Robert M. Osborne

Robert Martin Osborne (c. 1852 – 22 September 1931) was a newspaper editor and proprietor of several newspapers in South Australia, notably the Petersburg Times.

Osborne emigrated to South Australia in 1884. He worked on the Port Augusta Dispatch and ran a newspaper in Teetulpa before he was approached by the mayor of Petersburg about establishing a newspaper. The Petersburg Times, Orroroo Chronicle and Northern Advertiser was established in August 1887. Obsborn was active in the Petersburg community and, for a time, a member of the town council. In 1896, he and his brother Samuel Osborne founded the Quorn Mercury and the Advertiser in Port Pirie, where he remained for many years. In 1897, Robert left Petersburg to establish a printing business in Adelaide. He also founded The Farm for the S.A. Farmers' Co-operative Union, and The S.A. Freemason. He purchased The Garden and Field, edited the Unley Citizen, and for a time ran The Critic. In 1909, Osborne sold the PetersburgTimes and Quorn Mercury to former employee, William Bennett. Robert left for Launceston, Tasmania, where he served as alderman and was elected mayor in 1929.