The Weekly Times was founded in September 1869 by a group of Melbourne businessmen who owned the Sydney newspaper Daily Telegraph. The original concept was to publish a journal of political and social news. In 1875 it merged with two country publications The Economist and The Town and Country and, as a result, its emphasis changed to a non-metropolitan or country approach. In May 1892 the Daily Telegraph sold out to the Herald group (which later changed its name to the Herald and Weekly Times group) which has continued to publish the paper to this day.