'''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.<ref>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)</ref> He remained in New York until 1783, becoming a partner with William Lewis in the ''New-York Mercury and General Advertiser''.<ref name="DCB">{{cite DCB |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ryan_john_7E.html |title=John Ryan |first=Patrick |last=O'Flaherty |volume=7 |accessdate=15 October 2013}}</ref>
== Career == * '''1777-1779''' ** An apprentice to John Howe<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=HP |editor1-last=Field |editor1-first=Edward |title=State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the End of the Century |date=1902 |publisher=Mason Publishing Co |location=Boston |url=https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/articles/218.html |accessdate=23 Jul 2019 |chapter=The Printer and the Press}}</ref> on the ''Newport Gazette''<ref name="DCB"/> * '''1783''' ** Partner with William Lewis in ''New-York Mercury; and General Advertiser'' in New York City.<ref name="DCB"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barns |first1=TM |title=LOYALIST NEWSPAPERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1763-1783: A BIBLIOGRAPHY |journal=Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society |date=1974 |volume=83 |issue=2 |page=217}}</ref> * '''18 December 1783''' ** Partner with William Lewis in publishing ''Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer'' in Parrtown (later Saint John, New Brunswick); the first newspaper in New Brunswick.<ref name="DCB"/> 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.<ref name="DCB"/> * '''1799''' ** Acquired the ''Royal Gazette'' from Christopher Sower and sold ''St. John Gazette'' to Jacob S. Mott.<ref name="DCB"/> * '''27 Aug 1807 – 1830s''' **Publisher of Newfoundland's first newspaper ''Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser'', in St. John's, Newfoundland. Took on his son Michael Ryan as partner.<ref name="DCB"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Devereaux |first1=EJ |title=Early Printing in Newfoundland |journal=Dalhousie Review |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=57–66 |url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/62683/dalrev_vol43_iss1_pp57_66.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |accessdate=23 July 2019}}</ref> * '''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 ''New Brunswick Chronicle'' (Jan - Aug 1804), the ''Fredericton Telegraph'' (Aug 1806 - Feb 1807)<ref name="HDNBNP">Harper, J. Russel (1961). Historical Directory of New Brunswick Newspapers and Periodicals. Fredericton: University of New Brunswick</ref> and the ''Globe'' in Barbados.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schomburgk |first=Robert Herman |authorlink=Robert Hermann Schomburgk |title=The History of Barbados |location=London |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans |year=1848 |page=405 |url=https://archive.org/details/historybarbados00schogoog |accessdate=15 October 2013}}</ref> * Lewis Kelly Ryan - publisher of ''Newfoundland Sentinel, and General Commercial Register''<ref name="DCB"/> * Robert B. Ryan * Ingraham Ryan * John Ryan Jr * Mary Somerindyke Ryan * Sarah Maghee Ryan * Leah Ryan
== Printing as a Family Endeavor == In her book, Maudie Whelan cites W.N. Glascock as having a first-hand account of printing in Newfoundland. It is likely that Glascock is referring to the Ryan family here:<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Whelan |first1=Maudie |title=Journalism in Newfoundland: A beginning history |date=1994 |publisher=Carleton University |location=Ottawa |page=4 |url=https://curve.carleton.ca/cd4b32fa-6bba-42d1-8ab6-a2d1784346e0 |accessdate=23 July 2019}}</ref>
{{Quote|quote=Notwithstanding that newspapers in this colony are saleable without being subject to any duty, it would appear that the profits, arising from that of even the most extensive circulation, are no more than competent to the maintenance of a family. In the instance alluded to, the various departments of exertion left no individual, young or old, male or female, unoccupied. The father took the literary lead, and wrote the leading article; the son-in-law (a half-pay purser in the navy) sometimes sported a quiet quill on a little quackery in political economy; the mother, not having much pretensions to letters, except in type (for she could assist as compositor at a pinch), collected and arranged little receipts for preserves, pickling, and pretty progeny; whilst the daughters, who were spinsters, professing total ignorance of the mystery of the latter composition, confined their talents to aiding in the composition of type, and correcting the press, which usually went on during the hour of tea, when every avowed contributor considered himself a privileged guest.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glasscock |first1=William Nugent |title=Naval sketch-book, or, The service afloat and ashore : with characteristic reminiscences, fragments and opinions on professional, colonial, and political subjects, interspersed with copious notes, biographical, historical, critical, and illustrative |date=1826 |publisher=Printed for the Author |location=London |pages=155 |isbn=9780665393082 |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_39308/page/n189}}</ref>}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== More Reading == * {{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Gwendolyn |chapter=New Brunswick Loyalist Printers in the Post-war Atlantic World: Cultural Transfer and Cultural Challenges |title=The Loyal Atlantic: Remaking the British Atlantic in the Revolutionary Era |editor1-first=Jerry |editor1-last=Bannister |editor2-first=Liam |editor2-last=Riordan |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2012 |isbn=9781442642089}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, John}} Category:1761 births Category:1847 deaths
Category:American printers Category:Businesspeople from Newport, Rhode Island Category:United Empire Loyalists