Originally published on 20 April 1792, the Leicester Chronicle ceased publication in 1793. Re-established on 10 November 1810, the newspaper was bought in 1813 by Thomas Thompson. The paper was Liberal in outlook, whereas the rival Leicester Journal was Conservative. A Saturday newspaper in 1840, priced 4 1/2 d, the front pages did not exclusively contain advertisements as many other titles tended to, but included reports from the London Gazette , County Court News, Foreign Intelligence.

Thomas Thompson remained proprietor until 1841, when his son James became joint proprietor. James Thompson was a liberal reformer, a town councillor, and clearly possessed literary abilities, for he was the leader writer for the Leicester Chronicle for more than thirty years. He was also a leading authority on the history of Leicester, and one of the founders of the Leicester Architectural and Archaeological Society in 1855. Mitchell characterised the newspaper in 1860 as Liberal, and: "Advocates the interests of the locality in which it circulates, and constitutional and progressive reforms. It is more particularly taken as a domestic newspaper..."

In 1864, James Thompson merged the Leicester Chronicle and the Leicestershire Mercury . He established the Leicester Daily Mercury as a daily evening newspaper on 31 January 1874. Upon James Thompson's death in 1877, Francis Hewitt purchased these newspapers from the executors, thus beginning three generations of Hewitt family ownership. The newspapers moved to new premises in Albion Street, Leicester by 1890, and publishing at these premises continued until 1967. The Leicester Chronicle continued weekly publication until 31 August 1979, when it was discontinued. The Leicester Mercury continues publication today.