William McGarvie was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born bookseller and newspaper owner, active in
New South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
McGarvie was born in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and worked on the
Glasgow Herald; he followed his brother
John McGarvieJohn McGarvie was a Scottish born Australian Presbyterian minister and writer.McGarvie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was educated at Glasgow University, where he graduated.In 1825 the Rev...
to New South Wales in 1828 aboard the
Comet. He then ran the 'Australian Stationery Warehouse'.
With two employees from the
Sydney GazetteThe Sydney Gazette was the first newspaper in Australia. Governor King authorised the publication of what was initially called 'The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser in 1803. Subsequently the first edition was published 5 March...
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.
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 Sir Charles Kinnaird Mackellar KCMG, was an Australian politician and surgeon.-Early life:Mackellar was born in Sydney, the only son of Dr Frank Mackellar , and his wife Isabella, née Robertson . Charles was educated at Sydney Grammar School and then moved to Port Macquarie district...
, who in turn had a daughter, the poet
Dorothea MackellarIsobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, OBE was an Australian poet and fiction writer.The only daughter of noted physician and parliamentarian Sir Charles Mackellar, she was born in Sydney in 1885...
.