The Kendal Mercury was originally published in 1811 as the Westmorland Advertiser and Kendal Chronicle.  It was a liberal paper promoting civil, religious commercial and political freedom.  Proprietor in 1846 was printer and publisher George Lee, who was a Unitarian minister. Originally from Hull, George ran the paper with 7 or 8 employees, teaching his son Rawdon Briggs Lee the printer’s trade so that he could take over when his father died.

In 1880, Edward Gill, proprietor of the liberal Kendal Times, established in 1864, took over ownership of the Mercury. Rawdon Lee later left for London to become an editor at The Field. Gill renamed the paper the KendalMercury and Times. In 1913, it became the Westmorland Mercury and Times, and ceased publication in 1917.