The Herald is a Melbourne daily newspaper which began life in 1840 as the Port Melbourne Herald. In 1849 it changed its title to Melbourne Morning Herald, and in 1855 to the Herald. The paper originally started as a morning newspaper but changed to an evening version in 1869 under the ownership of David Syme. In October 1990 it combined with the Sun to form the Herald-Sun, an all-day paper with four editions printed.
C J Dennis was appointed by the Editor of the Herald, Kieth Murdoch in 1922, to write a daily poetic commentry on the news of the day. Dennis continued this work for 16 years until his death in 1938, providing readers with new characters like Ben Bowyang, Polly Dibbs, 'Erb, Fred and Gus. Dennis also chronicled Australia's Anzac Legacy, writing poems every Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.