Grave of Mr. Geo. Howe the First Govt. Printer. Devonshire Cemetry Sydney.

Photograph of the grave of the first Government printer George Howe (1769-1821).

Howe was a printer, editor, publisher and poet, born on the island of St Kitts in the West Indies, the son of Thomas Howe, government printer at Basseterre on St Christopher’s Island. George and his brother were both apprenticed to the printing trade. He arrived at Sydney in November 1800.

Almost immediately Howe became a government printer, and the range of his printing far exceeded the broadsheets and orders of his predecessor, George Hughes. In 1802 he issued the first book printed in Australia, New South Wales General Standing Orders, comprising of Government and General Orders issued between 1791 and 1802. On 5 March 1803 he began the publication of the first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser.

The Devonshire Street Cemetery (also known incorrectly as the Brickfield Cemetery or Sandhills Cemetery) was located between Eddy Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and between Chalmers and Devonshire Streets, at Brickfield Hill, in Sydney, Australia. It was consecrated in 1820 and by 1860, the cemetery was full, and was closed in 1867.