The newspaper was founded in 1874, the first issue being on Thursday 4 June 1874 at a cover price of 1d. It then had the fuller title,
The Morecambe Visitor and General Advertiser, and consisted of four pages, 18 inches x 12 inches. The founding proprietor, George Bingham, had started the paper more as a service to the visiting holiday makers than the resident population, hence the origin of its name. Initially it was issued in the summer months only but after good sales George decided to publish it weekly throughout the year. After two years, Muriel passed the editorial role to an ‘outsider’, Derek Mosey, but remained as proprietor. The family finally sold the business in 1986 to United Provincial Newspapers, who then merged the paper with the
Lancaster Guardian to be run jointly under the new subsidiary company,
Lancaster & Morecambe Newspapers Ltd. The company has subsequently been taken into the
Johnston Press group. Perhaps the most sensational episode in the paper's history occurred with the edition of 6 August 1947. James Caunt, the editor, and not afraid to speak his mind in the
Mustard and Cress editorial piece, penned a diatribe against British Jews for not doing more to prevent Zionist killing of British troops in Palestine, describing Jews as 'a plague on Britain' and encouraging violence against them. In a high-profile trial at Liverpool Assizes, with Caunt being defended by the nation's leading advocate, he was found not guilty.
The Visitor reported the acquittal on the front page, normally reserved for advertisements only. Soon afterwards, this led the paper to decide to permanently have news on the front page and to move advertisements to the inside pages, becoming the first local newspaper to do so. On 14 December 2021 the visitor website was shut down, visitors thereafter being redirected to the Lancaster Guardian website. == Editors ==