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Fawkner printing press, c1700s

Image Fawkner printing press, c1700s

TLF ID R6379

This is the Fawkner printing press, dating from the 18th century, on which the first print edition of the Melbourne Advertiser, Melbourne's first newspaper, was printed in 1838. The wooden press is not complete, as only its central structure and carriage have survived.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This press is one of the most significant pieces of machinery in the history of Australian newspaper publishing. On 5 March 1838 it produced the first print edition of the earliest Melbourne newspaper, the Melbourne Advertiser, with the publisher, John Pascoe Fawkner (1792-1869), working from a small shed at the rear of his hotel, the Shakespeare Hotel, at the corner of Collins Street and Market Street in Melbourne. Just three years earlier, Fawkner had financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), who sailed to Port Phillip Bay. They arrived on 30 August 1835 and founded a settlement on the Yarra River that is now the city of Melbourne.
  • The hand-operated press represents 18th-century printing technology. It used metal type, which was set and clamped into position in a metal frame. The type was then inked and an impression made.
  • The press was operated by a pressman and an assistant. The pressman inked the type using a roller or leather balls soaked in ink. The assistant put the paper into a frame, and lowered it onto the type. The pressman then moved the frame and type under a wooden block and pulled the hand lever to make an impression.
  • The press was used by Fawkner to produce the tenth edition of the newspaper. The machinery had been ordered from Launceston in Van Diemen's Land but had not arrived by the end of 1837, so Fawkner, in his haste to establish the first Melbourne newspaper ahead of the competition, handwrote the first edition of the Melbourne Advertiser himself in ink and published it on 1 January 1838. The next eight editions of the paper were also handwritten in ink, but when the press arrived it enabled mass communication in the new settlement.
  • After printing a further seven issues, Fawkner was forced to cease printing on 2 April 1838 as he had failed to obtain a newspaper licence from Sydney. The press was again operating on 6 February 1839, with Fawkner producing a legally registered paper named Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser, which became Melbourne's first daily newspaper.
  • This press is believed to date from the first half of the 18th century and Fawkner replaced it with a more efficient model in 1840. The original press was sent to James Harrison, a Scottish immigrant living in Geelong, who used it to start Geelong's first newspaper, the Geelong Advertiser. This newspaper, which was owned by Fawkner, was first published on 21 November 1840 and is the second-oldest continuously published newspaper in Victoria.
  • The Fawkner press was acquired by the Industrial and Technological Museum in 1870. This Museum was the predecessor of the Science Museum of Victoria, which eventually became part of Museum Victoria. The press is now housed at Scienceworks Museum in Spotswood, one of Museum Victoria's three campuses. It is not displayed, however, due to potential damage from UV lights.
Topics Newspapers Printing industry Typesetting

Other details

Contributors
  • Author
  • Person: Jon Augier
  • Description: Author
  • Contributor
  • Name: Museum Victoria
  • Organization: Museum Victoria
  • Description: Content provider
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Person: Jon Augier
  • Description: Author
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Museum Victoria
  • Organization: Museum Victoria
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
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Learning Resource Type
  • Image
Rights
  • © Education Services Australia Ltd and Museum Victoria, 2016, except where indicated under Acknowledgements