For 142 years, the local print newspaper kept Campbelltown citizens informed of news and events, writes Campbelltown Library historian ANDREW ALLEN in this instalment of Our History series.
Beginning with the first issue of the Campbelltown Herald on 14 February 1880 and finishing with the last hard copy issue in 2022, our weekly newspaper played an integral role in people’s lives.
That first issue of the Campbelltown Herald (pictured above) is now lovingly preserved in Campbelltown Library’s archives. This wonderful artefact was donated by former Macarthur Advertiser’s editor Jeff McGill.
After painstaking conservation and restoration, it is the only known printed copy of the first issue. It’s a treasure we deeply value.
Newspaper design made major strides forward since that first issue. The front page was devoted entirely to advertising – there was not a headline in sight.
The rest of the four pages covered a few birth, marriage and death notices mixed in with some international news coverage and a significant chunk on the newspaper’s aspirations.
It also included a piece on why it moved from Kiama. All very dry and humdrum, but no doubt exciting for the community of around 700 people of the day.
The man responsible for founding the first newspaper in the area was William Webb.
Born at Penrith and educated at Mudgee, Webb operated the Kiama Oddfellow, then moved to Campbelltown in 1879 before founding the Campbelltown Herald in 1880. His brother Edward worked with him on the Herald. He later founded papers in the Southern Highlands.
It wasn’t always plain sailing for Webb.
Henry Parkes took legal action against him after Webb said he was corrupt, and he was forced to sell the Herald in 1885.
He later formed the Campbelltown Liberal in opposition to the Herald, before they were merged in 1898. He continued as a district correspondent while living at Wedderburn until his death in 1910.
Many significant news stories were covered by local papers over the 142 years of their existence.
Some of these include the devastating 1929 bushfires; the creation of the Fisher’s Ghost Festival; the electrification of the railway line to Campbelltown and Campbelltown becoming a city in 1968; the opening of the South-Western Freeway between Liverpool and Campbelltown in 1973; opening of Macarthur Square in 1979; the formation of a sister-city bond with the Japanese city of Koshigaya in 1984; and the creation of Dharawal National Park in 2012.
There have been many titles for our city’s newspapers since the first issue in 1880. Some survived for an extended time and others passed into history after a brief existence.
In 1919, the Sidman Brothers took over the Campbelltown Herald, and the paper became the Campbelltown News. It was an immediate hit, looked neat and professional, and had better news copy.
In 1949, the proprietors of the Camden News purchased the Campbelltown News.
The Camden News changed names in 1953 and became the Campbelltown-Ingleburn News, or CI News as it became fondly known.
In June 1982 a new paper for Campbelltown emerged, the Macarthur Advertiser, incorporating the Camden News, Picton Post and the Campbelltown-Ingleburn News.
This was largely the result of the dire economic conditions of the day, particularly the skyrocketing costs of news printing.
It was joined by the Rupert Murdoch-backed newspaper The Chronicle in 1984, eventually becoming the Macarthur Chronicle in 1992.
Another local newspaper from around this time was the South-West District Star. It was in production from July 1975 to its last issue on 19 August 1986.
By 2020, locally printed newspapers were becoming threatened. The Covid-19 pandemic had an enormous impact.
However, skyrocketing prices for newsprint and rising costs of printing and delivery meant it was no longer commercially viable to continue. So came the end of 142 years of printed newspapers in Campbelltown.
From William Webb’s basic four-page spread to the last Macarthur Advertiser published on 19 August 2022, it was the end of an era for local hard copy newspapers.
