The Cambridge Chronicle was founded in 1762 as a weekly 4-page publication which supported Tory principles and cost twopence halfpenny, the same price as the rival Tory paper, the Cambridge Journal. The Chronicle absorbed the Journal in 1766.

It was owned and published for many years by Francis Hodson who died in 1812. His son James Hodson continued to run the paper until 1832.

By 1851 it was owned by William Simpson, B.A. and Charles Wharton Naylor. Simpson came from Kendal and acted as editor while Naylor was a printer and publisher originally from London. The Chronicle boasted a good circulation throughout Cambridgeshire and the neighbouring counties. It still advocated Conservative principles, supported protectionism and adhered to the tenets of the Established Church.

In 1934 the Cambridge Chronicle merged with the Cambridge Independent Press to become the CambridgeIndependent Press and Chronicle. In 1981 it became the Cambridge Weekly News.