![William Brown. William Brown.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/206252786/972f453a-6f9c-4672-992a-2fac39f90e34.jpg/r1003_904_1733_1974_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
An unbreakable community spirit and dedication to public service epitomised the life of the Examiner's first owner, William Brown.
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Remarkably, he served almost 61 years as editor of the newspaper, working up until May 14, 1954, the day before his admission to hospital.
Aside from leading the paper through six decades, he was integral in the formation of the Hunter Valley Cooperative Dairy Company (later to become OAK) and was a member of NSW parliament from 1907 to 1917.
Born at Nelsons Plains in 1867, Brown was one of 10 children.
After he finished school at Nelsons Plains and then Raymond Terrace, he joined the Gloucester Gazette and Williams River Advocate under the guidance of owner Henry Courtney.
After the Gazette closed he entered a printing partnership in Sydney, then returning to establish the Gloucester Examiner and Lower Hunter Advertiser with George Hill in 1893.
In 1903 he helped form the Raymond Terrace Cooperative Dairy Company which then became the Hunter Valley CoOp - at the time one of the biggest concerns of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
For years an enlarged portrait of Mr Brown adorned the boardroom wall of the company's Hexham offices.
In 1907 he entered parliament as the Liberal Party member for Durham, serving three terms.
As the oldest journalist on the Hunter River, the Newcastle Herald ran a story on October 8, 1947 to mark his eightieth birthday.
"He recalled yesterday that his earliest effort in the house was to urge the bridging of the Hunter at Hexham and Raymond Terrace," it said.
On the local scene he was secretary of most of the town's organisations at different stages and a keen cricketer, shooter and fisherman.
On May 14, 1954, his obituary, published in the Examiner, stated "he was until 5.30pm at his desk until he laid down his pen, for what proved to be the last time."
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