tps.org.au

Here is a query.

Basset Hull's book states that when Sir George Arthur introduced the duty on
newspapers in 1827, the only newspapers then current were the Gazette and
the Colonial Times.

Is there any record of other newspapers being published before the end of 1829?
Any such newspaper would also have been subject to this duty so that examples
of such newspapers should exist with the impressed stamp. Obviously, stamps
are expected to be found in orange since the black version was quickly replaced
after its brief introduction in October 1827.

Responses from other readers of this BB are welcome.

On checking some old emails, I found a scan of The Hobart Town Courier
dated Saturday, March 1, 1828. It bears an impression of the impressed
stamp. It was orange originally but has oxidised to black.

This newspaper is different from the two titles I quoted previously from
Basset Hull. It is still a Hobart publication so it is worth looking for any
evidence of publications elsewhere, perhaps Launceston or Burnie.

Ref: Miller, E. Morris, Pressmen and Governors: Australian Editors and Writers in Early Tasmania, Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1973, pp. 177-178.
Those published during the years 1827-1829 carry Tas Revenue Stamps

Town/ Newspaper/ Date(s)/ Publisher
Hobart/ Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser/ 1825-1856/ Andrew Bent & Henry Melville
Hobart/ Hobart Town Gazette/ 1827-/ official
Hobart/ Tasmanian/ 1827-1828/ J. T. Gellibrand & J. C. MacDougall
Hobart/ The Hobart Town Courier/ 1827-1859/ James Ross
Hobart/ Tasmanian and Austral-Asiatic Review/ 1829-1845/ J. C. MacDougall & R. L. Murray
Launceston/ Launceston Advertiser/ 1829-1846/ R. Wales & J. P. Fawkner

This is a very valuable contribution from David.

It would be nice to know if examples of all of the newspapers
listed by David have been seen with the Newspaper Duty. We
now have seven different newspapers to check.

Bill