Samuel Hawkins 'came to Wagga Wagga in the mid 1860s to take up the position as editor [and later, proprietor] of The Wagga Wagga Express and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser'. Hawkins 'had previously published a paper at Burrangong, and had lived at Kiandra at one time'.
In July 1868, Hawkins 'became embroiled in a conflict with Frederick Ainslow Tompson', a prominent citizen of Wagga Wagga. Tompson believed that views expressed by Hawkins in the Express were libellous and he assaulted the newspaper proprietor. (A later court case exonerated Tompson even though there was no dispute that he had committed the assault.)
'Hawkins relinquished ownership of the Express in the last week of 1897 and left Wagga Wagga in April 1898, moving to Monaro where he had purchased a share in the Monaro Mercury, which he subsequently managed for Mr F. C. Hogg.'
'In February 1900 there was a degree of anxiety when Hawkins went missing in Sydney. He had arrived in Sydney on Saturday 3rd February at 6am ... and was last seen in Erskine Street on that same day. ... It was subsequently revealed that he wrote two letters on that fateful afternoon – one to Percy Shannon, of the Sydney Morning Herald, was personal and gave instructions as to the dispersal of his effects. The second was a lengthy explanation to his friends in general, outlining perceived troubles. It is believed that he boarded the Namoi, a steamer travelling to Newcastle, but that he never disembarked, indicating he had drowned between Sydney and Newcastle'.
Source: 'Some History of the Wagga Wagga Express.' Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society website: http://www.wwdhs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/wwe-history.pdf
Sighted: 15/04/2014
