AustLit

Australian Colonial Narrative Journalism:

Howard Willoughby began his journalism career with the  Age in 1861, but soon transferred to the Argus. 

As a narrative journalist, Willoughby  wrote in the 1860s on the Maori Wars. His next major assignment was to report on the convict system in Western Australia when that colony was considering stopping transportation (the last colony to do so). His articles were published as a series in the Argus, then as the 1865 pamphlet, Transportation: The British Convict in Western Australia. In the preface to the supplement of the series, the Argus describes his articles as ‘letters’.

In 1866 Willoughby was also one of the first Hansard staff of the Victorian parliament. He became the first editor of the Melbourne Daily Telegraph in 1869, but returned to the Argus nearly a decade later, writing a weekly political column under the pseudonym, Timotheus and becoming editor in 1898. He remained as Argus editor until his death in 1908.

Selected Articles:

• Men and scenes in New Zealand, 12 May 1864 The Argus 
• The Convict System in Western Australia, From the Argus] 29 June 1864, The Sydney Morning Herald

Obituary:

•  Death of Mr. Howard Willoughby, Great Journalist, Argus, 28 March 1908