The Staffordshire Advertiser was established in Stafford in 1795 and became the main county newspaper for Staffordshire. Its proprietor was Joshua Drewry (c.1773-1841), a printer and bookseller in Stafford who also ran a circulating library.

As the son of a printer in Lincoln and nephew of a printer and newspaper proprietor in Derby, Drewry clearly had printing in his blood. He was a supporter of playwright Richard Sheridan, Whig MP for Stafford, and was involved in local politics being elected Mayor of Stafford 1818-19.

For a provincial paper, the Staffordshire Advertiser kept up with technological advances, being one of the first to acquire a steam press in 1829.

Control of the newspaper passed into the Mort family, and by 1834 it was being run by the sons of Joshua Drewry’s cousin Sophia, John Drewry Mort and Charles Chester Mort.

J. & C. Mort Ltd owned the paper until 1953 when it merged with the Staffordshire Chronicle to become the Staffordshire Advertiser and Chronicle. The last issue appeared on Jan 4 1973.