The Alnwick Mercury was founded by publisher, bookbinder and chemist, William Davison in 1854 as an 8 page monthly publication, costing 1d. Much of the printing was done in London, with the local section printed in Alnwick. Circulation had risen from 1000 initially to over 2600 by the time Davison died in 1858. The business passed to his son, who sold the paper in 1859 to Henry Hunter Blair. By 1864 it was a 4-page weekly with local adverts on the front page, general news on the inside, plus local news, editorial and adverts on the back page.
The Alnwick and County Gazette was started in 1883 by Charles. E. Moore of Moore Brothers Music Shop, who formed a private company with two others with a view to printing a newspaper wholly in the town. They then purchased all the rights to the Alnwick Mercury from Henry Hunter Blair. Although they continued the numbering of the Mercury, the title became the Alnwick and County Gazette and Alnwick Mercury.
By 1883 the Alnwick and Country Gazette was an 8-page penny weekly, focussing mainly on local news. By March 1884 circulation had reached 6000 copies and its political orientation was definitely Conservative.
The title changed in 1943 to the Northumberland and Alnwick Gazette. It is now published as the Northumberland Gazette.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1854–83 The Alnwick Mercury
- 1884–1923 Alnwick and County Gazette.
- 1923–42 The Alnwick and County Gazette and Guardian.
- 1943–47 Northumberland and Alnwick Gazette.
- 1947–2005 Northumberland gazette
