The City Press was a weekly newspaper founded by William Hill Collingridge of London in 1857. Collingridge was the son of a printer from Olney. He was apprenticed to a London printer and bought the business from his employer, who left to become a clergyman. William used the name of the business for the newspaper.

According to Charles Mitchell, the City Press was the leading and oldest local newspaper for the City of London, a “recognised authority upon the local government and administration of the City” (Newspaper Press Directory, 1938).

Collingridge was interested in improvement for the common good and creating reform from within so from the outset the aims of the paper were just that. It reported on the workings of the Corporation, criticising where it thought necessary and encouraging the adoption of measures for the benefit of the people of the City of London. Collingridge’s son, William became Medical Officer of Health for the City.