The Derby Daily Telegraph was founded in Derby in 1879 by Eliza M. Pike, widow of John Beard Pike who had established the Derby and Chesterfield Reporter in 1823. A four-page halfpenny broadsheet, it was the first daily paper to be produced in Derby, hitting the streets only 20 minutes before the short-lived Derby Daily Gazette. Mrs Pike ran the paper until her death in 1905.

The first editor was Walter James Piper, originally from Bath, who worked as a reporter in Sheffield before moving to Derby. He remained in the post until his death in 1918. Three of his sons were newspaper reporters and Walter junior later followed in his father’s footsteps as editor of the Derby Telegraph.