The Aurora Borealis was a short-lived newspaper, which was published by George Morgan between March and December 1821, before merging into The Observer of the Times (1821), to become the Observer of the Times and Aurora Borealis (1822). It was political aligned with the Whigs, and was particularly critical of the hardline Tory press in the form of John Bull (1820-1892) and the Edinburgh Beacon (1821).

While a London based newspaper, it devoted a surprisingly large amount of space to news from Scotland. This focus seems to have been problematic, and a perception amongst potential readers that it was a Scottish newspaper led to a reduced circulation. The merger with The Observer of the Times, which had been acquired by Morgan in November 1821, was hoped to counteract this, with the editor claiming that:

‘the Public are impressed with an idea that it contains nothing but Scotch intelligence, a circumstance prejudicial to the increase in its circulation excepting amongst natives of that Country; to remove this obstacle we are induced to combine with its present one a name less national.’

The subtitle Aurora Borealis appeared on The Observer of the Times for only seven issues before being dropped completely.

Beth Gaskell, The British Library