John Bushell (March 18, 1715 January 22, 1761) was the first
printer in what is now Canada.
Biography
Bushell was born in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Province of Massachusetts, and was apprenticed as a printer there. He subsequently worked for a number of different printers and had his own printing business until 1751, when he left for
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
.
A partner of Bushell's,
Bartholomew Green, following a century-long family tradition in the trade, had left Boston for Halifax in October 1751 and brought all the necessary equipment to set up a printing shop.
He died shortly after his arrival, and Bushell went to Halifax to continue the business.
Bushell's first publication was issued from his shop on Grafton Street on March 23, 1752.
[ The '']Halifax Gazette
The ''Halifax Gazette'' was Canada's first newspaper, established on March 23, 1752, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was published weekly by John Bushell, who had been carrying out a project that had been initiated by his partner Bartholomew Green, ...
'' was published as a subscription newspaper and was a single broadside sheet, printed on both sides. This probably was the first work of any kind printed in Canada. He went on to print the ''Gazette'' and became the King's printer until his death, when the ''Gazette'' and the role of King's printer were taken up by Anthony Henry. The paper's content ranged from elegies, to excerpts from notable publications of the day, notices of upcoming dramatic productions around Halifax, and advertisements from booksellers about newly arrived books.
Bushell's paper also advertised the availability of his press for miscellaneous printing jobs. This was not enough to keep him out of insolvency, however, and he was in debt during most of his life in Halifax.[
Bushell died in February, 1761, leaving one son and a daughter. The son was sent to ]Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
, Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire was an English colony and later a British province in New England. It corresponds to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was named after the Englis ...
, in the American colonies, and entered into an apprenticeship with Daniel Fowle, an accomplished printer who owned and published the ''New Hampshire Gazette
''The New Hampshire Gazette'' is a nonprofit, alternative, bi-weekly newspaper published in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Its editors claim that the paper, which all but disappeared into other publications until the late 1900s, is the oldest news ...
''.[ Thomas, 1784, pp. 357-358]
See also
* Early American publishers and printers
Early American publishers and printers played a central role in the social, religious, political and commercial development of the Thirteen Colonies in British America prior to and during the American Revolution and the ensuing American Revol ...
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushell
1761 deaths
Canadian printers
18th-century Canadian newspaper publishers (people)
1715 births
People from colonial Boston
Printers from the Thirteen Colonies