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History

Following the death of her husband, the Rev. Alexander Laurie who began publication of The Portland Herald , Mrs Janet N. Laurie and her two sons, Andrew Frederick Laurie (age 17) and James Parker Dawson Laurie (age 15) left Portland with a few cases of type and the famed Columbian Eagle Press, crossed the Glenelg River and followed the bullock tracks to Mount Gambier.

The widow and her two sons set up their tiny printing plant in a shop in Commercial Street West. After much deliberation they decided to name the paper “The Border Watch” , after “The Border Watchman”, a newspaper established in Scotland and published from 1843 until 1847.

Columbian Eagle Press

The first edition of The Border Watch was published on April 26, 1861 and was such a success that all copies were sold out. The Columbian Eagle Press (pictured), on which the very first issue was published, was the latest press of its kind. Today it is still in working order and on display at The Border Watch office.

In January 1863 Mr John Watson who since 1857 had been teaching school at Naracoorte, joined the Lauries as editor and part proprietor. John Watson continued as editor up to a day or two before his death on December 13, 1925 at the grand age of 91 years.

His service in this capacity for more than 62 years was recognised in 1975 by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest editorship ever recorded for a newspaper.

His son, Mr J.R. Watson became the second editor of The Border Watch until just before his death in 1948, being editor from 1925 to 1941.

Initially published each Friday morning, The Border Watch changed to a Saturday morning paper on September 17, 1864 and in May 1866 it became a bi-weekly paper published on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

No longer capable of handling production levels the Columbian Eagle Press was replaced in 1873 and a gas engine in 1898 ended the days of manpower to turn the wheels of the presses.

That is, until a disastrous fire in 1914 turned back the clock and printing was again performed by hand. No edition was missed but valuable files and machinery were lost. New machinery was installed and operational in 1915.

The Border Watch has always been a leader, not only among country newspapers, but often by comparison with its metropolitan counterparts in the plant and equipment used.

In 1932 The Border Watch was only the third provincial newspaper in Australia to utilise new technology to reproduce photographs and in more recent times was a leader in embracing the use of digital photography.

Mount Gambier businessman Allan Scott OAM AO, purchased The Border Watch in 1977 and by 1981 it was publishing four times per week.

Today The Border Watch is South Australia’s oldest and largest regional newspaper.

It conceives, writes, produces, prints and sells its own product four days per week and has maintained an independence in keeping with the traditions of the spirit of a widow and her two teenage sons who ventured into an unknown frontier town over 100 years ago.