William McGarvie

William McGarvie (1810 – 1 April 1841) was a Scottish-born journalist, bookseller, and pastoralist who co-founded the Sydney Herald, the forerunner of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Early life and career McGarvie was born in Glasgow and received a classical education before entering the service of the Glasgow Herald. In 1828, he emigrated to Australia, arriving in Sydney aboard the Comet. Soon thereafter, he assumed management of the Australian Stationery Warehouse, a business conducted by Robert Howe in association with the Sydney Gazette. It included a circulating library, and in 1829 McGarvie compiled its catalogue, a document regarded today as a valuable record of the social and intellectual life of the period. He was survived by his wife, Isabella, and their infant son, born three weeks before his death. His estate was valued at £3,000. Isabella later remarried Frederick Mackellar, the grandfather of the Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar.