 The paper opened with the adopted motto "impartial – but not neutral", which was to run under its masthead for 50 years.It was edited by William Kerr (1812–1859) who left Cavenagh in 1841 to be editor of the "Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser" and then on to the "Port Phillip Gazette" about a decade later.The editor who followed Kerr at the "Port Phillip Herald" was Thomas Hamilton Osborne (c. 1805 – 1853) who later became proprietor of "The Portland Mercury and Port Fairy Register" (originally known as "The Portland Mercury and Normanby Advertiser") on 10 January 1844.