Guest Speaker:
Dick Whitaker
Join us in Gordon Library Meeting Room 1
at 2 pm on Saturday 20 July 2024
KHS member Dick Whitaker returns with the story of the tumultuous life and times of Truth newspaper owner John Norton – one Australia’s first ‘media populists’. He became both a politician and a media baron, accumulating tremendous wealth and power in the process.
Cyril Pearl’s 1958 book Wild Men of Sydney was about John Norton, Patrick Crick and William Wills – crooked politicians who were heavily involved in the NSW land scandals of the 1890s and 1900s. This talk looks at the life and times of one of these – John Norton – and his rise and fall within the background of Victorian and Edwardian Sydney.
In addition to his political activities, Norton achieved notoriety and tremendous wealth through his media ownership of Truth newspaper – a weekly scandal sheet with interstate offices.
His story is a tragedy that saw him become all-powerful as one of Australia’s first media populists, followed by his descent into alcoholism and the wreckage of his family.
In this look at the life and times of John Norton, amateur historian Dick Whitaker draws from several sources including Wild Men of Sydney, plus extensive use of the writings of Norton himself, and cartoons contained in Truth at the time.
As always, please keep an eye on our website in case of any last-minute changes.
The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).
It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.
For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.
