Andrew Dunn founded the first chain of major provincial newspapers in Queensland, including newspapers in Maryborough, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.
Born in Scotland, he served as a clerk in a tea merchant's office in Calcutta and as a cadet draughtsman in an architect's office in Scotland before emigrating to Australia in 1879. First settling in Toowoomba, he moved to Maryborough in 1885 where he became business manager of The Maryborough Chronicle. By mid-1891 he was serving as chairman of directors of the newspaper. At the same time he featured prominently in Maryborough civic life as Mayor in 1903 and 1914, and alderman from 1904 to 1913 and again in 1915. In addition, he served as a Liberal in the closing years of the Queensland Legislative Council from 3 July 1914 to 23 March 1922.
In 1911, Dunn bought a controlling interest in The Morning Bulletin in Rockhampton. Three years later he added The Warwick Argus, which he merged with The Warwick Examiner and Times in February 1919 to form The Warwick Daily News. More purchases followed, including The Wide Bay and Burnett News in November 1919 which he merged, in effect, with The Maryborough Chronicle. In June 1922, Dunn added the controlling interest of The Toowoomba Chronicle to his acquisitions, and merged it with the competing daily newspaper, The Darling Downs Gazette. In July 1929 he also bought The Evening News in Rockhampton.
Founder of the Queensland Country Press Association in 1907, Dunn served several times as president, and consistently on the executive committee until his death in 1934.
The legacy of the Dunn family continued after his death, with each of his six sons and several of his grandchildren heavily involved in running the family's newspapers, including oldest son Andrew Dunn (Jr) and third son William Herbert Alan Dunn.
Source: Rod Kirkpatrick. Sworn to No Master (1984).
