Joseph Ivess ‘Celebrated Country Newspaper Propagator’

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1 May 1988, Page 5

Joseph Ivess ‘Celebrated Country Newspaper Propagator’

D. R. HARVEY

According to G. H. Scholefield, Joseph Ivess established forty-five newspapers in New Zealand and Australia. 1 Even though Scholefield later modified his estimate to twenty-six New Zealand and five Australian titles, 2 this still high number calls for explanation. For one man to ‘plant’ over thirty newspapers during his working life is nothing short of extraordinary. Scholefield’s statements raise two major questions: which newspapers did Ivess establish and why did he establish them?

The first question is the easier to answer, although to do so is impeded by the lack of an adequate bibliography of newspapers published in New Zealand. The disappearance of many of this country’s newspapers is a further impediment. Some evidence can be gleaned from the few Ivess newspapers which can still be located. But this combined with the evidence in secondary sources is insufficient to confirm the precise number of titles in which Ivess had an interest. In addition, the nature and extent of that interest is sometimes by no means clear. I have in the Appendix identified forty-four newspapers published in New Zealand which have some connection with Ivess, (twenty-nine definitely established by him) but have identified only two Australian newspapers as being Ivess titles. 3 Having refined Scholefield’s figures, the second question can be addressed: why did Ivess establish this large number of newspapers? What were his motivations? Several of his titles proved themselves capable of providing at the least a comfortable living, so the explanation cannot be made solely on the grounds of economic necessity. Scholefield, himself a former newspaper editor who had met Ivess, suggests a reason:

Ivess was the most picturesque of that gay band of pioneers who, with a handpress and a hatful of type, rushed from point to point ... to hoist the banner of free journalism wherever men needed such an organ of expression. 4 This may present part of the truth, but probably only a small part. Ivess stressed many times in his editorials that he was a businessman, with the motivations of earning a living and of making a profit which that entails. 5 He may also have had a more detached interest in principles of free speech and democracy, and may well have considered his newspapers as a vehicle through which the common man could

express himself, 6 but this was probably a secondary concern. Scholefield notes an element of restlessness in Ivess’s makeup: ‘The grass over the fence always looked greener than that in his own paddock’. 7 Ivess must also have enjoyed the social status attached to being a newspaper editor or proprietor in a small town. But I consider that Ivess’s primary motivation was a wish to be in the centre of the political world and to wield political power, and he used the newspapers he established or leased to further these political ambitions. The study which follows of his newspapers, taking special note of certain years of the Inangahua Herald , the Patea Mail and the Paraekaretu Express, will establish this more clearly. Ivess was by no means alone among newspapermen in succumbing to the lure of political power. It may even have assumed the status for New Zealand newspapermen of an occupational hazard: there was a higher than usual extent of combining the journalistic and political roles in this country, according to Patrick Day. 8 One characteristic of nineteenth century South Australian newspaper editors was that they often entered politics at the local or national level, just as Ivess in New Zealand held posts in local, provincial and national governments. 9 A similar point has been made about English newspaper proprietors:

the access papers have afforded to public life has been a major factor. That access has, on a few occasions, been converted into real political power. But for the most part it has been an illusion. Ownership has been a ticket to the front stalls of public affairs, but not to the stage itself. 10 Apart from some early successes, political power was to elude Joseph Ivess.

Biographical information about Joseph Ivess is readily available. 11 He was born in Askeaton, Co. Limerick, Ireland, on 8 February 1844, and in 1852 accompanied his parents to Melbourne, where he was educated at Barnett’s Grammar School, Emerald Hill. His father, John Pope Ivess, was a police sergeant. In 1866, after his marriage to Sarah Ann Reddin, he worked on the staff of the Bendigo Independent. On his arrival in New Zealand in 1868 he began work as the manager, and perhaps printer, of the New Zealand Celt at Hokitika. He remained in and about the West Coast for the next eight years, but after 1875 his base became the Canterbury region, and particularly Ashburton. A photograph of Ivess with his family shows nine children. 12 He represented the electorate of Wakanui, South Canterbury, in the House of Representatives on two occasions, 1882-1884 and 1885-1887, after that concentrating his activities in the North Island, especially in the Taranaki and Rangitikei areas. He returned for some years to

Ashburton around the turn of the century, and from 1903 based himself in the central North Island. He died on 5 September 1919 in Christchurch. A description of Ivess in late 1875 portrayed him as a fine plump man with a well-groomed appearance. He wore a moustache and a little bunch of hair on his under lip, as was customary in some professional men of those days. . . . Always an optimist, it was hard for others to compete with him, and he was certainly a tireless worker, obtaining considerable influence where he worked. 1 It is hardly surprising that an Irishman emigrating from Melbourne to New Zealand would land at Hokitika. The West Coast goldfields

were at that time full of fellow countrymen 15 and shipping routes made that coast a natural landfall. Ivess probably found employment rapidly as the manager of the New Zealand Celt, the Irish Catholic Party’s newspaper whose proprietor John Manning was charged with seditious libel for erecting a memorial to the Fenian martyrs of Manchester in the Hokitika Cemetery. 16 It may have been in this heady political atmosphere that the seeds of Ivess’s political ambitions were planted and nurtured. By 1870 Ivess had definitely established a printing business at Hokitika in partnership with George Tilbrook, as shown by advertisements in the first issue of the Tomahawk (5 March 1870) and subsequent issues. This heavily satirical weekly and its successor the Lantern must also have encouraged Ivess in his political aspirations, for they relied on criticism of local and national political events for their effect. Even at this early stage in his career Ivess demonstrated a propensity for attracting legal action, being named as a defendant in a libel action in the Tomahawk (16 and 30 April 1870). To be fair, Ivess was not alone among newspapermen in being sued frequently. Conservative libel laws were retained in New Zealand long after they had been redrafted in England and resulted in frequent law-suits of which Ivess attracted his fair share. 17

Ivess appears not to have had a proprietary interest in any newspaper up to this date, perhaps because he had not amassed enough capital to purchase a share. He may have been part proprietor of the Westland Independent at Hokitika for a brief period, but the evidence is insufficient to be certain about this. He next became part proprietor of the Inangahua Herald , the first newspaper to be established in the new gold-mining town of Reefton. Letters exchanged among the partners of the Inangahua Herald in 1871 and 1872 allow some of the steps in its establishment to be traced. Ivess had visited Reefton in late 1871 and had purchased a business site and gathered strong promises of support and advertising. The prospects of success were very favourable, despite some difficulties in obtaining plant and in having it shipped to Reefton, and heavier than expected expenses. Ivess arrived with his family in mid January 1872, and the first issue was published on 3 February 1872.

A close reading of the Inangahua Herald for the period of Ivess’s proprietorship shows quite clearly how he used it from its inception to bring himself to the attention of its readers. He is regularly noted as being elected to membership of numerous local committees, ranging from one to investigate forming a public company to construct a tramway between Reefton and Murray Creek (20 March 1872), to the Permanent Committee to Administer the Sick and Destitute Relief Fund (8 May 1872), later renamed the Local Hospital Committee (1 1 May 1872). His letters to the editor include one on the contentious issue of separation from Nelson Province (3 July 1872). Ivess contrived some mention of himself in almost every issue of the Inangahua Herald

during 1872, usually on some matter connected with local government or local requirements, but also in social contexts such as in his capacity as an official of the Jockey Club (4 September 1872) or as a performer of impromptu speeches at concerts in aid of the Chapel Building Fund (his performance was criticised as insensitive) (16 October 1872). Ivess’s year of working hard at being prominent paid off. In December 1872 a petition listing 276 names was published requesting him to allow himself to be nominated for the Inangahua electorate of the Nelson Provincial Council. Ivess duly assented, noting his pleasure at the request and his intention to ‘advance the interests of this important portion of the Province’ (14 December 1872). Following issues describe the election meetings. What is most notable about them is the amount of space devoted to reporting Ivess’s meetings in detail (often verbatim), by comparison with that allowed to his opponent Joseph Carreras. Carreras is barely mentioned and is certainly not supported in editorials, as Ivess was:

The emolument attaching to the position of a member of the Council is not worth mentioning . . . Mr Ivess in coming forward cannot possibly be actuated by any other feeling than an honest desire to promote the welfare of the district. (18 January 1873) Letters to the editor were also strongly for Ivess: as the success of his private business hinges entirely upon the future prosperity of the district, this alone should be a guarantee of his sincerity to faithfully serve his constituents. (18 January 1873) Ivess’s election with a majority of ten votes was duly noted in the Gazette. 19

The Inangahua Herald for 1873 contains reports of the Provincial Council meetings at Nelson and therefore frequently mentions Ivess, not always in complimentary terms ‘Mr Donne thought as Mr Ivess gained more experience he would display more modesty in his remarks’ (24 May 1873); ‘[of Ivess] nothing was easier than to make use of insulting and blackguardly language’ (5 July 1873). While it is difficult to ascertain precisely the extent to which these mentions are the natural result of a newspaper wishing to serve its readers’ local interests, it is quite clear that being a newspaper proprietor offered great advantages in the political arena as an electioneering mechanism. It also offered advantages as a vehicle to ensure that his name was kept before the public once he was elected. These must have been contributing factors in Ivess’s increased majority of forty-four votes over Carreras in another election for the Nelson Provincial Council in November 1873. 20 Ivess was to retain his seat until the Provincial Councils were abolished at the end of October 1876. During 1873 Ivess established a newspaper at Lyell, a gold-mining town near Reefton, but after four months sold his interest in it. At

the end of 1873 he relinquished his interest in the Inangahua Herald. He appears to have purchased an interest in the Greymouth Evening Star in 1873, although the date and precise nature of his interest is unclear. But he was already looking further afield than the West Coast. In April 1875 the first issue appeared of the Patea Mail in the town of Carlyle in the Taranaki Province. Was it coincidental that an election was to be called at the end of 1875 and that there would no longer be a seat for Ivess in the Nelson Provincial Council when it was abolished at the end of 1876? The Patea Mail for 1875 is the second newspaper examined here to ascertain whether Ivess established it mainly to assist his political ambitions.

The evidence from the Patea Mail is not as clearcut as that from the Inangahua Herald. After an editorial in the first issue with its conventional statements about the glowing future of the district and of the newspaper, Ivess’s name disappeared from its pages while he attended a sitting of the Provincial Council in Nelson. His absence lasted until June. There are some occasional mentions —the birth of a daughter to Mrs Ivess, for instance (31 July 1875) —then in August the Carlyle Town Board election was reported, Ivess being the second lowest polling candidate and consequently not elected (25 August 1875). Later issues regularly note Ivess in various public capacities, but there is not the same purposeful currying of public favour as noted in the Reefton newspaper. But in early September there appeared a first hint of political ambition, in a letter to the editor signed ‘Disgust’. In it the editor is exhorted to use his

utmost endeavours to represent to the electors (which our member [Atkinson, the Colonial Treasurer] thinks so easily gulled and blindfolded), the absolute necessity of returning a member at the next general election, whose interests should be so thoroughly identified with the district, that personal aggrandisement could not allure, from pledges made to the electors. (15 September 1875)

Not until November was the election issue raised again. An editorial advised electors that given the patent lack of interest in the Patea district shown by Atkinson, the present member, they should consider carefully whom to vote for (10 November 1875). A week later the editorial noted ‘almost the certainty’ of a local candidate opposing Atkinson (17 November 1875). From this date Ivess was actively reported in the columns of the Patea Mail : he was elected to the Patea East Road Board, he asked questions at a public meeting about the use of a local public reserve, and he become a member of a committee to form a Patea Harbour Board —all this reported in two issues! (24 November, 1 December 1875). Only two weeks after, with the election to begin only a few days later, Ivess declared his candidature after a Mr Maguire had declined. The issue where this was reported (18 December 1875) also contains a scathing editorial against Atkinson’s performance as

Colonial Treasurer, Maguire’s denunciation of Atkinson, and an address by Ivess to the electors of the Egmont District. The next editorial predicted a win for Atkinson but with a result ‘much closer than will be altogether pleasant’ for him (22 December 1875). The following issue devoted four columns to Atkinson’s meeting in Carlyle, but the terms in which it was reported, Atkinson’s comments ‘elicited strong expressions of doubt and incredulity’; his explanation ‘seemed however to be incomprehensible to his questioners’ surely left no doubt in the readers’ minds of the ‘correct’ way to vote (25 December 1875). The last issue to be published before the election was in the same vein, containing a vehemently anti-Atkinson editorial and reports of two of Ivess’s meetings.

Whether the final result of 225 votes for Atkinson against Ivess’s 73 (5 January 1876) was too close a result to be altogether pleasant for the sitting member we can not ascertain. His brother A. S. Atkinson certainly perceived no threat from ‘poor Mr Ivess, a literary hack now of Patea but formerly of the New Zealand Celt’. 21 Ivess wrote in the Patea Mail not long after nominations had closed that he had as much idea, till very recently, of contesting Egmont, as he had of contesting the Presidency of the United States of America (31 December 1875). The short intervals between Maguire rejecting the nomination, Ivess announcing his candidature, and the election suggest this to be the truth. What is interesting though is the manner in which Ivess used his newspaper to further his political interests once he had announced his intention to stand.

Immediately after the election Ivess was on the move again. He leased the Patea Mail to Alexander Black and travelled back to the South Island, to Akaroa. The first issue of the Akaroa Mail appeared on 21 July 1876. There is little mention of Ivess in its pages in any capacity other than as newspaperman, apart from an occasional notice concerning his racehorse Lord Byron. 22 Ivess next went to Ashburton where the Ashburton Mail began publication on 12 June 1877, the new proprietors of the Akaroa Mail taking charge on 20 July. The move to Ashburton was to signal the start of a period of relative stability for Ivess. He retained a direct interest in the Ashburton Guardian until 1880 when he leased it, satisfying his newspaper ‘planting 5 urges by starting the Temuka Leader in December 1877 at Temuka, about 60 kilometres south ‘purely as a commercial speculation’, 23 and by starting the Evening News in Ashburton to successfully support the Conservative candidate Edward George Wright for the Coleridge electorate. 24 His interest in politics was not, however, dormant, for he stood for the Mayoralty of Ashburton in December 1879, being defeated by Hugo Friedlander by seven votes. 25 It is during this period that we first note accusations of Ivess’s propensity for paying low wages:

Mr Sutherland has just returned . . . from Ashburton, where he has been engaged for the past week or two on the Mail, as he could not agree with the “long hour” proprietor, believing in the good old axiom: “A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.” 26

The year 1880 saw another burst of activity in ‘rag-planting 5 , at first in the North Island, in Taranaki where he resumed the proprietary of the Patea Mail to fight the threat of a new newspaper at nearby Hawera and established the short-lived Hawera Times, then closer to Ashburton with the Ellesmere Advertiser at Southbridge near Christchurch. The North Island was the next to be favoured with an Ivess newspaper (still in 1880), the Waikato Mail at Cambridge. A definite Ivess technique for establishing newspapers can be observed: first identify an up-and-coming town, visit it to canvass support, move in the plant and probably a faithful pressman and editor, produce a few issues, and then advertise the newspaper for sale or lease.

Ivess’s return to Patea, although probably coinciding with the end of Black’s lease of the Patea Mail, was hastened by the impending appearance of a newspaper in nearby Hawera. His attempts to stifle any opposition were graphically recounted by Patrick Galvin, one of the original proprietors of the threatening Hawera and Normanby Star. Ivess brought with him an English editor, Edward Houghton. He at first offered to buy out Galvin and his partner, then when no response was forthcoming asked how much Galvin might pay him not to enter the contest. Ivess persisted, first with Galvin and then with Galvin’s partner Innes in Wellington. However, Mrs Innes ‘had packed up her furniture, piano, etc., and was determined to come to Hawera’, and the battle was on. Ivess established a branch office of the Patea Mail in Hawera’s High Street and used that newspaper for extensive advertising for the Hawera Times, including its delivery by ‘mounted couriers’.

The paper came out for about three weeks, and the “mounted couriers” (a boy) rode from Patea to Hawera in the early hours of the morning and delivered the paper to all the old subscribers of the “Patea Mail”. 27 This move did not meet with much support and Ivess withdrew from the contest after two issues and sold the Patea Mail to Houghton. A more successful outcome for Ivess occurred in the case of the Ellesmere Advertiser where the proprietor of the rival title the Ellesmere Guardian purchased the ‘stock and plant’ of the Advertiser. A contemporary trade journal noted of this transaction

no one will doubt that “Joe” (Heaven bless him!) has made “another good thing” by one of his prematurely-born journals . . . No fear of him losing a penny in speculation. 28 The next year began for Ivess with the establishment of the Wairarapa

Star in Masterton. It was quickly sold and he announced his intention to start a daily newspaper in Wellington to support the Liberal interest, but was persuaded not to persevere. 29 He went back to Ashburton and set up as an auctioneer, 30 this move probably prompted by the impending national elections. To assist with his election campaign he took over in October 1881 the proprietary of the Ashburton Mail from Jacobson and Eyton, to whom he had leased it in 1880. Ivess was not successful in gaining the Wakanui seat against J. C. Wason, 31 but Wason’s election was declared void after a petition was presented, and Ivess was successful against Alfred Saunders in a by-election held on 16 June 1882. 32 His ambition to wield political power at the national level had been achieved. Exacdy what use he made of his proprietorship of the Ashburton Mail to achieve this success has not been determined by examining the newspaper, but a contemporary commentator had no doubt:

Possibly now the elections are over, and the Mail is no more useful as an electioneering paper, it may change hands, and possibly it may also change tactics, and give comps a better show for work. 33 The eighth Parliament was dissolved in June 1884 and in the elections held in August Ivess lost his Wakanui seat, its boundaries having been altered, to John Grigg. 34 Grigg, however, retired after the first session of the ninth Parliament and Ivess was again successful in a by-election in July 1885, this time defeating E. G. Wright whom he had supported through the Ashburton Evening News in 1879. 35 The ninth Parliament was dissolved in July 1887. Ivess’s career as a member of Parliament seems on the whole to have been undistinguished. His activities as an electoral representative appear to have been confined to writing letters attesting to the suitability of constituents for official positions or for naturalisation, and asking for more polling booths to be established in his electorate. 36 He spoke against the Telegrams Protection Bill, intended to protect Reuters telegrams, in his capacity as a newspaper proprietor, seeing it as unnecessary and monopolistic. 37 He achieved brief notoriety (to modern eyes if not to those of his contemporaries) by unsuccessfully moving that the vote for women be confined to women property holders rather than to all women. 38

Ivess still maintained close links with the newspaper world while a Member of the House of Representatives. In 1885 he leased the Ashburton Mail and probably sold his interest in it in the following year. In 1886 he took over the proprietary of the already well established Timaru Herald. A brief examination of this title during Ivess’s fourteen month lease suggests that he had little interest in using it as a means of furthering his political ambitions. He was in Melbourne in early 1887. 39 Relinquishing control of the Timaru Herald was immediately

followed by establishing a new daily, the Timaru Evening Mail , which he sold at the end of 1887. Meanwhile, he had in the middle of 1887 leased the Napier Evening News and Hawke’s Bay Advertiser , established two years earlier, to assist him in his campaign for the Napier electorate. In the elections held on 26 September 1887 Ivess was not successful against the sitting Member, the Hon. J. D. Ormond. 40 He departed from the Evening News at the end of 1888, bound for Australia.

Albury, New South Wales, was Ivess’s next arena. The Albury Evening Mail began publication on 9 March 1889, Ivess retaining proprietorship of it until December. He moved to Newcastle, New South Wales, to start the short-lived Evening Star , and by December was back in Albury to again take over the Albury Evening Mail until it was sold at the end of April 1891. Where Ivess was for the remainder of 1891 and 1892 has not been ascertained. By March 1893 he was firmly established back in New Zealand, this time in the Rangitikei township of Hunterville. The first issue of the Paraekaretu Express was published on 10 March 1893 to considerable local interest, the first copy printed being auctioned for sixpence at the request of bystanders. 41

Reading the Paraekaretu Express leaves little doubt that Ivess had the 1893 national election firmly in his sights. He can be observed in action, moving into a recently settled area, rapidly establishing himself, and angling for the nomination. Although the customary ‘Ourselves’ in the inaugural issue (10 March 1893) made no mention of Ivess’s political ambitions (indeed, quite the opposite —‘We enter the field as independent journalists —attached to no particular party or clique’), by the third number Ivess had established himself in the public eye as the spokesman for a deputation of local interests waiting on the visiting R. J. Seddon. On 14 April Ivess openly advertised himself by publishing a letter written to him by Seddon; also in that issue he noted that he would take part in a public debate. One month later the matter of Ivess’s availability for nomination was out in the open. In a letter to the editor one J. Johnston asked

Mr. Editor, it is commonly rumoured that you . . . wish the electors here to cut and dry the proprietor of the Express as a candidate for the coming contest. The result of the rumour here is anxiously watched. (16 May 1893) This was answered by a long letter in which Ivess stated as I am an old campaigner in the political field I have learnt wisdom . . . and consequently Mr. Johnston will have to be content to wait for the lapse of time to bring forth “the result of the rumour” that is being anxiously watched . . . (19 May 1893)

In the same number, Ivess in an editorial strongly accused the present incumbent of the Waitotara electorate, Mr George Hutchison, of

ineffectiveness, and, as if to redress the balance, a letter from ‘A Liberal’ was published which stated that

I hardly think that Mr. Ivess, who is but a short comer among us, will have the presumption to thrust his candidature for the Rangitikei seat on us. (19 May 1893) The pace now warmed up. Ivess was invited by 83 electors to address a public meeting in Ohingaiti, the invitation and Ivess’s aceptance being published (30 May 1893) and his speech reported (6 June 1893). This meeting moved that if Ivess wished to be the candidate, they would express a vote of confidence in him. In following issues references to Ivess in public, business, and private capacities proliferate; only the most significant are noted here. In the report of his address to another meeting (20 June 1893) Ivess expressed interest in becoming a candidate, but was still unsure of his support. He consented to a request by electors in Marton to address a meeting there (21 July 1893). References uncomplimentary to John Stevens, who had been announced as the official Rangitikei Liberal Association’s candidate on 27 June, begin to appear. But Ivess did not appear too eager to declare himself openly, perhaps wishing to be seen to be gathering a solid base of support:

Mr. Ivess, who claims to have a large and compact following in the Rangitikei district, has determined to feel his way among the more settled and populous centres before definitely announcing his candidature. (5 August 1893) There were two significant factors underlying the Liberal nomination. Rangitikei was a safe Liberal seat and whoever secured the nomination was sure to win the election. Voters outside Marton, the electorate’s main town, were apparently dissatisfied with the performance of Stevens, who was the Marton-based Rangitikei Liberal Association’s candidate, fearing that he would not represent their interests. Ivess held several meetings in Marton, at one of them appealing to the soon to be enfranchised women by advertising that ‘the gallery will be reserved for ladies and their escorts’ (8 September 1893). Another Marton meeting strongly attacked the Rangitikei Liberal Association:

The coterie of would-be usurpers of the political privileges of the people of this district attended Mr. Ivess’s meeting at Marton on Friday last, and they received, at his hands, one of the soundest whippings, in the presence of the public, that it was possible for a man to administer. (19 September 1893)

Mentions of Ivess flew thick and fast. One example is the reporting of the battle with the Marton Mercury, accused of an ‘attempt to control the political opinion of the people of this district’ by not reporting Ivess’s speeches (19 September 1893). His speeches and meetings were fully

reported and commented on, and the Rangitikei Liberal Association was constantly attacked. More local meetings were addressed by Ivess, but by October he had still not declared himself. The endorsement of Stevens by Seddon, the Premier, was characterised as an attack on Ivess: it would

offer up as a sacrifice that sterling and long-tried politician —Mr. Joseph Ivess . . . The man who stood loyally by the party with whom Mr. Seddon was associated . . . from 1880-1886 ... is now to be thrown aside. (17 October 1893) More meetings were reported, then on 31 October Ivess formally announced his candidature. This unsatisfactory state could not be allowed to continue. As both Stevens and Ivess appeared to have strong support the Liberal interests could not afford the possibility of the vote being split and so allowing the opposition candidate to win the seat. Stevens and Ivess met but neither party was willing to back down (11, 14 November 1893). A few days later Stevens stated his determination to stand and on 21 November Ivess bowed out.

During the past two or three months he had been buoyed up by hopes that he would have sufficient strength to enable him to go to the poll [but] the people were anxious to maintain the Liberal vote intact. He had no desire to wreck his party. (21 November 1893)

Stevens was successful with 2100 votes to his opponent’s 1924. The Liberal Party’s rejection of Ivess effectively shut him out of any further significant role in national politics. Although he did further attempt to become elected to the House of Representatives, he must have stood as an independent and was not successful. 42 In any case it is difficult to investigate Ivess’s use of his later newspapers to further his political ambitions as files of Ivess newspapers after the Paraekaretu Express are far from complete.

For the sake of completeness Ivess’s further ‘rag-planting’ activities need to be briefly documented. He headed north from Hunterville to Stratford in 1894, establishing the Egmont Post there and using it as the base for two more titles, the Eltham Guardian and the Hawera Morning Post. He sold his interests in this chain by August 1895 and next established the Pahiatua Argus, selling his interest in this title in January 1896. Ivess moved a little way south to the Horowhenua town of Manakau, where the first issue of the Levin and Mana/cau Express appeared on 4 April 1896. His next move was back to Ashburton to establish the Ashburton Standard in October 1896. This move may not be unrelated to the national elections to be held in December of that year, but as no issues of this title have been located the point must remain conjectural. The Ashburton Newspaper Company leased the Standard

from Ivess in January 1898, and in April Ivess appeared back in the North Island, this time as the lessee of the Hauraki Tribune at Paeroa and the Goldfields Advocate at nearby Karangahake. By October he was back in the South Island and was again attempting to implement a chain of newspapers, first establishing the Geraldine Advocate then using it as a base for the Temuka Times , the Fairlie Star, the Pleasant Point Mail and the Mackenzie County Chronicle. This chain was sold in September 1899. Ivess’s next venture was into the far south, Riverton in Southland. The first issue of the Riverton Times was published on 13 October 1899 but it was, together with its satellite titles the Orepuki Miner and the Otautau Mail, shortlived. Ivess spent some time in Australia at about this time. 43 He is next noted back in Ashburton, resuming control there of the Ashburton Standard for about a year before selling it. Again, his move may have been related to the national elections held in November 1902. A contemporary commentator noted

Mr Joseph Ivess (known amongst irreverent persons as “the rag-planter”) is now running the Ashburton Standard, a morning daily with which he was formerly associated and largely helped to “plant”, if, indeed he was not wholly responsible for the “planting”. His connection with Ashburton dates back some twenty years or more . . . returning home some twelve months or more . . . [he] discovered that a new generation had grown up in Ashburton, who knew not Joseph. He is making his presence felt there now though. 44

Ivess’s next move, to Taihape in the central North Island, was to be his last in the arena of newspaper ‘planting’. He established the Taihape and Mangaweka News in 1903, and was to retain his interest in it until at least 1908. He also established in 1907 the Waimarino and Ohakune Times at Ohakune. Of his time in Taihape it was reported In spite of living only two years in Taihape, he impressed residents strongly. Although known locally as “Joey Low Wages” he appears to have been highly respected. 45 He was in Ashburton in March 1905 in an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate the Ashburton Standard under a new title, the Ashburton Daily News. He may still have been in Taihape for the 1908 and 1911 national elections; Scholefield suggests that he stood in the Waimarino electorate in 1911. 46 Joseph Ivess died in Christchurch on 5 September 1919. 47

This study has not aimed at completeness. Some obvious sources have not been examined, the most evident being Ashburton newspapers for the period when Ivess stood for national elections. However, the evidence presented here is sufficient to confirm that Ivess’s primary

motivation in establishing a large number of newspapers was political ambition. Further examination will strengthen and refine this hypothesis but is unlikely to alter it.

Much has been brought to light about Joseph Ivess’s business practices as a newspaperman. Although this evidence calls for a fuller study in its own right, it is worth noting briefly the main practices. One major reservation must, however, be noted. Ivess was atypical of the genre of New Zealand country newspaper proprietor in the nineteenth century and so his practices may not apply more generally without some modification.

Perhaps the most interesting of Ivess’s practices was the concept of the chain of newspapers, where the same setting of type, or largely the same setting, was used for editions published in different towns. Ivess was not an innovator. This had been tried before by Joseph Mackay in the 1860 s and 1870 s based on the Bruce Herald at Milton 48 and by Alexander McMinn in the 1880 s based on the Manawatu Standard at Palmerston North. 49 Ivess first used the concept in Ashburton, the Temuka Leader in 1878 being a satellite title to the Ashburton Mail:

The Temuka Leader is dragging out a curious existence. It is found to be a reprint of the Ashburton Mail', in fact, the “matter” is “carted” backwards and forwards. 50 The next attempt in 1880 again involved only two newspapers, the Hawera Times being printed at the offices of the Patea Mail at Carlyle. In 1894 a chain was established in Taranaki at Stratford, where from the Egmont Post offices two more titles were issued. But the most ambitious attempt was that in 1898 when four titles were based on the flagship Geraldine Advocate. One further chain of three titles based at Riverton was established in 1899.

There are strong indications that Ivess had several reliable staff who travelled with him and whom he could leave in control of a newspaper during his frequent absences. Evidence for this is strongest in the case of Edward Reddin, whose name occurs in conjunction with the production side of the Ashburton Mail, the Patea Mail, and as acting manager of the Waikato Times. His connection with Ivess is simply explained, for he was the brother of Ivess’s wife and came to Reefton at the age of 14, where he was apprenticed to Joseph Ivess. In 1884 he went to Australia, where he spent the rest of his life as a newspaper proprietor. 51 Another was A. W. Hogg who was editor of the Ashburton Mail, joint proprietor with Ivess of the Evening News (Ashburton), and proprietor of the Wairarapa Star when Ivess sold it. For many of his newspapers Ivess hired editors, and some information about the duties he expected of them is given in the report of a triad in 1881, when Ivess was found guilty of wrongful dismissal of Douglas McTavish as editor of the Waikato Mail. 51

Ivess’s use of non-union labour and paying of low wages is well documented. He was known as ‘Joey Low-Wages’ at the end of his career in Taihape 53 but this trait can be noted much earlier. In 1878 Ivess was called the ‘long hour proprietor’, one who did not believe in ‘the good old axiom: “A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.” ,54 Much was made of the low wage issue during the 1887 Napier election when Ivess was lambasted by both workmen and employers for his defence of newspaper proprietors who payed low wages:

he is a veritable Ishmael of New Zealand journalism ... If the multiplication of small and struggling country sheets and poorly-equipped job offices be a boon, Mr Ivess is a benefactor . . . The man who establishes a business where a reasonable opening exists, takes a personal interest in the venture, charges fair prices, pays fair wages, and makes the concern remunerative, is a gain to the whole community. He, on the other hand, who engages in such unbusinesslike speculations as that of Timaru, and saddles his workmen with a share of the loss, not only does irreparable injury to his own trade, but indirectly to every other industry. 5

This same election campaign produced an anti-Ivess broadsheet in which his actions at the Timaru Herald were compared with the exemplary record of his opponent J. D. Ormond. The author, a workman on the Timaru Herald, described how they had been paid award rates before Ivess took over, but the news of his arrival caused most of the compositors to try to find work elsewhere, ‘well knowing Mr Ivess’s liking for cheap labor’. Ivess notified the compositors that he would have to dismiss some of them and replace them with boys. The outcome was that the compositors formed a cooperative to set the paper ready for the printer, for a fixed weekly sum regardless of hours worked. Ivess introduced boys anyway and trained them to replace the compositors, who were put on piece work. This also proved too expensive for Ivess, who reduced the piece work rate still further. The conclusion was that

with one exception, no man has done so much injury to our trade. Although Mr Ivess has started a number of papers in various parts of the colony, I do not know one of which he may feel proud. They are all very inferior papers, and he generally employs the cheapest labor —men who have half learnt their trade, and who could not hold their own among good men. 56

Another example comes from William Hearn Thomas, managing editor of the Geraldine Guardian when Ivess arrived to establish a rival newspaper, the Geraldine Advocate. Thomas noted that Ivess employed ‘a bevy of young girls at the type cases’ whose work needed close supervision. 57 One final example of Ivess’s practice confirms the importance of government advertising for the viability of the country newspaper. Correspondence preserved at National Archives shows that Ivess was

assiduous in asking for a share of government advertising for his new titles. 58 Success was mixed. Ivess’s new titles were sometimes awarded advertising for the region, for example, the Paraekaretu Express (20 March 1893) but on occasion they lost out to already established titles (as for the Egmont Post , 2 August 1 894, the Egmont Settler already carrying the advertising).

An interesting comparison can be made between Joseph Ivess and James Henry Claridge, another prolific ‘planter’ of New Zealand country newspapers. 59 Claridge was employed on several country newspapers until at the age of thirty-five he began his career of establishing a total of eleven newspapers. Unlike Ivess, Claridge stayed in one region, the central North Island, and did not return to a base area as Ivess did to Ashburton. His newspapers were small weeklies, bi- or tri-weeklies, never dailies. Claridge appears not to have been motivated by anything more than restlessness; there is no suggestion that political ambition was a reason. Much more awaits discovery about Ivess when this study is extended. A more thorough examination of Joseph Ivess’s activities, and particularly of his work practices and business activities, can be made from the secondary sources which this study has utilised only at a basic level.

APPENDIX IVESS’S NEWSPAPERS

The forty-four New Zealand newspapers listed here are those in which Joseph Ivess had an interest. This total can be broken down into more specific categories. For twenty-nine there is definite evidence that Ivess established that title as sole proprietor or, on two occasions, as part proprietor; for these, he may also have been legally registered as the printer and/or publisher. In three more cases he leased the newspaper from its proprietors to become the sole proprietor, usually for about a year. For a further seven titles it is likely that Ivess was the proprietor, but the evidence is less conclusive and is usually based on references in contemporary journals, especially printing trade journals. He was the joint printer and publisher of one title. He may have been associated with four more titles, but for these the evidence is unverifiable and in two instances the Ivess connection is so unlikely as to border on the fictional. If the definite/likely/unlikely distinctions are ignored the total, then, is forty-four titles in New Zealand, not too different from Scholefield’s original forty-five. The total of twenty-nine titles definitely established by Ivess is not too dissimilar from Scholefield’s revised estimate of twenty-six. Scholefield’s estimate of five Australian titles is more difficult to verify, as the state of historical and bibliographical studies of newspapers in Australia appears to be in a more parlous state than in New Zealand. Only two titles have been definitely associated with Ivess, but for only one of these have copies been located. It must be noted that these are conditional totals which are subject to revision as further evidence becomes available from a closer examination of the newspapers

themselves and from important secondary sources. It is useful here to briefly note these sources and the relative value of the evidence derived from them. In this study the veracity of data taken from the newspapers themselves is considered to be unquestioned, at least for bibliographical information presented in the colophons and in the newspaper texts. But for only seventeen of the thirty-two titles in which Ivess had a definite proprietary interest have any issues from the appropriate period been located. These are usually only a single issue or a mere handful of issues, and for only five do the existing issues form anywhere near a complete run. Other evidence used comes largely from two sources. The most fruitful source has been the registrations of newspapers legally required by the Printers and Newspapers Registration Acts of 1868 and 1908 and their amendments, the resulting affidavits and registers being held at High Courts throughout the country. They give the names of the proprietor(s), printer(s) and publisher(s) and the place of printing for each title registered. This source is unfortunately not complete, as affidavits were not deposited for all titles. For several of Ivess’s more shortlived creations I have not located affidavits or register entries; nor can the dates of registration be taken as anything more than an approximate guide to the date when the newspaper started publication or when its personnel changed. I have not yet located all of these registrations and so have not seen all of the registrations for known Ivess newspapers. There may also be more previously unidentified Ivess titles waiting to be noted. The other category of evidence comes from references in contemporary periodicals, most notably the printing trade journals. Such references vary from the very precise —for example, the Typographical Society reports which list the compositors working on a newspaper, or which detail Ivess’s transgressions of wage awards —to the more general which might note only that a newspaper had changed hands within the last five years. More precise details of holdings and location of extant issues can be found in D. R. Harvey’s Union List of Newspapers Preserved in Libraries, Newspaper Offices, Local Authority Offices and Museums in New Zealand (Wellington, 1987). Sources consulted are:

Colonial Printers Register (Dunedin). 1879 0 15(v.1. no.1)—1880 S 11 (v.l. n 0.13). Printing, Bookselling & their Allied Trades circa 1900: Extracts from the Cyclopaedia of New Zealand (Wellington, 1980). Griffin’s Colonial Printers Register (Dunedin). 1880 O 16 (n.s. v.2 no.1)—1881 D 12 (v. 3 no.l). List of Newspapers Placed on the Register at the General Post Office, Wellington (Wellington) 1886New Zealand Press News and Typographical Circular (Dunedin), 1876 Mr 1 (no. 1) S 1. Registrations of newspapers deposited at Supreme Courts under the provisions of the Printers and Newspapers Registration Act 1868 and subsequent Acts. They contain the following information: names(s) of proprietor, printer, publisher, and place of printing. G. H. Scholefield, Newspapers in New Zealand (Wellington, 1958). Selections from Typo: a New Zealand Typographical Journal (Wellington, 1982).

NEW ZEALAND NEWSPAPERS

A fuller account, prepared by Dr Harvey, citing all the detailed evidence on Ivess’s connections with the following newspapers is available from the editors on request.

akaroa mail and banks peninsula advertiser. Akaroa. 1876 J 1 21 (still being issued). 2w. Widely held. Ivess was proprietor and publisher from 1876 to 20 July 1877. ashburton daily news. Ashburton. 1903? —1905? d. Only one issue, dated 7 September 1903 has been located. Ivess appears to have re-established this title in February or March 1905 after an earlier attempt in 1903, perhaps by Henry Willis, had failed. It apparently did not last past the end of 1905.

ashburton mail. Ashburton. 1877 Je 12 Guardian. 2w, 3w 1878 Ja 5. Most issues are extant, although not all have been seen for the periods of Ivess’s interest. Ivess established this title on 12 June 1877. He leased it on 9 February 1880 to Howard Charles Jacobson and Robert Henry Eyton. Ivess resumed a proprietary interest on 3 October 1881. ashburton standard and farmers advocate. Ashburton. 1896 0? 3w, d by 1900. No holdings have been located. Ivess established the Ashburton Standard in October 1896 with J. J. B. Blakemore as printer and publisher. He leased the paper to the Ashburton Newspaper Company Limited in January 1898, but at some stage during 1900 returned to Ashburton and resumed control. It was sold in April 1901 to I. W. T. Baxter and W. H. Higgins.

egmont post. Stratford. 1894?—1903? 3w? No holdings have been located. Ivess established the Egmont Post in August 1894, and sold it in May 1895 to F. E. Mackenzie. ellesmere advertiser. Southbridge. 1880 Ag? located. This title was established by Ivess in early August 1880 and may have been leased almost immediately to G. Renner. eltham guardian. Stratford. 1894 Ag? —? ?No holdings have been located. The Eltham Guardian was established by Ivess in August 1894, probably shortly after the Egmont Post. It was sold in May 1895, with others in the chain, to F. E. Mackenzie.

evening news (ashburton). Ashburton. 1879 Ag 18— 1879 S? d? No holdings have been located. The Evening News was probably established only as an election newspaper to support Edward George Wright as Conservative candidate for the Coleridge electorate. It was published from the office of Ivess’s Ashburton Mail. evening news and hawke’s bay advertiser. Napier. 1885 Ja 4 scattered issues have been located. Ivess leased the already established Evening News in mid 1887 to assist him with his campaign for the Napier seat in the national elections of 26 September 1887, and relinquished his interest in the paper at the end of January 1888. evening star. Greymouth. 1866 Mr 18 1869-1873 have been located, but none for the years 1874-1876.

The evidence linking Ivess to the Evening Star is unclear. He appears to have become associated with this title in about 1873, perhaps initially as printer and later as proprietor or part proprietor. fairlie star. Geraldine. 1898 N—? 3w. No holdings have been located. This title was established by Ivess at Geraldine in November 1898. geraldine advocate. Geraldine. 1898 0? Ivess established this title in October 1898. It was sold by September 1899 to H. T. Rix and H. B. Stewart, who printed it at Temuka.

goldfields advocate. Paeroa. 1897 Fl 3 Ivess took over the Goldfields Advocate in May 1898 from H. T. Gibson and A. W. Ellis, who had established it in Karangahake in February 1897. He moved its production to Paeroa but by August 1898 had relinquished his interest to A. W. Ellis, who returned it to Karangahake. hauraki tribune. Paeroa. 1881? —1900? w, 3w by 1896 Mr 5. No issues from the Ivess period have been located. The Hauraki Tribune was established by C. F. Mitchell in about July 1881. Ivess is noted as the sole proprietor, publisher and printer in April 1898, and as the proprietor only (H. B. Stewart being the printer and publisher) in August 1898.

hawera morning post. Stratford. 1894 O 20—1900? 3w. None of the five issues located have been examined. The Hawera Morning Post was established by Ivess in October 1894, the first issue being on 20 October. He appears to have disposed of his interest before August 1896 when Patrick Galvin is noted as leasing this title from the Hawera Morning Post Newspaper Co. Ltd. hawera times. Patea. 1880 Ap 24? 1880 Ap? 3w. No issues have been located. Ivess established this title in opposition to the Hawera Star, probably to protect his interest in the Patea Mail. It did not prosper against its rival and ceased after only two issues.

inangahua herald. Reefton. 1872 F 3 My 9. Most issues are extant. The Inangahua Herald was established by Ivess in partnership with H. Thomson and C. Mirfin, the first issue being published on 3 February 1872. Ivess relinquished his share in late November or early December 1873. lantern. Hokitika. 1870 J 1 9 have been located. Ivess, with Tilbrook, was printer and publisher of the Lantern, but it is possible that they also had editorial control.

levin and manakau express. Levin. 1896 Ap 4 ? 2w. One issue, not seen, has been located. Ivess established the Levin and Manakau Express, the first issue appearing on 4 April 1896. In June 1896 it was sold to W. J. Reidy. LYELL ARGUS AND MATAKITAKI ADVERTISER. Lyell. 1873 F 21? —1882? W, 2w 1874 Ja 31? A few issues have been located.

Ivess established this title while a partner in the Inangahua Herald at nearby Reefton. He was the sole proprietor, using the production facilities of the Inangahua Herald for the early issues. He later purchased a plant and installed it at Lyell, then sold his interest to Niven and Johnson, leasing them the plant from 23 June 1873. Mackenzie county chronicle. Geraldine. 1898? Ivess established this title in late 1898 or early 1899. It was sold by September 1899 to H. T. Rix and H. B. Stewart who moved its printing to Temuka.

new Zealand celt. Hokitika. 1867 O 26 1868? w. A few scattered issues have been located. Scholefield suggests that Ivess was the first manager of the New Zealand Celt. No further evidence has been found to support his statement, and there is no mention of Ivess on the issues seen. orepuki miner. Riverton? 1899? —1899? 3w. No copies have been located. This title was one of three established by Ivess in 1899 and based at Riverton. otautau mail. Riverton? 1899? —1899? 3w. No copies have been located. This title was one of three established by Ivess in 1899 and based at Riverton.

pahiatua argus. Pahiatua. 1895 Ag 24—1896? 3w. The first three months have been located, but have not been examined. The Pahiatua Argus was established by Ivess in 1895, the first issue appearing on 24 August. Ivess was noted as the proprietor and John McKellop as the printer and publisher. Charles Cuming appears to have purchased the proprietary from Ivess in January 1896. Paraekaretu express. Hunterville. 1893 Mr 10 been located.

Ivess established this title in 1893, the first issue appearing on 10 March. It was sold to Albert Wilson and Frederick Unwin, their proprietary taking effect on 29 December 1893. patea MAIL. Carlyle. 1875 Ap 14-1889? 2w, 3w 1880 Ap 29?, d 1882 Ja 3,3 w 1882 Ap 24. Most issues have been located. Ivess established this title in 1875, the first issue being that of 14 April. It was managed in Ivess’s absences by Alexander Black, who took it over completely in March 1876. Ivess resumed the proprietary on 3 April 1880, bringing with him Edward Houghton, who purchased the paper, the change of ownership taking effect from 1 July 1880.

pleasant point mail. Geraldine. 1898? —1899? 3w? A fragment of one issue has been located. Ivess established this title in November 1898. It was sold by September 1899 to H. T. Rix and H. B. Stewart who moved its printing to Temuka. post. Ashburton. The only mention located of this title notes ‘Mr Joseph Ivess has started an evening paper at Ashburton, the Post. It made its first appearance on the 11th ult. [i.e. March], It is a creditable “sheet”.’ ( NZPN , no. 26, (April 1878), p. 5). This may refer to the Evening Echo, which began in Ashburton on 11 March 1878 and was renamed the

Ashburton Herald on 22 February 1879. There is no Supreme Court registration for a Post at Ashburton. press. Greymouth? 187-? ?w? No copies have been located. The only mention located of this weekly newspaper is that by Scholefield. riverton times. Riverton. 1899 013 This title was one of three established by Ivess in 1899 and based at Riverton. stratford post. Stratford. 1896? The only mention located is that in the Cyclopedia extracts, p. 35: ‘The Stratford Post was founded by Mr J. Ivess in 1896, and afterwards owned by Mr J. H. Clayton.’

taihape and mangaweka news. Taihape. 1903 022 Waimarino News 1905 F 7; Taihape Daily Times 1906?; Taihape Times 1930 Mr 3. 3 w, d 1906?, 3w 1930 Mr 3. Only one issue from the Ivess period has been located. Ivess established this title in 1903, the first issue appearing on 22 October. He retained his interest until at least February 1908, but how much longer after this date he continued to be associated with this title has not been ascertained. temuka leader. Temuka. 1877 D 1 published during Ivess’s proprietorship have been located. Ivess established this title, the first issue appearing on 1 December 1877. He sold it to J. J. Utting, the transfer being effected on 1 April 1878.

temuka times. Geraldine. 1898? Ivess established this title in October 1898. It was sold by September 1899 to H. T. Rix and H. B. Stewart who moved its printing to Temuka. timaru evening mail. Timaru. 1887 Je? —? d? No copies have been located. Ivess established this title in June 1887. He retained his interest in it for the remainder of that year, selling to H. E. Muir and T. Lawson. timaru herald. Timaru. 1864 Je 11—(still being issued), w, 2w 1866 Je 13, 3w 1871 D 13, d 1876? Widely held. Ivess took over the proprietary of the already long established Timaru Herald from 1 March 1886, F. Osborn being noted as printer. He disposed of it to E. G. Kerr on 2 May 1887.

tomahawk. Hokitika. 1870 Mr 5 sets have been located. Ivess, with Tilbrook, was a printer and publisher of the Tomahawk, but it is possible that they also had editorial control. waikato mail. Cambridge. 1880 SI located. Ivess established the Waikato Mail in 1880, the first issue being that of 1 September. It changed hands in January 1881, the new proprietor being C. O. Montrose. waimarino and ohakune times. Ohakune. 1907? —1948 Je 1. Title Ohakune Times 1909? w?, 3w ?, 2w by 1947. No issues published before 1911 have been located.

This title was established by Ivess, probably in August 1907. It may have been purchased in 1908 by Fryer and Jones. waimate star. No copies have been located. Ivess’s link with this title (if indeed it ever existed) is tenuous. Scholefield suggests that it is ‘a legend’ that Ivess established the Waimate Star as early as 1873. No other record of its existence has been located.

waipawa mail. Waipawa. 1878 S 14— 1980 N? 2w, 3w 1885 Ja 6. Most issues have been located, but have not been seen. The Waipawa Mail may have been established by Ivess in September 1878, but the evidence is unclear. wairarapa star. Masterton. 1881 Ap?— 1938 Mr 31. d. Title Wairarapa Age 1902 Ap 14. Only one issue from the Ivess period has been located. Ivess established this title in about April 1881, and shortly afterwards sold his interest in it to J. J. Smith and A. W. Hogg, who carried on the business from 23 May 1881.

waitara press. Waitara. 1883 F? —IBB4 N 4. 2w. Only the final issue has been located. Ivess’s connections with the Waitara Press are unproven. Scholefield noted that Ivess established it in 1873, but this date should be 1883, as the Supreme Court registration for this title is dated 17 February 1883 and notes that the proprietor, printer and publisher is Joseph Armit or Arnitt (the clerk’s hand is difficult to decipher). The title was sold in about March 1884 to E. D. Norris and W. J. Guerin, and its final issue was that of 4 November 1884.

westland independent. Hokitika. 1870? Evidence for Ivess’s involvement with the Westland Independent is scanty. Scholefield notes that it was established by Harris and Cobb, Edward Harris being proprietor of the Tomahawk which Ivess, with Mirfin, printed. Ivess is noted as part proprietor of the Westland Independent, but the retrospective nature of this reference ( NZPN) does not allow precise dating. It seems possible that Ivess and Mirfin may have purchased the Westland Independent so that they could ship its plant to Reefton to print the Inangahua Herald.

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS Scholefield’s estimate that Ivess established five newspapers in Australia, at Albury, Peak Hill, Parkes, Newcastle and Lismore, is difficult to verify. Only two specific Australian titles have been identified. Ivess was in Melbourne in about February 1887, as shown by a comment by him in the New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, v. 57, 31 May 1887, but no specific title relating to this visit has been identified. He was in Albury in 1889, establishing the Albury Evening Mail and Wodonga Chronicle , first issued on 9 March 1889. He was still noted as the proprietor on the issue for 18 December but by 20 December a new proprietor, Jas. A. Ross, was named. Another specific title, in Newcastle during 1890, can be identified. The Evening Star lasted only three months (R. C. Pognoski, ‘The History of Journalism and Printing in the North of New South Wales, Part IF, Royal Australian Historical Society Journal and Proceedings, 24, pt. 6 (1938) 426-427). No copies have been located. Ivess moved back to Albury to take control again of the Albury Evening Mail and Wodonga Chronicle from 10 December 1890. It ceased on 30 April 1891.

REFERENCES 1 Dictionary ofNew Zealand Biography, edited by G. H. Scholefield (Wellington, 1940). v. 1 p. 430. 2 G. H. Scholefield, ‘Joe Ivess: rag-planter’, New Zealand Listener, 25 February 1944, 6-7. Scholefield noted here that Ivess also ‘controlled or bought another seven or eight in New Zealand and stood in as godmother at the birth of several more.’ 3 The appendix lists the titles and gives bibliographical information about each title. 4 Scholefield, 1944. 5 One example is his editorial in the first issue of the Paraekaretu Express, 10 March 1893. 6 Ivess’s newspapers always encouraged the exercise of democratic rights through voting. Ivess always reminded his readers to enrol on electoral rolls, usually noting that registration papers were available at the newspaper office. This was the case even when Ivess himself was not standing; for example, from the Akaroa Mail, 27 March 1877: ‘We again beg to remind non-electors that this is the last week they can effect registration. Persons desirous of having their names inserted on the Electoral Roll can obtain the necessary form at our office, free of charge, and all information as to the correct filling up of same will be provided.’ 7 Scholefield, 1944. 8 The Political Role of the Early New Zealand Press (Hamilton, 1981), p. 1. 9 Susan Cary, quoted in Rod Kirkpatrick, Sworn to no Master: a History of the Provincial Press in Queensland to 1930 (Toowoomba: 1984), p. 272.

10 Simon Jenkins, Newspapers: the Power and the Money (London, 1979), p. 18. 11 Mainly from the Ivess entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (1940) and from Darrell Latham’s The Golden Reefs (Christchurch, 1984), p 384-86. See also the tributes of Massey and Ward on Ivess’s death in New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, v. 184, 11 September 1919. 12 Latham, facing p. 145. 13 Obituary, Taihape Daily Times, 5 September 1919, p. 5, col. 5. 14 W. K. Howitt, Joseph Ivess’, New Zealand Listener, 29 September 1950. 15 In 1867 as many as twenty-six per cent were Irish-born, compared with less than thirteen per cent for New Zealand as a whole, according to P. R. May, The West Coast Gold Rushes, 2nd (rev.) ed. (Christchurch, 1967), p. 273. 16 G. H. Scholefield, Newspapers in New Zealand (Wellington, 1958), pp. 245-46. 17 See Ivess’s leader in the Paraekaretu Express, 11 August 1893. 18 Papers relating to the establishment of the Inangahua Herald, 1871-1872, at the West Coast Historical Museum, Hokitika. I am indebted to the Director of the Museum, Lynda Wallace, for bringing these to my attention and for supplying copies. 19 New Zealand Government Gazette (Province of Nelson), 22, no. 7 (14 February 1873), p. 19. 20 Latham, p. 233. 21 A. S. Atkinson to Emily E. Atkinson, Nelson, 15 January 1876, in The RichmondAtkinson Papers, edited by G. H. Scholefield (Wellington, 1960).

22 Lord Byron was scratched from a race meeting at Christmas 1876 ( Akaroa Mail, 29 December 1876, p. 2, col. 4.) 23 Supplement to the New Zealand Press News, 1 January 1878, p. 1. 24 J. O. Wilson, New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840-1984 (Wellington, 1984), p. 287. 25 Joe Brown, Ashburton, New Zealand: its Pioneers and its History, 1883-1939 (Dunedin, 1940), p. 663. 26 New Zealand Press News and Typographical Circular, no. 25, (March 1878), p. 2. 27 Hawera Star, jubilee number, 10 April 1930, Section 2, p. 3. 28 Colonial Printers Register, 1, no. 13 (11 September 1880), p. 206. 29 Griffin’s Colonial Printers Register, March 1881, pp. 89, 108-109. 30 Griffin’s Colonial Printers Register, July 1881, p. 153. 31 New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, v. 184, 11 September 1919. 32 Obituary of Ivess, unsourced but possibly the Wairarapa Daily Times, in the Alexander W. Hogg Scrapbooks, v. 5, p. 83. ATL 33 Grifin’s Colonial Printers Register, December 1881, p. 2-3. 34 Scholefield, 1944, p. 6; Alexander Turnbull Library MS Papers 446: Rolleston Family papers, folder 48, copy of telegram from Ivess to William Rolleston dated 8 June 1884. 35 Who’s Who in New Zealand (Wellington, 1908), Ivess entry. 36 Internal Affairs papers, National Archives of New Zealand. 37 New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, v. 42, 29 June 1882, pp. 106-107. 38 Raewyn Dalziel, Julius Vogel: Business Politician (Auckland, 1986), p. 269. 39 Ivess’s comments in New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, v. 57, 31 May 1887. 40 J. O. Wilson, p. 207. Years after the event Ivess reported that his vote was 950

against Ormond’s 1000 ( Paraekaretu Express, 3 November 1893, p. 2, col. 4-5). 41 Paraekaretu Express, 13 March 1893, p. 2, col. 3. 42 Scholefield, 1944, p. 6, notes at least two later attempts, one in 1908, and one for the Waimarino electorate in 1911. 43 Free Lance, 4 August 1900, p. 4, col. 3. 44 New Zealand Mail, 4 August 1900, p. 4, col. 3. 45 Taihape Times, 16 May 1956, p. 2.

46 Scholefield, 1944. 47 New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, v. 184, 11 September 1919. 48 Scholefield, 1958, p. 190, 192. 49 Nicola Frean, ‘Journalist of Repute’, Turnbull Library Record , 18 (October 1985), pp. 89-90. 50 New Zealand Press News and Typographical Circular , no. 24, (February 1878), p. 2. 51 James Manion, Paper Power in North Queensland (Townsville, 1982), pp. 235-36. 52 Waikato Times, 17 March 1881, p. 2, col. 7-8„ 53 Taihape Times, 16 May 1956, p. 2. 54 New Zealand Press News and Typographical Circular, no. 25 (March 1878), p. 2. 55 Typo, 27 August 1887, in Selections from Typo, (Wellington, 1982). 56 The Wages Question: Who is the Good Employer? (Napier, 1887). 57 William Hearn Thomas, The Inky Way (Auckland, 1960) pp. 45-46. 58 For example, Patea & Hawera Mail, 31 March 1875; Waikato Mail, 16 September 1880; Wairarapa Star, 27 May 1881; Timaru Evening Mail, 28 June 1887. These examples come from the nominal indexes to the Internal Affairs files, 1867-1906, most of the original letters having been destroyed. 59 This paragraph is derived from several sources: his son C. J. Claridge’s manuscript autobiography “Paperchase” (Auckland Institute and Museum Library, MS6B7); C. J. Claridge’s J. H. Claridge and his Country Newspapers’, Historical Journal Auckland-Waikato, no. 26 (1975), 7-10; Scholefield, 1958; and Stella Jones’s‘More Claridge Newspapers’, Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal, no. 36 (April 1980), 24-27.