Henry Duncan, minister of
Ruthwell and creator of the
savings bank, founded the
Courier in order to compete with the
Dumfries Weekly Journal, which he described as "an organ of public opinion" with "neither weight nor authority". He obtained his financial backing from his brothers, who were shipping merchants in
Liverpool. Duncan owned and edited the newspaper until 1817, when he requested that John McDiarmid take over the editorship and become a partner in the business. Both editors displayed a moderate-to-liberal political stance, demonstrated by lengthy commentaries on
prison reform,
suffrage,
Catholic emancipation and education. After McDiarmid's death in 1852, the editorship was taken over by his son, William R. M’Diarmid. In 1884, the
Courier was purchased by local conservatives and merged with the
Dumfriesshire and Galloway Herald and Register in order to form the
Dumfries and Galloway Courier and Herald. In 1939, it ceased publication owing to wartime paper shortages. In 1977, the newspaper, still owned by Dumfriesshire Newspapers Limited, restarted publication under the title
The Dumfries Courier, sharing its online presence with DNG Media's other regional titles. == Operations ==