The Royal St. John’s Gazette and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer – New Brunswick, John Ryan, 1784

John Ryan (1761 – 1847) first learned the printing trade as an apprentice to the loyalist printer John Howe in Rhode Island. In 1783, he moved to New-York where he co-edited the New-York Mercury (or General Advertiser) with William Lewis. As members of a refugee militia company of loyalists, the two men resettled to New Brunswick where they began publishing The Royal St. John’s Gazette and Nova Scotia Intelligencer in Parr-Town (now part of St. John). For two years, they operated the only printing office of the province. In 1784, their frequent criticism of government policies led them to be indicted for libel.

By 1785, Christopher Sower, a Loyalist appointed King’s Printer, forced Ryan and Lewis to remove the word "Royal" from their newspaper’s title. The loss of government contracts may have intensified their anti-government sentiment. In 1786, they faced another libel charge, were convicted, and fined.

The partnership eventually dissolved, and Lewis returned to Massachusetts, leaving Ryan to continue publishing independently. The publication underwent a name change in 1786 to The St. John Gazette and Weekly Advertiser with John Ryan as the publisher. It was only after Sower’s death in 1799 that Ryan was finally granted the title of King’s Printer. By 1806, he relocated to Newfoundland, becoming the first printer to publish in two provinces.