Joseph Royle

His Colonial Williamsburg printing office, reconstruction on Duke of Gloucester Street

Joseph Royle (1732 – January 26, 1766) was a colonial American newspaper publisher and printer for the colony of Virginia. He was a journeyman who apprenticed under Virginia's "public printer" William Hunter. He became the foreman in the print shop and upon the death of Hunter he took over his position, a prestigious job of producing all the colony legal documents. He also published the Virginia Gazette newspaper that had been originally started by William Parks. He tended to publish articles that favored just the colonial government and no apposing viewpoints, mainly because he was being paid by them.

Royle is associated with activities in Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and became the postmaster of its post office. He lived in the town and owned both male and female Negro slaves that did household chores and worked in his local print shop, some of who were runaway slaves that he published advertisements for in his newspaper to get them recaptured. Royle followed Ben Franklin's model as a typical colonial merchant and businessman.

Early life[]

Royle was Scottish, born in 1732 in an unknown location in Great Britain.^[1] It is not known when he immigrated to the American colonies. Royle likely lived in the same colonial Williamsburg house as his employer, the Virginia Gazette publisher William Hunter, as a co-tenant. This property, known as the "Ravenscroft site" consisting of two half-acre lots, is located at the corner of Nicholson and Botetourt Streets in colonial Williamsburg. This is at the east end of colonial Williamsburg, a block away from Duke of Gloucester Street, where the Williamsburg printing office and post office are located.^[2][3][4]

Mid life[]

Royle was a journeyman who apprenticed under Virginia's "public printer" ("printer to the public") William Hunter. He became the foreman^[5] in the print shop around 1758 when he was 26 years old. Upon the death of Hunter in 1761, Royle took over the position as Virginia's "public printer" – a prestigious job of producing all legal public documents and forms. He was the "public printer" through the Assembly of June 1765.^[6] His salary started in 1761 at £350 per year ^[6] and increased to £375 in 1764. At the time, Royle took over Hunter's position as the publisher of the Virginia Gazette and enlarged it to demy size.^[7][8] He also became then the postmaster of the Williamsburg post office, previously Hunter's position.^[9] Royle followed Ben Franklin's model as a typical colonial printer and postmaster.^[10]

Royle inherited the remainder of a 25-year lease on the Ravenscroft property, some nine years, upon the death of Hunter. He eventually bought the property in 1763 and owned it until his death in 1766. The Ravenscroft lots, part of Royle's estate, were held in trust for Royle's son, William. William was only two years old when Royle died in 1766.^[11] Royle was the brother-in-law to the prior tenant on the lease, John Holt. Holt, one time Mayor of Colonial Williamsburg, had started the 25-year lease in 1745. Royle became Holt's brother-in-law when he married William Hunter's sister, Roseanna. Roseanna was the younger sister of Holt's wife, Elizabeth.^[12] Royle was given the sum of £1000 by William Hunter in his will, on condition that he would continue the Williamsburg printing business for the joint interest of Hunter's infant son William Jr and himself.^[11] Royle died in 1766 before his nephew (William Hunter Jr.) became of age.^[8]

Household[]

Royle and his wife Roseanna lived with their sons, William and Hunter, at the Ravenscroft property. It is likely that William Hunter Jr, the infant son of William Hunter (d.1761), lived with them also. There were additionally in the household at least five slaves. There were two Negro men (Matt and Aberdeen) and three Negro females. One of the females was a mulatto 16-year-old girl (Jenny) who was a runaway.

There may have been other slaves in the household. The Bruton Parish Church register for births provides names of other slaves belonging to Royle:

• Lewis Palace, son of Lydia, baptized September 22, 1762
• William Paliars, son of Lydia, baptized June 3, 1764
• Joseph, son of Lucy, baptized April 12, 1766.

In each of these cases above the mother and son were recorded as slaves belonging to Royle.

Runaway slaves[]

Printing advertisements at Williamsburg

Royle runaway slave advertisement
Maryland Gazette May 2, 1765 (p. 2) ^[13]

Royle had his problems with runaway slaves, typical of others in the colonies. Besides an advertisement for his runaway slave "Jenny", Royle put an advertisement in the Maryland Gazette on 2 May 1765 for a £5 reward for the return of his slave called "George Fisher". George was an apprentice bookbinder. He was described in the advertisement as "very thick, stoops much, and has a down look; he is a little pock-pitted, has a scar on one of his temples, is much addicted to liquor, very talkative when drunk and remarkably stupid." The amount of £5 for the 25-year-old slave was a large sum at the time. The reward was large because this slave was a skilled journeyman much needed in Royle's printing shop.^[14]

Virginia Gazette advertisement of January 28, 1775
for Royle's runaway slave named Jenny^[15]

Newspaper controversy[]

Royle refused to print the controversial debates happening in the General Assembly of the House of Burgesses of the early 1760s in his Virginia Gazette. Royle followed closely the philosophies of Francis Fauquier, Lieutenant Governor of colonial Virginia.^[16] This compliance to Fauquier's philosophies did not go well with many of Royle's customers or with their representatives in the House of Burgesses. Royle refused to publish copies of the Stamp Act Resolves in 1765 when ordered by the House of Burgesses, following Fauquier's philosophies. Royle's Virginia Gazette also refused to print the Virginia Resolves of 1765 (related to the Stamp Act). This decision caused some of the more liberal Virginians to intervene in the situation, deciding that the colony needed a new printer and a more open newspaper. Up until that time, Royle's Virginia Gazette, which was seen as a voice controlled by the English government, was the only newspaper. Some unknown Virginians recruited William Rind, co-publisher of Annapolis, Maryland's Maryland Gazette to come to Williamsburg to set up a competing newspaper, free from English control.^[17] While this recruitment of a new printer is often credited to Thomas Jefferson, professor Roger P, Mellen of New Mexico State University shows with a closer examination of newspapers and history of the time that show that it was not Jefferson's doing that brought about an additional printer.^[18]

Royle as foreman of the Williamsburg printing office in 1759 began printing pamphlets on the Two Penny Act.^[19] Rev. John Camm sent Royle a pamphlet but could not get his pamphlet printed in the Virginia Gazette because Royle objected to its inflammatory "Satyrical Touches upon the Late Assembly."^[20] Royle's yearly pay came from the House of Burgesses of Virginia, so he did not want to print anything that would be objectionable to them.^[21] Royle returned Camm's pamphlet giving the reasons why he would not print it.^[22] Royle did print a reply to Camm's pamphlet by House of Burgesses member Richard Bland.^[20] Thomas Jefferson and others saw this as a slanted point of view since Royle would not print any attacks on the House of Burgesses, which inspired a competing outlet – a second "Virginia Gazette" newspaper.^[20] Some Virginians brought in a "patriot" influence to have an open press voice.^[23] Jefferson pointed out that up to that time there was only one newspaper publication and nothing objectionable to the governor could be put into it that the public could see, so approved another newspaper publisher with apposing viewpoints.^[24] Jefferson and other colonists had hoped that Rind's press would give an opposing view to Royle's, which they thought leaned too much toward the royal governor.^[25] A 1766 Virginia Gazette newspaper article describes from a "Man of Principle" that during the time Royle printed the newspaper, it was not known as a free press giving all viewpoints.^[26] This "Man of Principle" alleged the governor censored the newspaper.^[27]

Works[]

Applying the ink to the types

Printing work demonstration

Printed page samples of Royle's publications:

• 

  The Virginia Gazette
  February 12, 1762

• 

  The Virginia Gazette
  November 4, 1763

• 

  The Virginia Gazette
  October 25, 1765

Some additional publications credited to Hunter:

• 6 editions of The journal of the House of Burgesses from 1762 into 1765.^[28]
• 4 editions of Acts of Assembly of General Assembly in the city of Williamsburg of 1762 .^[29]
• 1 edition each of To the Honourable Francis Fauquier, His Majesty's lieutenant-governor of 1761 and 1762.^[30]
• 4 editions of Anno regni Georgii III of 1762.^[31]
• 2 editions of Anno regni Georgii III of 1764.^[32]
• 2 editions of Critical remarks on a letter ascribed to Common Sense of 1765.^[33]

Death and will[]

Royle died January 26, 1766. He directed in his will that in the event his sons (William and Hunter), the heirs of his estate proved to be childless, the estate funds should be used to create a children's school to be called "Royle's Free School". He wanted the school to employ a teacher of good character, who would be paid £50 per year. This teacher should have the capability of teaching English, arithmetic and mathematics.^[34] The school-house was to be built on any part of lots 266 and 267, a section of land inherited by his son William.^[35]

See also[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph Royle.

• Alexander Purdie (publisher)
• William Hunter (publisher)
• William Parks (publisher)
• Isaac Collins (printer)
• David Hall (publisher)
• Elizabeth Timothy
• Louis Timothee
• Jane Aitken

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Amory, Hugh (2009). A History of the Book in America: The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807868003.

• Ford, Thomas (1990). The Bookbinder in Eighteenth-century Williamsburg: An Account of His Life & Times, & of His Craft. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

• Hall, David D. (2000). A History of the Book in America: Volume 1, The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521482569.

• Mellen, Roger P. (2009). The Origins of a Free Press in Prerevolutionary Virginia: Creating a Culture of Political Dissent. Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0773438774.

• Parks, A. Franklin (2012). William Parks: The Colonial Printer in the Transatlantic World of the Eighteenth Century. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0271052120.

• Thomas, Isaiah (1970). History of Printing in America. Weathervane Books. ISBN 051717202X.}

• Virginia State Library (1908). Report of the Virginia State Library, Volumes 5-7. Virginia State Library, Division of Purchase and Printing.

• Wroth, Lawrence C. (1964). The Colonial Printer. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486282945.