Fremantle Journal and General Advertiser

Fremantle Journal and General Advertiser (1830)
by James A. Gardner

The Fremantle Journal and General Advertiser was the first newspaper ever published in Western Australia. It was edited and published by James A. Gardner, with the first issues appearing less than a year after the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829. As there was not yet a printing press in the colony, each issue was handwritten. Only a single copy of a single issue survives. Held by the Battye Library in Perth, Western Australia, it is copy number 5 of the issue of 27 February 1830. This is believed to be the date of first issue. It consists of a single sheet, printed on both sides and folded in half, thus yielding four pages; it sold for one shilling and sixpence. It is not known when publication ceased, except that it had certainly concluded by the time Gardner left the colony in September that year.


262301Fremantle Journal and General Advertiser1830James A. Gardner
Cover page of the only known extant issue