Darlington & Stockton Times

First published in Barnard Castle in 1847. It was the brainchild of Liberal philanthropist and barrister, George Brown, who sought to challenge the Tory monopoly of the press in the region.

The following year it relocated to Darlington, where it has continued to be published from to the present day. Founder George Brown then sold it to property developers, Robert and William Thompson. In 1864, the Thompsons went into liquidation and it was then sold to Henry King Spark. Spark purchased the paper to raise his own political profile in and around the Darlington area.

In 1867, the D&S Times was instrumental in both Darlington's Incorporation and its creation into a Parliamentary borough. But both campaigns brought the paper into conflict with local industrial barons, the Peases, who responded by creating The Northern Echo. In 1878, following a decade of feuding between the two factions Spark was made bankrupt and was forced to sell the D&S Times to the Northern Echo proprietor John Hyslop Bell.

In 1903, it was then sold to the North of England Newspaper Company, which later became part of the Westminster Press group.

In 1996, Newsquest Media Group bought the Westminster Press Group and its titles, including The Northern Echo. Shortly after on 3 October 1997 it ditched the classified advertisements from the front page and replaced it with news, being one of the last newspapers in the UK to do so.

In 2009, the newspaper switched from its traditional broadsheet format to a smaller 'compact' layout, following in the footsteps of its sister title, The Northern Echo.

In August 2018, Hannah Chapman, a reporter on the paper, took over the editorship of the Darlington and Stockton Times and its sister publication, The Northern Echo.[2]

• Official Website
• North of England Newspaper Archive: Darlington & Stockton Times
• NS database:Darlington & Stockton Times
• Newsquest Media Group