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The Hokitika Evening Star and the Greymouth Evening Star
My Story
DescriptionSince I started researching for a biography of James "Snyder" Browne, colonial humourist and journalist, I've delved deeply into the histories of the Hokitika Evening Star and the Greymouth Evening Star, both of which "Snyder" was associated with. Actually, I shouldn't call him "Snyder", as he didn't take on that pen-name until late 1872, well after he had left the West Coast.
Browne came to Hokitika in early 1866 as far as I can determine, and set up the Hokitika Evening Star with JP Klein, local jeweller, as a partner. Some sources suggest the Evening Star began in 1865, but I can find no evidence of that - perhaps readers have some clarification. The Evening Star was a bitter rival to the West Coast Times, and Browne and the Times' editor, William Shaw (for a period Mayor of Hokitika as well) were sworn enemies, which made for a lively press. Browne even appeared in court on one occasion charged with assaulting Shaw. I've seen a handful of references also to "Browne, Neale and Co" also in the context of printing in Hokitika in those early days; perhaps a reader can provide some info on this?
The Greymouth Evening Star is widely assumed to have begun in March 1866, and even Allied Press include this "fact" on their website. However, my research shows that the Greymouth newspaper was first published on 6 March 1869, after Browne had sold the Hokitika Evening Star and gone bankrupt. Further, the Greymouth paper is also usually attributed to James Browne, but in fact the honour goes to his son, Montague Lindsay Browne, given James Browne was bankrupt. James Browne did become editor of the Greymouth newspaper, however, and this is probably why it was assumed that he established it. The exact details of the initial publication are given in evidence in a court case reported in the West Coast Times on 31 July 1869.
James Browne had had an extraordinarily colourful earlier career as a young man, first in Salvador, Brazil, then Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania, and Geelong, Victoria. He was present during some of the major events of early colonial Victoria, including the Eureka riots at Ballarat, where he had mined for gold himself and had his appetite whetted for the role of goldfields journalist.
When the Otago gold rush started in 1861, Browne came over to New Zealand and became sub-editor to later Premier Julius Vogel as editor of the Otago Daily Times, while also becoming a goldfields correspondent for a number of Australian newspapers, including the Melbourne Age. When the Wakamarina gold rush in Marlborough occurred, he immediately relocated to Picton and made several trips to Canvastown and the Wakamarina before becoming editor of the now-defunct Picton-based Marlborough Press and licensee of the Rifleman pub (now the Crow).
After he left the West Coast he moved to Auckland where he initially went to work for the Daily Southern Cross newspaper, and then the New Zealand Herald, where in 1874 he became editor. It was while at the Herald that he began using the pen-name "Snyder", and started writing the humorous columns for which he became famous in his time. These were widely reprinted throughout Australia and New Zealand, and made him arguably the best-known journalist in New Zealand. His most significant work is a series of 34 articles that appeared on a weekly basis in the Herald and a couple of Queensland papers entitled "Reminiscences of a Colonial Journalist", dealing with his time in both Australia and New Zealand. One of his "Reminiscences" deals with the so-called "Fenian Alarm" in Hokitika in early 1868 which divided the town and saw hundreds of men being appointed as special constables, though this was a gross over-reaction.
Snyder abruptly quit the "Herald" in 1875 to run the "Coromandel Mail", and when that failed, moved on to Gisborne, where he edited first the "Poverty Bay Standard" and then the "Poverty Bay Herald". Everywhere he went he was a controversial figure, and in Gisborne he was hung in effigy, then the effigy was shot and burned at midnight in front of a quarter of the town's population. The reason: he wrote an article which offended the local volunteer militia unit.
During his time on the West Coast, the local newspapers are a rich source of information about him, but the newspapers he was most closely associated with, the Hokitika and Greymouth Evening Stars, have not been digitised and the number of copies remaining in existence from those times are very few and far between. I'd love to hear from anyone who may have contemporary material from the 1865-1871 period which may help to cast further light on James Browne my research for my "Life of Snyder".ContributorRoger WilsonDate of story eventsBetween 1st January 1866 and 31st December 1871
Browne came to Hokitika in early 1866 as far as I can determine, and set up the Hokitika Evening Star with JP Klein, local jeweller, as a partner. Some sources suggest the Evening Star began in 1865, but I can find no evidence of that - perhaps readers have some clarification. The Evening Star was a bitter rival to the West Coast Times, and Browne and the Times' editor, William Shaw (for a period Mayor of Hokitika as well) were sworn enemies, which made for a lively press. Browne even appeared in court on one occasion charged with assaulting Shaw. I've seen a handful of references also to "Browne, Neale and Co" also in the context of printing in Hokitika in those early days; perhaps a reader can provide some info on this?
The Greymouth Evening Star is widely assumed to have begun in March 1866, and even Allied Press include this "fact" on their website. However, my research shows that the Greymouth newspaper was first published on 6 March 1869, after Browne had sold the Hokitika Evening Star and gone bankrupt. Further, the Greymouth paper is also usually attributed to James Browne, but in fact the honour goes to his son, Montague Lindsay Browne, given James Browne was bankrupt. James Browne did become editor of the Greymouth newspaper, however, and this is probably why it was assumed that he established it. The exact details of the initial publication are given in evidence in a court case reported in the West Coast Times on 31 July 1869.
James Browne had had an extraordinarily colourful earlier career as a young man, first in Salvador, Brazil, then Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania, and Geelong, Victoria. He was present during some of the major events of early colonial Victoria, including the Eureka riots at Ballarat, where he had mined for gold himself and had his appetite whetted for the role of goldfields journalist.
When the Otago gold rush started in 1861, Browne came over to New Zealand and became sub-editor to later Premier Julius Vogel as editor of the Otago Daily Times, while also becoming a goldfields correspondent for a number of Australian newspapers, including the Melbourne Age. When the Wakamarina gold rush in Marlborough occurred, he immediately relocated to Picton and made several trips to Canvastown and the Wakamarina before becoming editor of the now-defunct Picton-based Marlborough Press and licensee of the Rifleman pub (now the Crow).
After he left the West Coast he moved to Auckland where he initially went to work for the Daily Southern Cross newspaper, and then the New Zealand Herald, where in 1874 he became editor. It was while at the Herald that he began using the pen-name "Snyder", and started writing the humorous columns for which he became famous in his time. These were widely reprinted throughout Australia and New Zealand, and made him arguably the best-known journalist in New Zealand. His most significant work is a series of 34 articles that appeared on a weekly basis in the Herald and a couple of Queensland papers entitled "Reminiscences of a Colonial Journalist", dealing with his time in both Australia and New Zealand. One of his "Reminiscences" deals with the so-called "Fenian Alarm" in Hokitika in early 1868 which divided the town and saw hundreds of men being appointed as special constables, though this was a gross over-reaction.
Snyder abruptly quit the "Herald" in 1875 to run the "Coromandel Mail", and when that failed, moved on to Gisborne, where he edited first the "Poverty Bay Standard" and then the "Poverty Bay Herald". Everywhere he went he was a controversial figure, and in Gisborne he was hung in effigy, then the effigy was shot and burned at midnight in front of a quarter of the town's population. The reason: he wrote an article which offended the local volunteer militia unit.
During his time on the West Coast, the local newspapers are a rich source of information about him, but the newspapers he was most closely associated with, the Hokitika and Greymouth Evening Stars, have not been digitised and the number of copies remaining in existence from those times are very few and far between. I'd love to hear from anyone who may have contemporary material from the 1865-1871 period which may help to cast further light on James Browne my research for my "Life of Snyder".ContributorRoger WilsonDate of story eventsBetween 1st January 1866 and 31st December 1871
Relates to
EventHistory of the Greymouth Evening StarHistory of the Hokitika Evening Star
West Coast New Zealand History (27th Sep 2021). The Hokitika Evening Star and the Greymouth Evening Star. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 8th Apr 2026 11:00, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/30113