[2] The Weekly News was founded by the Daily Southern Cross on 25 November 1863, primarily for country readers who couldn't get the paper every day.

[4] Wilson and Horton, who published the Herald, planned the paper originally for circulation to rural areas, but it was then distributed everywhere.

In 1876, Alfred Horton, a journalist and printer, sold his interest in the Thames Advertiser and bought the Daily Southern Cross.

[15] In July 1913 the illustrated section was expanded when the Weekly Graphic was merged with AWN.

From May 1898 AWN included a glossy centre-spread supplement with black and white photographs.