John Ryan (printer)

John Ryan (7 October 1761 – 30 September 1847) was a loyalist printer.

Sometime between 1776 and 1780 he became an apprentice to John Howe, in Newport, Rhode Island. John Ryan married Amelia Mott on 22 November 1781 in New York City.^[1] He remained in New York until 1783, becoming a partner with William Lewis in the New-York Mercury and General Advertiser.^[2]

Career

• 1783 - Partner with William Lewis in New-York Mercury; and General Advertiser in New York City.^[2]
• 18 December 1783 - Partner with William Lewis in publishing Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer in Parrtown (later St. John, New Brunswick); the first newspaper in New Brunswick.^[2] His relationship with William Lewis dissolved and the publication underwent a name change in 1786 to the St. John Gazette, and Weekly Advertiser with John Ryan as the publisher.^[2]
• 1799 - Acquired the Royal Gazette from Christopher Sower and sold St. John Gazette to Jacob S. Mott.^[2]
• 1807-1830's - Publisher of Newfoundland's first newspaper Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser, in St. John's, Newfoundland. Took on his son Michael Ryan as partner.^[2]
• 1833 - 1835 - Published, in partnership with John Collier Withers, Journal of the Legislative Council of Newfoundland
• 1836 - 1841 - Published, in partnership with John Collier Withers, Journal of His Majesty's Council of Newfoundland

Family

John Ryan and Amelia Mott had seven children:

• Michael Ryan - printer of the Globe in Barbados.^[3]
• Lewis Kelly Ryan - publisher of Newfoundland Sentinel, and General Commercial Register^[2]
• Robert B. Ryan
• Ingraham Ryan
• Mary Somerindyke Ryan
• Sarah Ryan
• Leah Ryan

Notes

1. New York Marriages. In Names of persons for whom marriage licenses were issued by the secretary of the province of New York, previous to 1784 (p. 273)
2. O'Flaherty, Patrick (2013). "Biography – John Ryan". Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume VII (1836-1850). Retrieved 15 October 2013.
3. Schomburgk, Robert Herman (1848). The History of Barbados. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. p. 405. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

References

• Davies, Gwendolyn (2012). Bannister, Jerry; Riordan, Liam, eds. "New Brunswick Loyalist Printers in the Post-war Atlantic World: Cultural Transfer and Cultural Challenges". The Loyal Atlantic: Remaking the British Atlantic in the Revolutionary Era. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.