The Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser

The Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser (sometimes titled the Royal Gazette) was Newfoundland's first newspaper. It was published by John D. Ryan (1761-1847), a United Empire Loyalist born in Rhode Island who left New York in 1783 to settle in New Brunswick. There he helped establish the first Saint John-area newspaper. In 1799 Ryan was named King's Printer, and held that position until his move to Newfoundland in 1806. In 1807 Ryan was given permission by Governor Erasmus Gower to establish a press in St. John's, and by late August 1807 had printed the first issue of the Royal Gazette.

A public notice from John Ryan and Son, dated August 27, 1807 and appearing in the September 17, 1807 issue, stated that the newspaper would "be continued once a week," with day of publication "Thursdays, precisely at Eight o'Clock in the Morning." Subscriptions cost one Guinea per annum, and, "to evince the uprightness and integrity of our intentions," no subscriber would be asked to pay in advance. After three months, Ryan asserted, "we make no doubt, every Lady and Gentleman, whose Name graces our list, will readily pay the quarter on demand."

Early issues contained extensive reprints from the foreign press, a very small amount of local news, shipping news, reports of associations such as the Benevolent Irish Society, very long rambling letters from readers (invariably unsigned), legal and official notices, and advertisements of all types, including ones seeking to apprehend deserting seamen and indentured servants. As other newspapers began publication in the Colony, the Gazette published extracts from their columns as well as letters from government officials disputing statements in other papers. After the establishment of the Legislature and the Supreme and Circuit Courts, the proceedings of these bodies were included. In the last half of the nineteenth century, the Gazette had its own London correspondent. Because the Gazette was a semi-official publication, it was expected to maintain an impartial editorial policy and the other papers were quick to criticize the slightest digression from the straight and narrow.

By 1924, when the Royal Gazette became the Newfoundland Gazette, everything except government notices had disappeared from the paper. The basic format and contents have remained unchanged since that time.

This newspaper's description was sourced from Suzanne Ellison's Historical Directory of Newfoundland and Labrador Newspapers.
Information about John D. Ryan was sourced from the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol.4.