One of Australia’s oldest Catholic publications has on 6 July 2024 marked its 150th anniversary.
The Record, the official publication for the Archdiocese of Perth, was founded by then Father Matthew Gibney, later Bishop, and then Administrator, the Very Rev Fr Martin Griver OSB on 6 July 1874.
However, the history of The Record would not be complete without first discussing, in brief, the history of its predecessor in the field of Catholic journalism, The Morning Herald.
Although The Morning Herald was not the official organ of the Catholic Church in Western Australia, it was common knowledge that it was founded and run by the Church as a business enterprise.
Its purpose was not to propound doctrines of faith and morals, but simply to make money. The first edition appeared on 2 May 2, 1867. Its price was 6d.
It was a weekly publication, printed and published at first by Pearce and Bereford at the office of The Morning Herald, Cliff Street, Fremantle.
For 40 years it struggled on being more of a financial burden than a success until, in 1908, it went out of circulation. By this time the paper had increased in size to eight pages (four sheets) but the price has dropped to 1d. The last edition appeared on 29 September, 1908.
The Catholic Church, having profited by the experience gained from The Morning Herald, decided in 1874, seven years after the establishment of the then-struggling Herald, to found another paper but this one was not a business enterprise, and was to be based on religious lines. The paper was far more successful than the first attempt of the Catholic Church in Western Australia to plunge into the world of journalism.
It was to be the official paper of the Church in Western Australia and was to be established as shall be seen in the following chapter, by Fr Matthew Gibney and to bear the title of The West Australian Catholic Record.
The undertaking was a serious one because of the financial position of the Church in the colony at that time. “If progress was to be made and the political and religious rights and freedom of the Catholics were to be maintained, aid of the Press was necessary.”
Now published in two formats – The eRecord, published weekly and distributed via email, which commenced in October 2014, and The Record Magazine, published quarterly as a 32-page gloss magazine which commenced in 2016 – The Record commenced publication in a generation when there was little room for Catholic matters or Catholic opinion in the local secular press of the time.
It was said to be the sole public voice of the handful of Catholics against the bitter prejudice and intolerance of the majority who, according to historical records, “refused Catholics a measure of justice and even ordinary civic rights.”
Together with Mr JT Reilly, and with the approval of the Very Rev Fr Griver, a printing press and plant was purchased at a cost of £120 and removed with difficulty through the heavy sand from Perth to Subiaco, where it was set up in one of the large rooms in the orphanage.
The first edition was printed on silk, and was in the possession of the first editor, Mr JT Reilly, until his death, when it was passed into the keeping of the then Bishop Gibney.
Among the contributors to the first edition were Fr Gibney and Fr O’Reilly, both of whom subsequently wore the mitre.
Fr Gibney went on to succeeded Bishop Griver as the third Bishop of Perth in January 1887 and Fr O’Reilly became the second Archbishop of Adelaide in 1894. At the time, there was unending controversy on education. Freemasonry, the treatment of natives, etc.
In an article published in on 11 December 1937, The Record was said to have become a formidable propagandist weapon, and its strong position in the community at the time was made possible thanks to the foresight, courage and enduring patience of pioneers Fr Matthew Gibney, Mr JT Reilly and the Very Rev Fr Martin Griver.
Current Editor Jamie O’Brien, who commenced in the role in 2014, has had a long association with The Record, starting out as a freelancer in the early 2000’s under the first lay-Editor David Kehoe, becoming a full-time staff member from 2004 to 2006, under Editor Peter Rosengren, returning in 2014 to take the reins.
The last edition of The Record as a newspaper was published on 26 July 2014, with The eRecord commencing 2 October. It started with a readership of about 500 people which quickly grew as word spread of the new online edition.
Mr O’Brien highlighted it was The Record Review of 2013 – one of many over 150 years – that has made the publication what it is today and thanked current Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, current Episcopal Vicar, Effective Communications and Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton and former Vicar General and Episcopal Vicar, Effective Communication, the Very Rev Fr Peter Whitely VG for their leadership in guiding the publications future.
“With a readership of more than 25,000, several awards with particular mention of the Australasian Religious Press Association’s Gutenberg Award in 2018 and now the Australasian Catholic Press Association’s Bishop Kennedy Memorial Award in 2024, The Record still has a significant place in the life of the Church in Perth,” Mr O’Brien said.
“I am also so very grateful to our readers, our colleagues, our sponsors, our friends who have shown all kinds of support.”
With celebrations planned for later this year and into 2025, Mr O’Brien said he hopes The Record will continue to be appreciated and understood as a platform of the history of the good news.
“Given our current climate, it is so very important that we never forget the importance of being messengers of the Good News,” he said.
“I am constantly hearing stories from readers and Catholics across Perth, and indeed Australia, how their parents and grandparents were avid readers of The Record, and because of this they are too,” Mr O’Brien concluded.