'It takes away from the community': Daily Mercury ...

A descendant of the founder of two regional Queensland newspapers has said losing print editions will be a massive loss to regional life.

Bree Forse is the great-great-great-granddaughter of William Oswald Hodgkinson, who founded the Mackay Daily Mercury in 1866.

Ms Forse said seeing the printing presses stop on both papers was sad for their communities, but also sad for her relative's legacy.

"You're losing the essence of what he started, which was a physical newspaper," she said.

"Having a newspaper really brings a community together, I worry for regional areas."

Ms Forse said towns that lost their mastheads would suffer.

"It takes away from the community and for a regional town and a small area, that is an important thing," she said.

"My thoughts go out to all those people who lost their jobs with the papers going digital."

Pioneering past

William Hodgkinson was a complex frontier character — an explorer, newspaper man, miner, magistrate and later Queensland's mining minister.

Before his time in newspapers, Mr Hodgkinson was a member of the Burke and Wills expedition, but he left the party before it suffered tragedy at Cooper Creek.

He was involved in the McKinlay relief party into the Channel Country.

On the expedition, Mr Hodgkinson painted a chilling depiction of the frontier wars near Boulia in far west Queensland.

William Oswald Hodgkinson's painting Bulla, Queensland, 1861 shows armed fighting between the expedition and Aboriginal people.(Supplied: National Library of Australia)

After his time exploring, Mr Hodgkinson was the editor of the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, before founding the Mackay Daily Mercury.

He sold his interest in the paper in 1869 to head to Queensland's goldfields.

Eerie family synchronicity

Ms Forse discovered her family connection to the news business on her first day working for the Rockhampton paper.

"I spent most of my adult life working for regional newspapers, but it wasn't until I started working at the Morning Bulletin in Rockhampton and I read in the welcome pack you get when you start working, and I saw his name as one of the first editors and founders," she said.

William Oswald Hodgkinson joined the Burke and Willis expedition and was the second in command of the McKinley expedition in 1861.(Supplied: State Library Queensland)

"It changed the way I looked at the Morning Bulletin. It was like working for my family's paper.

"It gave me a bit more of a purpose."

Ms Forse said going into the editor's office, she would get a sense of awe that it was the office he had worked in over 100 years ago.

"Behind the editor's desk there's a copy of the first edition. Maybe he framed it," she said.