Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1887-1993. (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
33 boxes, 2 parcels.
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Provincial Newspapers (Qld.) Ltd. (PNQ) was the holding company formed in 1968 by the merger of six privately owned, regionally-based Queensland newspaper companies which represented multiple generations of family control since 1861. This included the newspaper businesses controlled by the Dunn, Manning, Irwin, Parkinson, Stephenson, and Kippens families. The Dunn family company’s name Provincial Newspapers (Qld.) was adopted for the merged company. Together the families controlled nine regional newspapers in Queensland.
Prominent among them was the Dunn family, who owned the Maryborough Chronicle, the Morning Bulletin in Rockhampton, the Warwick Daily News, and the Toowoomba Chronicle. The Dunns had previously traded as A. Dunn and Family, later A. Dunn and Company Pty Ltd. and then as Provincial Newspapers (Qld.).
Through its acquisition of the Melbourne-based Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) on 6 February 1987 Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd indirectly acquired a large parcel of shares in PNQ, which, in combination with other part-owned companies with shares in PNQ, gave News Ltd 48.6% of all PNQ shares. Taking a State-based approach the Trade Practices Commission (TPC) approved the News Ltd takeover of HWT but determined that in Queensland the acquisition would give News Ltd too much market share. The TPC advised that News Ltd should onsell its PNQ shares.
On 26th July 1988 News Ltd sold to Haswell Pty. Ltd., a company set up by Irish entrepreneur Anthony O’Reilly, principal shareholder of Independent Newspapers Plc of Ireland. On 3 November 1988 PNQ was renamed Australian Provincial Newspapers Ltd (APN).
Repository
Archival history
Collection previously titled as: Records, 1887-1993
Collection alternatively titled as: Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd Collection.
Collection alternatively titled as: Rod Kirkpatrick Collection
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by Rod Kirkpatrick.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Minute books, correspondence, annual reports, financial records including cash books, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, scrapbooks. Includes records of:
- Newspapers in which the Andrew Dunn acquired a controlling interest, 1887 - 1973.
- Dunn Family businesses, 1929 - 1968.
- Associated Press of Queensland, 1910 - 1916.
- Queensland Provincial Newspapers, 1937 - 1953
- Queensland Country Press Association 1910 - 1943.
- Queensland Country Press Ltd. 1914 - 1975.
- Regional Dailies of Australia (Qld Div.), previously Australian Provincial Daily Press Ltd (Qld Division) and Associated Dailies Information Service, 1953 - 1983.
- Provincial Newspapers (Qld) Ltd, 1968 - 1989.
- Newspapers acquired by PNQ, 1958 - 1975.
- Regional News Service, 1975 - 1982.
- Historical research papers, 1956 - ca. 1980.
The collection contains material relating to Queensland Country Press and in particular the Dunn family of Maryborough, Rockhampton and Toowoomba who initially traded as A. Dunn and Family and were incorporated in 1957 as A. Dunn and Company Pty. Ltd. They were substantial shareholders in Provincial Newspapers (Qld.) Ltd. which controlled nine regional daily newspapers.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma MMS ID
Millennium Local System Number
OCLC Number
Libraries Australia ID
Alma MMS ID
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Queensland Country Press Association (Subject)
- Queensland Country Press Ltd. (Subject)
- Provincial Newspapers (Qld.) Ltd., 1968-1988 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Revised
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation revision deletion
Revised, Linda Justo, 6-Jan-2020. Migrated from LMS: April 2019, P.A.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
150730; Rod Kirkpatrick. 140219-2; Rod Kirkpatrick. 090924; Michael Bromley. 070529;