The Protestant Advocate began as the Spectator and South Australian Protestant advocate. It was apparently financed by George Fife Angas, and was printed and published by James Heath Lewis. Angas had worked hard during the 1870 election campaign to block Roman Catholic candidates from being elected to the South Australian Parliament, and this newspaper continued this campaign. "We have, to the best of our ability, exposed the hollowness and deceit of that huge hypocritical corporation styled the Church of Rome ... The Romish organs published in this city, by their leanings towards Fenianism and undisguised hatred of our Protestant Queen and Government, have sufficiently proved the necessity which exists for a paper such as ours ..." (Protestant advocate, 1 January 1870, p. 4) This was a particularly difficult period for South Australian Catholics, with the death of Archbishop Sheil internal conflicts which included the excommunication of Mary MacKillop. The Protestant advocate made the most of all of this, printing, for example, a letter in its issue of 6 April 1872 denouncing MacKillop and the "scandalous" behaviour of her nuns which caused Lewis to be fined for libel over the printing of the letter. The Protestant Advocate was much berated by other newspapers. The Portonian described its content as "venom" and "spite" (Portonian, 14 September 1872, supplement). The Protestant Advocate appears to have ceased in 1875.