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The ''Leeds Mercury'' was a newspaper published in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. 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 is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). Historically, a ...
. 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 January 1807 to 1900 have been digitised as part of the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
's 19th-century newspapers digitisation project, through which they are accessible free of charge to members of UK Higher Education and Further Education institutions, some public libraries, the British Library's buildings, and for a fee to other subscribers.


In literature

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
: "The detection of rintingtypes is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge to the special expert in crime, though I confess that once when I was very young I confused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News." (''
The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...
'', Ch. 5).


References


Further reading

* Publications established in 1718 Publications disestablished in 1939 1718 establishments in England 1939 disestablishments in England 1923 mergers and acquisitions 1939 mergers and acquisitions Newspapers published in Yorkshire Mass media in Leeds Yorkshire Post Newspapers {{England-newspaper-stub