About The Tarrangower Times

The Tarrangower Times

The Tarrangower Times is a historic newspaper serving Maldon and its surrounding districts in central Victoria — established in March 1858, during the gold rush, and one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in Australia. The Mount Alexander Shire Council's business directory describes it as a historic newspaper serving the Maldon community since 1858, and a vital source of local news, events, and community happenings for the district. It is listed at 55 Lyons Street, Newstead.

Overview

The Tarrangower Times is the paper of Maldon — Australia's first "notable town," declared by the National Trust of Victoria in 1966 for its gold-rush streetscape, largely unchanged since the 1850s. Maldon is the town of the Beehive Chimney, Mount Tarrangower and its fire tower, the Easter Fair, the Maldon Folk Festival (held annually since 1974), and the vintage machinery museum. The Times is its weekly record — the paper that has chronicled the town for well over 150 years, providing, in the Maldon Museum's words, "the glue for the social cohesion of the district."

History

Within approximately five years after the discovery of gold at Maldon in late 1853, the Tarrangower Times made its appearance hot off the press in March 1858. It began printing on 6 March 1858, as a single-sheet broadsheet edition by Messrs Ralston & Wright, with a cover price of 6d. As the economic climate changed, so did the cover price — fluctuating from 6d to 2d and back up to 4d, making the paper more accessible to the buying public.

At the time, the central Victorian goldfields were abundant with gold diggers and new residents to Australia, and the Times saw its duty to keep the residents informed on a wide variety of topics: local business advertisements, local events and news, national happenings of importance, new gold rushes, and news from the homeland.

Over the years the Times has changed owners, mastheads, shape, size, homes, printing methods, and opposition newspapers, as well as surviving fire and flood to serve the community. Its title variations — recorded in the National Library's catalogue — trace the district's press history: The Tarrangower Times and Maldon District Advertiser (1858–1862), The Tarrangower Times and Maldon and Newstead Advertiser (1862–1873, a semiweekly), The Tarrangower Times and Maldon, Newstead, Baringhup, Laanecoorie and Muckleford Advertiser (1873–1894), and The Tarrangower Times and Maldon Advertiser (1894–1951, published by J. Gaynor).

The paper's circulation area historically reached from Inglewood in the north to Daylesford in the south, including Eddington and Moolort to the west and Big Hill and Taradale to the east — the central goldfields district. The 1879–1880 indexes of the paper — compiled by Lesley Burgoyne and Carolyn Woolman — access a wealth of information: people's names, businesses, mining and agricultural ventures, local government, roads, coach services, the telegraph, schools, churches, hotels, sporting organisations, and entertainments.

Since mid-2022, full access to the editions from 1858 to February 1910 has been available via Trove's online newspaper collection — the gold-rush record digitised for researchers.

Maldon's own history is the Times' history: the gold discovery of late 1853, the rush years, the town's preservation as the National Trust's first notable town in 1966, its reinvention as an artists' retreat and tourist destination — the town that attracted the filming of Romulus, My Father (2007), the birthplace of Australian cricket captain Bill Woodfull (born in Maldon on 27 August 1897), and the home of the Maldon Museum & Archives Association in the former Maldon Shire Hall.

The 1879–1880 index of the paper opens a window onto the goldfields town at its industrial peak: the Union Company's use of the diamond rock borer, the compressed-air winch, and electric blast ignition — the technologies that revolutionised gold mining — and the political career of James Service, Maldon's local member for the Victorian Legislative Assembly, whose stance on constitutional reform and tariffs led the opposition to a landmark victory and a new era in Victorian politics. The Times was there for it all: the mining, the politics, the community — the complete record of a goldfields town.

Content

The Tarrangower Times covers local news, sports, community events, and historical articles reflecting the rich history of the region. Its journalism spans:

• Maldon news: the town's local stories, the Mount Alexander Shire news, and the community life of the notable town.
• Heritage: the gold-rush history, the historic precinct, the museum, and the town's custodianship of its 1850s streetscape — the National Trust's first notable town, preserved in the paper's pages as in its buildings.
• Events: the Easter Fair (billy-cart racing, dancing in the street, the Great Aussie Scone Bake), the Maldon Folk Festival, the Winter Fair, and the Art Show.
• District: Newstead, Baringhup, and the surrounding districts — the towns of the paper's historic circulation area, from Inglewood in the north to Daylesford in the south, the central goldfields country the Times has covered since the 1870s.
• Sport: the Maldon football team in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League, the golf club, and community sport.

Coverage & Audience

The Tarrangower Times is a newspaper serving Maldon and its surrounding districts in the Mount Alexander Shire, published in English, in print and online. The paper's Thursday rhythm — like its Victorian country contemporaries — is the weekly heartbeat of the notable town: the record of the week in the town the gold rush built. Its audience is the residents of the Maldon district — the townspeople of the notable town, the artists and writers of the retreat community, the tourists and tree-changers, and the district's rural communities — who rely on the paper for the local news, events, and community happenings that sustain the district's social cohesion. Maldon today is a town sustained by its appeal as a retreat and retirement venue for artists and writers, as well as the tourist trade — and the Times is the thread that connects the newcomers to the town's 1850s soul.

For Maldon, the Times remains what it has been since 1858: the notable town's own paper — one of Australia's oldest continuously published newspapers, the weekly glue of the district's social cohesion, from the gold rush to the folk festival, still publishing for Maldon, still the voice of the people it has served for more than a century and a half, still the local rag in the best sense.

Ownership

The Tarrangower Times is listed in the Mount Alexander Shire Council's business directory at 55 Lyons Street, Newstead, Vic 3462 — the paper's base in the neighbouring town. The paper's modern proprietorship continues the long line of owners since Ralston & Wright's 1858 founding, through J. Gaynor's 1894–1951 proprietorship, to the present day.

Digital Presence

The Tarrangower Times operates online at tarrangowertimes.com.au — the paper's attributed domain. Its historic editions (1858–1910) are fully accessible via Trove's online newspaper collection, and the Maldon Museum & Archives Association maintains the paper's history through its heritage booklet and newspaper indexes — the 2022 booklet tracing the paper from Ralston & Wright's single-sheet broadsheet to the present day.

For Maldon, the Times remains what it has been since 1858: the notable town's own paper — one of Australia's oldest continuously published newspapers, the weekly glue of the district's social cohesion, from the gold rush to the folk festival, still publishing for Maldon.