North Australian offices and store

Premises of the North Australian newspaper - Office & JT Bull store; building has a simulated stone frontage. JT Bull is the tall man standing in the doorway.

The North Australian newspaper was established in 1883: given the still small population of Darwin this was a clear indication of the considered business potential of the Territory. The paper was in opposition to the Northern Territory Times and Gazette. The two papers continued to be published for some years and then in 1889 the North Australian won the contract to publish the Government Gazette which was an extra and significant source of income. In June 1890 Kirkland and Mayhew, owners of the North Australian, purchased the Northern Territory Times from its proprietor Vaiben Solomon. The North Australian was then discontinued.

Solomon's company built Bull's general store and the newspaper offices and printery.

Sub-Inspector Paul Foelsche arrived in Palmerston in 1870 to take charge of the newly formed Northern Territory Mounted Police. In addition to his police duties Foelsche was an excellent photographer. He took thousands of photographs of Darwin, of the Aboriginal people and of the scenery. This pictorial archive is an invaluable record of 19th century Darwin, much of which was destroyed in the 1897 cyclone.

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