Gloucester Advocate

The Gloucester Advocate newspaper was founded by Frank Townshend who released the first issue 8 July 1905.¹ In 1906, Townshend sold the newspaper to J A McKenzie who placed it under the management and editorship of Edward Rye.² Within a year Rye owned the newspaper.³

Rye was born in London and moved to Wingham where he had a successful saddlery business. He sold the business to take up journalism and spent several probationary years with Mr Boyce before establishing the Wingham Chronicle in 1879. He left journalism to work in the dairy industry but later returned and eventually moved to Gloucester.⁴ Rye remained proprietor of the Gloucester Advocate until his death in 1924, but had passed on the management and editorship to his son Leslie in 1914 and son Douglas in 1919 on his return from World War 1.⁵

The Gloucester Advocate has occupied several premises. The first was in Church Street where the Star Theatre was (81 Church Street). It then moved to Barrington Street before it was ‘snigged’ into its new site as a Church of England hall in 1948.⁶ In 1945, Leslie and Douglas Rye bought 29 Denison Street and by August 1948 the Advocate was operating out of the new building.⁷

The Rye family managed the newspaper for 57 years, until they sold to the Manning River Times Pty Ltd in June 1964.⁸ Peter Hazell became the managing editor of the newspaper and retired in 2004. Around 2006 the Gloucester Advocate moved to its current premises at 21 Denison Street.⁹ 29 Denison Street is now a garden shop, but keep an eye out for the old fireplace and molten shoe prints in the wooden floor.¹⁰

Author: Janine Roberts

Photos of the fireplace where the lead for the linotype machine was melted and the place where one of the machines stood on a concrete pad – note footsteps and molten lead damage. Photos taken February 2019, J Roberts.