The Honduras Gazette, published as The Honduras Gazette and Commercial Advertiser, was the first newspaper in the Bay settlement, now Belize, launched on 1 July 1826. It was published weekly in tabloid format, and served as the settlement's newspaper of record, given it had no competing periodicals. The publication also served as the settlement's government gazette, as it was established by the Bench of Magistrates, following their purchase of a printing press in late 1825, fulfilled by printer James Cruickshank in early 1826. The Gazette is thought to have had a limited print circulation. It was privatised by the Legislative Assembly in early 1827, and ceased publication at some uncertain date during 1829 to 1838. It was succeeded by the Belize Advertiser in late 1838.
Like other West Indian papers, the Gazette covered official proceedings, local and overseas news, and shipping and mercantile intelligence. Unlike said peers though, the paper further reported, often critically, on affairs in the newly independent Hispanic countries which bordered the settlement, namely the First Mexican Republic and the Federal Republic of Central America. This coverage was picked up by succeeding 19th-century periodicals of the settlement, and is said to have brought the same to greater attention in the press of the said Hispanic republics.
History
Belize Town (background) from Fort George (foreground) in 1830, with the 1st West India Regiment manning the fort
From the 17th to early 19th centuries, during the country's Precolonial period, the Baymen of the Bay settlement (also known simply as Honduras) are thought to have looked to overseas printing presses and periodicals in London and British America for their printing needs. By the 1820s though, this lack of a press had apparently become untenable, such that on 6 December 1825, the settlement's Bench of Magistrates resolved to procure one "for the purpose of printing and preserving the records and laws of the Settlement". Consequently, an iron letterpress was set up in Belize Town by printer James Cruickshank, whose first substantive work is thought to have been an almanac, namely the Honduras Almanack, published "by authority of the Magistrates" on 9 March 1826.
Establishment
The first issue of the Gazette was published on 1 July 1826. It contained an introductory announcement to the public, shipping notices, overseas and domestic news, government notices, and various commercial advertisements. In the said announcement, the paper's editors noted that the Gazette had been launched "under the idea of benefiting the Settlement", and committed themselves to rendering the same "useful, convenient, and amusing to the Community". The editors expounded on the advantages of an impartial press, adding "we feel satisfied that our present endeavour, humble as it may be, will raise us in the scale of the British Colonies. It will preserve our rights, encrease our Commerce, and improve our rising generation. Let us, therefore, ever remember, that the liberty of the press, is the palladium of all the rights—Civil, Religious and Political—which Nations, or Communities enjoy". The announcement ended with logistical information regarding subscriptions and advertising.
Run
The Gaceta de Mexico, based in Mexico, was the first newspaper in New Spain, launched in 1722 (first front page shown). It was followed by the Gazeta de Goathemala in Spanish Guatemala in 1729.
The Gazette issues were normally printed in tabloid format, usually in four pages of 121⁄4 by 95⁄8 inches (311.2 by 244.5 mm), with copy laid out in two columns. Issues were sometimes supplemented. They were published weekly, usually on Saturdays. The Gazette is thought to have been edited by the settlement's magistrates until 17 March 1827 (volume 1, issue number 38), following a 5 March resolution by the Legislative Assembly to privatise the paper. Cruickshank took up editorial duties at the Gazette until 5 November of that year (volume 2, issue number 88), "when, on that day, the Legislative Assembly at their Meeting, in their Wisdom, took it out of his hands, by reason of his intemperence, and very properly appointed a Committee, for its better Government".
In terms of coverage, the Gazette mostly focussed on local occurrences and legislative and judicial proceedings, though like peer West Indian papers, it further published government notices, shipping intelligence, and overseas and foreign occurrences gleaned from British, American, and West Indian papers. Especial attention was, however, paid to reports received from neighbouring Hispanic republics, which is to say the successor states of New Spain following Spanish American independence, namely Mexico and Central America. According to Victoria University of Wellington professor Roderick Cave, the Gazette's readers were evidently taken by the "decidedly unsettled affairs" of their newly independent neighbours. In a similar vein, Université Jean-Monnet-Saint-Étienne scholar Raphaël Roché notes that such Hispanic affairs were extraordinarily reported on (for West Indian press) in each of the paper's first 88 issues (at least), including in editorials. Roché further characterises the paper's early commentary (in its first 31 issues, to 27 January 1827) as "very critical" of the viability or even existence of the new Hispanic republics, though considers later coverage on the matter more factual and analytic. As compared to contemporary Hispanic press nearby, to Roché, the Gazette's editorials were more sharp, strident or even belligerent, and the paper covered mercantile affairs much more so than political ones. For instance, some of its commercial ads were even published in Spanish rather than English, with copy likely written or translated by a slave or indentured servant fluent in the language.
In terms of circulation, the Gazette is thought to have had a small subscriber base, given its small audience (under 4,000 people) and relatively high cost of subscription ($8 per annum). This shortfall was likely made up for by advertising revenue though, which is thought to have been sufficient to cover costs, given the relatively high cost of placing ads in the paper. Despite its limited run, at least some issues are known to have circulated in nearby British settlements in the Bay Islands and the Mosquito Shore, and further overseas in the West Indies, England and the new-found United States.
Disestablishment
It is not certain when exactly the Gazette ceased publication, though its run is thought to have ended sometime during the 1829 to 1838 period. A copy of the issue for 27 June 1829 is the latest extant copy known to date. The paper was succeeded on 29 September 1838 by the Belize Advertiser.
Legacy
Cave deems the Gazette's keen coverage of Hispanic affairs in neighbouring Mexico and Central America as precedent-setting, given that later periodicals of the 19th century in the Bay settlement and later British Honduras carried on the tradition. Roché argues that the paper or its coverage brought the "illicit" (to Spanish and later Hispanic authorities) British settlement to greater attention in nearby Hispanic republics, as 19th century press of the latter had largely ignored the Bay settlement until after the Gazette launched.
123Also Magistracy, Magistrates. A group of members of the Public Meeting or later Legislative Assembly who formed the government of the Bay settlement; first such, and akin to the later cabinet.
↑In . The resolution, brought by Westby, seconded by Maskall, and carried unanimously, read, "Resolved, that the Public will not from this time be liable to any further charge of, or expence arising from, the Printing Establishment of this Settlement (except the contracts already entered into) but that the present Printer shall be allowed the use of the Printing Press during the pleasure of the Public". To this was added (as moved by Carmichael, seconded by Wright, carried unanimously) "That the Magistrates be requested to draw up some regulations on the subject [the press] which they will submit at a future meeting". Cruickshank later commented that the Gazette, "we are not sorry to say, is no longer a Public but a Private Establishment; but we shall be most happy at all times to employ it in the manner which may be most conducive to the Public weal ... The proceedings that led to the result in our favour just named, were very long, & exhibited, particularly in their commencement, no inconsiderable portion of ill temper, but as we are perfectly satisfied with the manner in which they terminated, we would rather that the whole be buried in oblivion, than that we should be called on by either side, to give them publicity in our columns".
↑The Bay settlement's population in 1826 was 2,787 white and free Coloured residents and 2,410 slaves; in 1829, 2,516 white and free Coloured residents and 2,127 slaves. Gazette annual subscriptions cost $8, while standard ads cost 15/– per instance. In comparison, subscriptions to contemporary West Indian weeklies averaged $6 to $8, while subscriptions to Jamaican dailies averaged £5/6/8. Standard ads in Jamaican papers averaged –/6 to –/9 per instance.
↑In . The Gazette issue for 16 May 1829 is seemingly the latest cited in overseas British and American papers, as in . The Bodleian Library hold copies of the first 157 issues (to 27 June 1829); the British Library of the first 53 (to 30 June 1827). A portion of the first set (to vol. 2 no. 88) has been digitised by the library (at their online catalogue). All of the latter set (to vol. 1 no. 53) has been microfilmed by the library (at British Museum Newspaper Library reel 458), and digitised by Readex (at their Latin American Newspapers series).
anon. (1 July 1826). "vol 1 no 1". Honduras Gazette. Belize: James Cruickshank. pp.1–4.
anon. (17 March 1827). "vol 1 no 38". Honduras Gazette. Belize: James Cruickshank. pp.1–4, with supplement pp. 1-4.
anon. (11 July 1829a). "Guatemala". Newbern Sentinel. Vol.XII, no.587. New Bern, N. Car.: Thomas Watson. p.2.
anon. (6 August 1829b). "London Mails". Cheltenham Chronicle. Vol.20, no.1041. Cheltenham, Glos., Eng.: S. Y. Griffith & G. Cunningham. p.2.
Burdon, John Alder, ed. (1933). From 1801-1840. Archives of British Honduras. Vol.2. London: Sifton, Praed & Co. hdl:2027/mdp.39015028737016. OCLC3046003.
Cave, Roderick (1975). "Printing comes to Jamaica". Jamaica Journal. Vol.9, no.2–3. Kingston: Institute of Jamaica. pp.11–18.
Cundall, Frank (1916). The press and printers of Jamaica prior to 1820. Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society. hdl:2027/hvd.32044024430100. OCLC621457.
Martin, Robert Montgomery (1834). Possessions in the West Indies. History of the British colonies. Vol.2. London: Cochrane & McCrone. hdl:2027/hvd.32044009927740. OCLC1155228020.
