The "Western Morning News" was founded by William Saunders and Edward Spender, father of Sir Wilfrid Spender, on 3 January 1860. It has been published continuously since the first edition, including throughout the 1926 General Strike and the Plymouth Blitz. By 1920, the Devon newspaper market was getting cramped, with all papers running into financial difficulties. In the same year, Sir Leicester Harmsworth acquired the "Western Morning News"; from 1 February 1921, the "Western Daily Mercury" and "Western Evening Herald" were also taken over, with the papers continuing to be published from the old "Mercury" offices in Frankfort Street. Shortly before World War II, new offices were constructed on the same site after the demolition of the previous premises; the modern construction allowed the offices to survive the Blitz and publishing continued there until the move to Derriford.