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An independent voice Newspaper publishing came to Gunnedah in 1876 when Joseph Higgins established the Namoi Independent. The newspaper was first published at a time when Gunnedah was a “straggling little township,” of about 500 people. It was three years before the North West railhead reached the town and nine years before the town had its own local administration, with the formation of the Gunnedah Municipal Council in 1885. The first editor of the newspaper was Thomas Roberts, who had resigned from a similar position on the Kiama paper to move to the North West. Roberts had been born in Liverpool (UK), arriving in Australia with his family as a 10-year-old. He entered the newspaper industry as a junior with the Freeman’s Journal, later working on the sporting publication Bell’s Life and then on newspapers in Maitland, Bombala and Kiama. Producing a newspaper in those times was a laborious task – editor and compositors had to hand-pick each letter from typecases to produce columns of type, often working long into the night to bring the paper out on time. And when the paper had been printed on a hand-operated press, the type had to be returned to its cases, ready for selection for the next edition. Roberts was an energetic figure in the life of Gunnedah. He was the driving force in the establishment of the town band – and the first bandmaster – and for several months acted as the first clerk of the Gunnedah Municipal Council when it was formed in 1885. A prominent musician and entrepreneur, he brought well-known music hall artists to Gunnedah, among them Marie Narelle, a French singer, Blanche Arrall, Jessie McLachlan, John Lemmone and a group of Russian violinists. Roberts obviously thought that Gunnedah had a future and five years after his arrival in the town, he resigned from the Namoi Independent and started publishing his own paper, The Gunnedah Advertiser. He was a staunch supporter of many community causes, particularly the establishment of the School of Arts. Roberts remained in Gunnedah until 1911, when he left the running of the paper in the hands of his stepson, Bill LeCussan. He died at Tempe in Sydney in 1924, aged 84.
John Longmuir was born in the village of Cambus Lang, near Glasgow, and arrived in Rockhampton (Qld) in 1889 as a 26-year-old. He was a stockman, rouseabout and shearers’ cook, commercial traveller, clerk, part-time journalist and gold miner in a colourful, adventurous life before he became editor of a weekly publication, The Tribune, a competitor of The Sydney Bulletin. The paper brought him into close contact with the writers, poets, balladists, politicians and suffragettes of the day, and among his friends was the poet Henry Lawson. In 1905 he had the offer of buying the Namoi Independent for 300 pounds or the Manly Daily for 500 pounds. He chose the Independent and immediately settled into a round of council meetings, court reporting, public meetings and coverage of other bread-and-butter issues in the life of the town. He threw himself into a busy round of community activities – secretary and President of the School of Arts and President of the Tennis Club, director of Gunnedah District Hospital and promoter and organiser on patriotic fund-raising committees during World War 1. For the first 14 years, the Namoi Independent and the Gunnedah Advertiser were rivals for circulation and advertising but in 1919 the Longmuir and LeCussan families took the logical course of action and merged their papers to form the Gunnedah Independent Advertiser. John Longmuir was editor of the newspaper and William LeCussan the manager and their partnership spanned almost 30 years until John Longmuir’s death in 1947. In the meantime the reins of the organisation had been taken over by the proprietors’ sons, John Longmuir junior and Stan LeCussan. John Longmuir was a newspaperman cast in the same mould as his father and, if anything, he was even more active in community life. Stan LeCussan assumed responsibility for the commercial printing aspect of the business and was also prominently involved in the community. The Independent Advertiser had a brief challenger in 1947, just when John Longmuir and Stan LeCussan were taking over from their ageing fathers. It was a short-lived venture and the newspaper was reportedly selling only 100 copies per issue when fire tore through the Royal Hotel that year. A new plant was then installed in Boggabri with the Boggabri Examiner operating under the name of The Namoi Herald. The Independent Advertiser had been continually upgrading its newspaper and commercial printing plant over the years with both “arms” expanding steadily through the l950s, a period of quite spectacular growth for Gunnedah. When it became obvious that both enterprises needed more room, the partners decided to form separate companies, with Stan LeCussan establishing Provincial Printery in new premises in Chandos Street in 1958. Stan LeCussan continued operating Provincial Printery until 1976, when he sold out to Bob and Sandra Donoghue. The Gunnedah Publishing Company was established as the newspaper arm of the former partnership and in 1961 the company also purchased the Boggabri newspaper. John Longmuir remained a lively newspaperman and vigorous promoter of Gunnedah and in the early 1970s, along with Moree newspaperman Harry Sullivan, he was also instrumental in the establishment of North West Magazine – a weekly common feature in newspapers in the region. In 1970 the Independent broke new ground by installing three units of Goss Community press and ancillary equipment, swinging over from hot metal to cold-type production. It was the second country newspaper, after the Moree Champion, to embrace this new technology.
Although Mr. Longmuir was no longer responsible for editorial direction, he continued writing, in great volume, for both the Namoi Valley Independent and North West Magazine until his sudden death in June 1979 at the age of 64. John Longmuir was known as a newspaperman of the highest integrity and a man of enormous energy, a trait which he carried over into community life. He had long periods of service with Rotary, the Show Society, High School P. and C., Technical College Advisory Committee, Chamber of Commerce, Namoi Building Society and many sporting organisations. There was hardly an organisation that did not benefit from his energy and promotional drive. He served three terms on Gunnedah Municipal Council and was Deputy Mayor for five years. His involvement extended to sport, as he held executive positions in rugby league and cricket at local and regional level, and was one of the founders of the Junior Cricket Association and foundation President of Gunnedah Junior League. In recognition of his efforts, the John Longmuir Playing Fields were named after him. Brian Gregson came to Gunnedah in 1953 and joined the Independent in 1958. A close friend of John Longmuir, he also threw himself into community involvement, with Apex and Rotary, the Gunnedah and District Servicemen’s Club, of which he has been President since 1987, TAFE, Chamber of Commerce, Lyle-Griffiths Gymnastics Centre and Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal. He was an executive member of the NSW Country Press Association for more than 20 years, Deputy President for five years and President from 1988 to 1990. Brian Gregson became General Manager of the Gunnedah Publishing Company in 1974 and Managing Director in 1979 on John Longmuir’s death. He remained at the helm until his retirement in 1995, when Bev Morgan was appointed Manager. In 1979 Ron McLean became Editor of the Independent, at the same time assuming editorial responsibility for North West Magazine, holding the dual positions until 1982. He remained Editor of the Independent until August 1998, when he moved to Ulverstone on the North West coastline of Tasmania to establish a weekly newspaper, The Ulverstone Post. The venture failed, however, and he returned to Gunnedah as Editor of the Independent in late February 1999. In 2001, a 96-year Longmuir family association with the newspaper ended when the company was sold to a new partnership, comprising former local journalist Ken McKenzie, who had spent many years in the publishing industry in Hong Kong, and long-serving employees Keith Millerd, Terry Maroney, Rodney Coe and Peter Koch. |
The Way We Were
A new player in the newspaper industry emerged in Gunnedah in 1905 when the original publication, the Namoi Independent, was purchased by Scottish-born John Longmuir.
Mr. Longmuir began scaling down his activities in the 1970s with Brian Gregson becoming Manager in 1974 and Scottish-born Murray McCracken assuming the duties of Editor at about the same time.