In 1764 the now elderly Abree took on an assistant, George Kirkby, the son of a Canterbury vicar, who was completing an apprenticeship with a London printer.
However, in May of the same year another young recent printing apprentice from Canterbury, James Simmons, started to publish a rival twice-weekly paper called the Kentish Gazette.
After four weeks, Kirkby gave in and the two papers merged, to appear under joint management as the Kentish Gazette, or Canterbury Chronicle.
The retail network of the Kentish Post stretched throughout Kent, using booksellers in the major towns as outlets and as agents for advertisements.
The main towns served by the newspaper were Ashford, Chatham, Cranbrook, Dover, Faversham, Folkestone, Maidstone, Margate, Ramsgate, Rochester, Sandwich and Sittingbourne, as well as some London coffee houses.