The Southland Times turns 150 years old on November 12 and we need your help.

Our first edition - we were The Invercargill Times then - was published on November 12, 1862. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find a copy of that first newspaper.

The Times premises burnt down twice in the first few years of its existence and any newspaper files that existed were probably lost in the fires.

However, southerners are great collectors, so does anyone have a copy, tucked away among your family's historical treasures? We really would love to see it if you do.

We want our readers to celebrate this milestone with us and one of the events we have organised is a public exhibition at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, opening on November 8, showing the evolution of both the newspaper and the community it serves.

We have also produced a pictorial history on the newspaper and Southland through the last century and a half and that goes to the printers this week. The book, Times of Change, will be available to the public at $30 a copy though subscribers will have to pay only $25. Order forms are printed in the Times.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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