On 1 April 2020, The Bunyip announced that it would cease publication "indefinitely" as a result of losses due to the coronavirus crisis.[2] However, due to public support, the newspaper was able to return shortly afterwards.[3] In August–October 2020, with the temporary closure of The Border Watch, The Bunyip briefly became South Australia's oldest rural newspaper still in print.
Originally a monthly publication, the first issue of The Bunyip, subtitled "Gawler Humbug Society's Chronicle"[a] was issued on 5 September 1863, consisted of eight pages and was priced at 6d.[4] The name was chosen because "the Bunyip is the true type of Australian Humbug!"[5] It was warmly greeted by the South Australian Register, observing that it was "full of racy articles and local hits ... a very humorous article on the Gawler Agricultural Society's last dinner, which (was) not only very amusing but strictly correct ... (and should) undoubtedly prove a great success."[6]
With the paper's success, publication increased to bi-monthly in February 1865 (there was none printed in January), appearing on the first and third Saturday of each month. With new printing machinery, the paper upsized to broadsheet format, and its title had become The Bunyip or Gawler Chronicle and Northern Advertiser.[7] The following year it became a weekly. By this time however, the paper's original offbeat stance had quite vanished and it had become a regular newspaper.[citation needed]
With three newspapers published in Gawler at the time, conditions allowed William Barnet, the proprietor, to purchase rival the Gawler Times (5 March 1869 to 27 June 1873).[8] Another rival, the weekly (later biweekly) Gawler Mercury (27 November 1875 – 8 July 1876)[9] also folded after a brief run of less than nine months. In February 1885 The Bunyip's building was destroyed by fire.[10] Barnet again wasted no time in having its competitor of seven years, the Gawler Standard (11 January 1878 – 27 February 1885), take over printing duties, then arranged with J. N. Richards (died 23 August 1886),[11] its proprietor, for an immediate merger.[12]
The Bunyip's first issue elicited a libel case against the publisher, William Barnet, by one Dr. Home Popham who had set up a hospital in the town and who had advertised boastfully in The Northern Star. The court proceedings were a merry affair with Mr. Stow appearing for the defence and the jury found for the plaintiff, awarding damages of one shilling.[14] Four years later, Barnet was sued in the SA. Supreme Court by Henry Edward Bright MP, for libel and found not guilty. This was greeted by both The Register and the Advertiser as a landmark decision.[15]
William Barnet (1834–1895) married Hannah Burfield. His daughter Edith Violet Barnet married Frederic C. Custance, son of Professor John D. Custance in 1916.[16]
Robert Henry Barnet (c. 1869–1917) was third son of William and Hannah[17]
Frank L(indley) Barnet (1876–1941), a graduate of Roseworthy College,[18] was owner from 1917. He was fifth son of William and Hannah, married Clarice Isobel Carne in 1919.[19]
Kenneth Lindley "Ken" Barnet (1919–2000) was son of Frank and Clarice.[citation needed]
It remained in the Barnet family until 2003. It is now owned by the Taylor Group, also a family concern,[21] who are also owners of the Murray Pioneer, based in Renmark.[1]
Louis Joseph Wilson 1880 (arrested for embezzling £107 10s. 6d. from Mudla Wirra council, of which he was clerk. Was also secretary of the Jockey Club)[28]
Alfred Drakard 1881 to 1882
Henry John "Harry" Congreve 1885 to 1890 (also prominent writer to Adelaide papers as "H. J. C.")[29][30]
^"[No heading]". Bunyip. Gawler, SA: National Library of Australia. 5 September 1863. p. 1. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
^"The Bunyip". Home Page. The Bunyip, (Gawler's Weekly Newspaper). 2000. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Beneath the nineteenth-century dignity of colonial Gawler ran an undercurrent of excitement. Somewhere in the mildness of the spring afternoon an antiquated press clacked out a monotonous rhythm with a purpose never before known in the town. Then the undercurrent burst in a wave of jubilation—Gawler's first newspaper, The Bunyip, was on the streets.
^"Gawler". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 7 September 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2013. High praise indeed!
^"Obituary". South Australian Register. Vol. LI, no. 12, 422. South Australia. 6 September 1886. p. 2 (Supplement to the South Australian Register.). Retrieved 27 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Family Notices". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXI, no. 21, 630. South Australia. 7 March 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 14 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Late Mr. F. L. Barnet". The Bunyip. No. 4, 753. South Australia. 28 March 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 14 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
