William McGarvie (1810 – 1 April 1841) was a Scottish-born bookseller and newspaper owner, active in New South Wales.[1]
McGarvie was born in Glasgow and worked on the Glasgow Herald; he followed his brother John McGarvie to New South Wales in 1828 aboard the Comet. He then ran the 'Australian Stationery Warehouse'.[1]
With two employees from the Sydney Gazette Frederick Stokes and Alfred Ward Stephens, McGarvie imported a printing press in 1831 and commenced publication of the Sydney Herald. Its first edition was on 18 April 1831. Soon afterwards, McGarvie sold his share to his two other partners.[1]
After a brief trip back to Scotland, McGarvie resumed bookselling at the Australian Warehouse. After contracting a severe cold, he died in Sydney aged 31 years and was survived by his wife, Isabella, and a three-week-old son. Isabella later remarried Dr Frederick Mackellar whose only son was Charles Mackellar, who in turn had a daughter, the poet Dorothea Mackellar.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d J. V. Byrnes, 'McGarvie, William (1810 - 1841)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, MUP, 1967, pp 166–167. Retrieved 28 August 2014