History of the New England newspaper press 9 - Drummond, Sommerlad and the emergence of the Country Party in New England

David Drummond, Glen Innes, early 1920s.  A former ward of the state, Drummond  had left school at twelve, was very deaf and had worked as a farm labourer. He was not expected  to win election, but did so in part because of his relationship with pressman Ernest Christian Sommerlad. This is the nineth in a series on the history of the media and especially the newspaper press in New England, the second column on the emergence of the NSW Country Party 

The country press has always reflected the political climate of the time both in reporting and through their active involvement in the promotion of their communities. It has also reflected the attitudes and interests of particular proprietors.

At the time the first papers emerged in Northern NSW, the broader New England, they reflected the divide between liberal and conservative interests. They also reflected a then key issue, the question of separation of Queensland and the possible creation of a new colony in Northern NSW.

As time passed, the position of the papers evolved to reflect both changing political trends and, more importantly, economic and social changes relevant to their particular areas.

In the lower Hunter, the Miners Advocate and Northumberland Recorder began publication in 1873 and then grew rapidly, becoming a daily in 1876 under the title Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate. Its masthead was ornate, carrying a sketch of a colliery pit-top, including poppet head and chimney.

The Herald shared many of the attitudes and concerns of papers further north, including the idea of Sydney oppression of Newcastle and country interests, and would play an active role in the formation of the NSW Country Press Association.

Despite these links, the paper’s industrial interests precluded participation in newspaper activities further north that would now facilitate the emergence of two new political movements.

The first of these was the Country Party, the second a resurgent new state movement. Both would help shape New England’s history over the twentieth century.

Like the Labor Party which first entered Parliament in NSW in 1891, the Country Party was based in part on industrial interests, the need to give primary producers and especially small farmers their own voice in Parliament.

The party also drew from the idea of an oppressed country, an oppressing city, articulated in what Professor Don Aitkin described as a sense of country mindedness.

In Northern NSW, the new party also supported and drew from the separation movement, a movement that gave it a town base that it might not otherwise have obtained as a rural party.

At the elections on 20 March 1920, just over one hundred years ago, the Progressive Party as the Country Party was then known entered the NSW Parliament.

David Drummond was one of those elected for the new multi-member Northern Tablelands electorate.

He should not have won. A former ward of the state, he was just thirty, had left school at twelve, was very deaf and had worked as a farm labourer. He did so in part because of his relationship with pressman Ernest Christian Sommerlad.

In my next columns, I will look at that campaign and the relationship between Drummond and Sommerlad.

Note to readers: This post was prepared as a column for the on-line edition of the Armidale Express. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020