Leeds Mercury
Encyclopedia
The Leeds Mercury was a newspaper in Leeds
, West Yorkshire
, England
. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,000 copies, and in 1797 the cost rose to sixpence because of increased stamp duty
. It appeared weekly until 1855, then three times a week until 1861 when stamp duty was abolished and it became a daily paper costing one penny.
Edward Baines (1774-1848) bought the paper in 1801, and his son Sir Edward Baines (1800-1890) succeeded him as editor and proprietor.
In 1923 the Leeds Mercury was acquired by the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Limited (now Yorkshire Post Newspapers), publishers of the Yorkshire Post
, but it continued to be published as a separate title until 26 November 1939, after which a combined paper was published as the Yorkshire Post with the Mercury name kept as a subtitle for some years. The merger was not announced until after the last edition of the Mercury had been published, to prevent national newspapers from having the opportunity to attract Mercury readers to their titles instead of to the new merged paper.
The issues of the Leeds Mercury from 3 Jan 1807 to 1900 have been digitised as part of the British Library
's 19th century newspapers digitisation project, through which they are accessible free of charge to members of UK Higher Education and Further Education institutions and from the British Library's buildings, and for a fee to other subscribers.
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,000 copies, and in 1797 the cost rose to sixpence because of increased stamp duty
Stamp duty
Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on documents. Historically, this included the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions. A physical stamp had to be attached to or impressed upon the document to denote that stamp duty...
. It appeared weekly until 1855, then three times a week until 1861 when stamp duty was abolished and it became a daily paper costing one penny.
Edward Baines (1774-1848) bought the paper in 1801, and his son Sir Edward Baines (1800-1890) succeeded him as editor and proprietor.
In 1923 the Leeds Mercury was acquired by the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Limited (now Yorkshire Post Newspapers), publishers of the Yorkshire Post
Yorkshire Post
The Yorkshire Post is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, a company owned by Johnston Press...
, but it continued to be published as a separate title until 26 November 1939, after which a combined paper was published as the Yorkshire Post with the Mercury name kept as a subtitle for some years. The merger was not announced until after the last edition of the Mercury had been published, to prevent national newspapers from having the opportunity to attract Mercury readers to their titles instead of to the new merged paper.
The issues of the Leeds Mercury from 3 Jan 1807 to 1900 have been digitised as part of the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
's 19th century newspapers digitisation project, through which they are accessible free of charge to members of UK Higher Education and Further Education institutions and from the British Library's buildings, and for a fee to other subscribers.