The Tocsin

Masthead of The Tocsin No. 3, 16 October 1897

The Tocsin (often referred to only as Tocsin) was an Australian socialist newspaper, published from 1897 to 1906.[1] It was co-founded by several prominent political figures, including Edward Findley, John Percy Jones and Bernard O'Dowd.[2] Jack Castieau served as the first editor, while artist Norman Lindsay drew its first cover design.[3]

Writers for the paper included Frank Anstey, Lilian Locke and Frank Wilmot, and John Arthur Andrews was editor for a time.[4][5][6][7] Tocsin readers formed themselves into "Tocsin Clubs", conducting well-attended public meetings for political discussion in several places across Melbourne.[8] Co-founder Findley was expelled from the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1901 after Tocsin was found to have libelled King Edward VII.[2]

In the pre-federation era in Australia, Tocsin argued against Federation.[9]

Tocsin was succeeded by the Labor Call.[10]

It has been digitised by the National Library of Australia as part of the Trove project.[1]

  1. ^ a b "The Tocsin". trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Findley, Edward (1864–1947)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Lindsay, Norman Alfred (1879–1969)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  4. ^ Turner, Ian (1979). "Anstey, Francis George (Frank) (1865–1940)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
  5. ^ "Locke, Lilian (1869 - 1950)". The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Wilmot, Frank Leslie (1881–1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Andrews, John Arthur (1865–1903)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  8. ^ Mathews, Race (1993). Australia's First Fabians: Middle-class Radicals, Labour Activists and the Early Labour Movement. Cambridge University Press.
  9. ^ Anderson, Hugh, ed. (1977), Tocsin: radical arguments against Federation, 1897-1900, Primary Education for Drummond, ISBN 978-0-909081-16-4 note no mention of Tocsin in the chapter 5 - Guartly, Marian Victoria pp 220-283, or the index of Irving, Helen (1999), The Centenary companion to Australian federation, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-57314-6
  10. ^ "The Labor Call". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 February 2017.