Times And General Commercial Gazette

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The Times and General Commercial Gazette printed foreign and domestic news, shipping news, public notices, legislative proceedings, the "meteorological register", correspondence, poetry, Newfoundland history and advertisements. In its early years, the Times, though in Protestant hands, was not highly sectarian. Basically Conservative and a supporter of the merchant classes, it remained comparatively neutral politically. In the 1830's, much editorial space was devoted to disagreement with the Patriot, often on trivial matters. James Seaton, formerly of the Morning Courier, was editor for a short time in 1849, but was let go because "sincere though he doubtless be in opinions to which he has given utterances ... they are not precisely our own" (July 4, 1849). The Times often expressed its opposition to poor relief and took a neutral stand on Confederation in 1869.

In 1885, the Times became very outspoken on political matters, wholeheartedly supporting Whiteway and attacking the Reform Party and the Thorburn administration. It also became more sectarian and claimed to be "the only recognized organ of the Church of England people" (Nov. 6, 1888). After 1890, the Times again took a less political stance and apparently ceased publication in March 1895.

This newspaper's description was sourced from Suzanne Ellison's Historical Directory of Newfoundland and Labrador Newspapers.

Information:
Place of publication: St. John's.
Earliest issue located: Aug. 29, 1832 (v. 1, no. 3).
Last issue located: Mar. 23, 1895.
Suspended publication: June 9-16, 1846; July 9-Aug. 31, 1892.

Frequency:
Weekly, Aug. 29, 1832-Dec. 25, 1844.
Semiweekly, Jan. 1, 1845-June 6?, 1846.
Weekly, Aug. 19-Oct. 17, 1846.
Semiweekly, Oct. 24?, 1846-Mar. 23, 1895.

Proprietor, publisher and editor:
John Williams M'Coubrey, Aug. 29, 1832-Oct. 13?, 1879.
John Williams M'Coubrey (Jr.), Oct. 15?, 1879-Mar. 23, 1895.

Editor:
John Williams M'Coubrey, Aug. 29, 1832-Dec. 30, 1848; July 9, 1849-Oct. 11, 1879.
James Seaton, Jan. 3-June 30, 1849.

Errata Not Published:
1835 Feb 4, Aug 19, Oct 21,
1836 Jan 27
1837 May 17, Sep 20
1840 Jul 29, Dec 30
1842 Dec 14
1864 May 28
1868 July 1
1876 Jan 1
1877 Apr 11 , 14
1878 Oct 19, Nov 20, Dec 28
1879 Oct 15
1880 Aug 7
1881 Oct 26
1882 Apr 8, Jul 22
1883 Jan 3, Feb 14, Mar 17
1884 Apr 12, Apr 16, May 7, Aug 9
1884 Jan 8, Apr 16, Jul 23, Oct 8, 29, Nov 5, 12
1885 Apr 14, Aug 8, 15, 26
1886 Mar 17, Apr 24, Oct 16
1887 Apr 9, May 25, Aug 13
1891 Jun 13, Aug 15, Dec 26
1892 Jan 2, Feb 20, 24, 27, Mar 19, Apr 16, May 14, Jul 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, Aug 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31, Oct 29
1893 Aug 12
1894 Dec 26
1895 Jan 2, Mar 20

Notes:
1839 Jul 24 only two pages
1843 Jun 12 page 1 missing
1846 Jun 10, 13, 20 - Jul 4, 8 missing
1846 Jun 27, July 11, 18, 25 only two pages
1846-1847 changes between weekly to bi-weekly all through these dates
1847 Jan 23, May 1 only two pages
1849 Jan 24 missing
1862 Aug 9 only 2 pages
1870 Feb 26 only 1 page
1880 Oct 9, only 3 pages
1881 Apr 2, missing
1882 Mar 25, missing
1883 Jan 6, 14, Mar 17, Apr 4, 7, Aug 1, 18, Oct 17, missing
1884 Feb 4, Jul 15, 18, 25, Sep 9, 19, Nov 14, Dec9, 16, 26 missing
1895 Feb 20, missing

Issues by Month

1832:
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1833: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1834: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1835: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1836: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1837: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1838: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1839: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1840: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1841: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1842: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1843: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1844: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1845: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1846: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1847: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1848: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1849: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1850: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1851: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1852: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1853: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1854: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1855: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1856: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1857: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1858: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1859: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1860: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1861: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1862: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1863: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1864: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1865: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1866: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1867: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1868: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1869: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1870: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1871: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1872: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1873: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1874: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1875: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1876: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1877: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1878: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1879: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1880: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1881: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1882: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1883: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1884: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1885: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1886: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1887: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1888: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1889: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1890: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1891: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1892: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1893: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1894: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1895: Jan Feb Mar

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