David Syme Research Paper

David Syme
-Informer, editor, miner

By Zoe Clark

With David Symes efforts he played one of the biggest roles on constructing how Australia delivered their news to others in the nineteenth century and how we deliver it today.

David Syme was born on 2nd October 1827, North Benvile, Scotland. David had many siblings. Because of this there parents could not afford to send them to school and so instead the Symes father home schooled Syme and his siblings. In David diary it mentions, “Dad did not understand us as kids”. Syme also mentions that his father was strict and misleading. Sadly in 1844 at only the age of 17 Symes father died.

Soon after David’s Father died, Syme became interested in editing. David’s pay was so little he had no choice but to quit. When Syme heard about the Victorian gold rush he gathered his savings and sailed to Melbourne in 1852. He tried his luck on the Diggings but, like most diggers no luck. David soon became attracted to

He worked hard enough to make his business successful and on one of the best sellers in Ballarat at the time. Because David chose to go back to Melbourne instead of stay on the diggings he we are lucky enough to experience what news they had and how important news was to them back in those days. Due to having a pay so little and having to leave and try his luck on the diggings, David would have never come to be an editor in Ballart and help construct Australia’s news system.

Luckily David was on the miner’s side and he used many quotes like this to represent the miners voice, ‘man for man, the miners were physically mentally and morally equal to any people in the British dominions’. Because Syme had no luck on the diggings but still had to pay for his monthly licence Syme understood what the miners were complaining about and stood up for them, consequently many people who weren’t digging started to take the miners side and that is how David helped construct beliefs and