. In 1963 Ted Kerr sold the paper to the ''

Evening Post ''Evening Post'' or ''The Evening Post'' may refer to the following newspapers: United Kingdom * ''Evening Post'' (London) (1710–1732), then ''Berington's Evening Post'' (1732–1740) * ''London Evening Post'' (1727–1797) * '' ...

''. The ''Hutt News'' then became part of Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) in 1972 after it purchased Post's ''parent'' company. In 2003 its changed owners again when

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

purchased INL.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutt News Lower Hutt Stuff (company) Newspapers established in 1927 Newspapers published in New Zealand Mass media in Wellington 1927 establishments in New Zealand Organisations based in Wellington