Royal Gazette and the New-Brunswick Advertiser – New Brunswick, Christopher Sower, 1785

Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, into a prominent German printing family, Christopher Sower (1754–1799) joined his father’s printing business in 1775. After publishing anti-revolutionary articles in 1776, the family faced increasing hostility and fled to New York in 1778. During the American Revolution, Sower worked as an undercover agent for the British. He later travelled to England, where, with the assistance of influential merchant Sir Brook Watson, he secured an appointment as the first King’s Printer of New Brunswick on April 8, 1785.

On October 11, 1785, Sower began publishing The Royal Gazette and New Brunswick Advertiser in St. John. His appointment as King’s Printer angered John Ryan and William Lewis, who had established the province’s first newspaper in 1783. Ryan was forced to remove ‘Royal’ from his newspaper’s title, fuelling a bitter rivalry with Sower. The two eventually reconciled, and when Sower moved to his country estate in 1790, Ryan took over the operation of his St. John press until 1796.

As King’s Printer, Sower printed the journals of the House of Assembly and other official government notices. Additionally, Sower revived his family’s tradition of printing almanacs, which became widely popular for their practical content, including lunar cycles, calendars, tidal times, and other useful information.

In 1792 the New Brunswick assembly required Sower to move his press to Fredericton, thus becoming that city’s first printer. 

Sower’s tenure as King’s Printer was cut short in March 1799 due to declining health, leading to the position being passed to his longtime rival, John Ryan. Sower travelled to Baltimore where he planned to establish a type foundry with his brother Samuel, but passed away before realizing this ambition.