Victoria Times

The Victoria Times was only published once but is noteworthy for several reasons; it was Wellington's second earliest paper, it was lithographed rather than letter-pressed and it contains a plan of Wellington on the back page. The plan was hand-coloured in some issues although not the one presented here.

The Victoria Times was published by Thomas Bluett and Jacob Jones. They had previously produced lithographs for the New Zealand Company, including a chart of Port Nicholson that's now recognized as New Zealand's first lithograph. Given that the Company had a strong interest in Wellington’s other newspaper, the New Zealand Gazette, the decision to publish a rival paper seems reckless. And is presumably one of the reasons why the paper failed to appear again. Another possible reason for the paper’s brief life was that the partnership of Bluett and Jones did not endure. Jones announced its dissolution in the Gazette in late 1841.

Bluett moved to Tasmania. Records show him operating a lithographic firm in Hobart in 1842. Examples of his work are held in various archives in Australia. He died in England in 1846.