Two families with a strong newspaper heritage
and powerful commitment to their local
community have dominated ownership of
The Courier for most of its 125-year history.
Current owners, the Marston family, first became
involved more than 50 years ago on October 30,
1952.

But The Courier's original owners, the Dumas
family, ran the broadsheet newspaper for 58
years from its foundation on October 1, 1880.
The first edition of The Courier was printed as a
broadsheet on October 1, 1880, by Charles Dumas
... then aged 30 years.

In 1898 he was elected to parliament and served
the province until he retired in 1902.
Charles edited the paper for more than 50 years
until his death in 1935.

His daughter, Una, ran the family business until
1938 when Mr and Mrs T. Monger purchased
the business ... and from May 12 that year they
printed and published The Courier on Thursday
afternoons.

It was soon after this the paper was altered in
size to its current tabloid format.

Harry Edmondson and Eric Perry purchased the
newspaper from the Mongers in April, 1946, and
engaged Harry J. Peake as editor. Mr Peake
went on to own the Naracoorte Herald during
the mid-50s.

The Marstons entered the business in 1952
when Frank Teare Marston (right) bought Mr
Edmondson's shares.

Current general manager Norman Marston
(Frank's eldest son) was the production manager
then and managed the Marston interest until his
father sold his other newspapers at Burra and
Eudunda to move to Mt Barker.

In 1954 the Marston family become sole
proprietors after it acquired the Perry shares.

Newspapers in the blood

Newspapers have been in the blood of both the
Dumas and Marston families for generations.

Lloyd Dumas, son of Charles, was also heavily
involved in newspapers and was eventually
knighted for his contribution to the industry,
primarily with the Melbourne Argus and then for
many years with the Adelaide Advertiser.

The Marston family, however, has one of the
longest histories in family newspaper ownership
in Australia.

Its substantial involvement and continuing
commitment to newspapers spans more than
a century. In fact its family association with
newspapers dates well back into the 19th
century.

Frank Teare Marston is often referred to as the
'father' of modern-day Marstons in newspapers
in South Australia with 55 years of editing and
ownership of country newspapers and journals
in this State until his death in 1980.

His father, Ernest F. Marston, owned the
Numurkah Leader in Victoria in the early 1900s
and later acquired the Burra Record in SA before
completing his life span in 1948 as a retired
editor-owner.

Frank already owned the Eudunda Courier in
SA's mid north before he married Floris Ewins
in 1927.

Their marriage was a union of two newspaper
families. Floris' father, Kinso Ewins, was a
newspaper manager-editor and later worked as
a compositor at the Adelaide Advertiser in charge
of classified adverts. He often worked closely
with Sir Lloyd Dumas.

The Courier has been a family affair for more than
50 years and now spans four generations.

Frank's sons Norman and Peter (right) have made a
formidable contribution to The Courier, the
newspaper industry and the community they
served.

They've seen and developed the paper's
transition from the days of hot metal and
letterpress machines to computers and offset
printing.

Norman and Peter managed the paper together
from 1966 and were both passionate about
newspapers.

Norman continued as production manager and
Peter succeeded his father as editor.

Until his untimely death in 1997, Peter had been
involved in the industry at both State and
National levels. He became National president of
Country Press Australia and was also awarded
life membership of the South Australian
association.

The third generation family members at The Courier
are Norman's sons Kym and Bruce.
Kym edited the paper during the 1980s and 1990s.

His passion for the industry saw him also heavily
involved in the Country Press Association
and as State president.
Bruce succeeded his father as production
manager and is now in senior management.

The fourth generation at The Courier is Norman's
grandson Steven, who is a graphic reproducer,
printer and now production manager.
The paper has changed immensely over the years
in its size, quality and circulation.

In 1953 the paper was eight to 12 pages in size
with the circulation of around 1900 copies. At that
time it was published at 1pm on Wednesdays.
By 1980 the paper numbers had risen to an
average of 48 pages an issue and around
10,000 copies were printed.

In 2005 the paper is averaging more than 76
pages a week with around 15,000 copies printed.
As the region grows and its readers and clientele
broaden their interests, needs and demands,
The Courier will continue to meet these
challenges and grow in unison.

The Courier has always been a leader in its field
and its unheralded number of awards - both in
the South Australian and National competitions -
is recognition of its quality product (see our wall
of fame list of achievements).

The Courier is recognised as the benchmark of
country newspapers in South Australia and
recognised as among the very best in Australia.