[2] The journal's founding editor was G. C. F. Forster,[3] and the first issue was 'facilitated by a guarantee from the publications fund of the University of Leeds, and by donations from local firms and individuals'.

[3] In 1997, S. J. D. Green (Professor of Modern History at the University of Leeds) joined as co-editor.

From March 2024, the editors are Julia Barrow and Peter Maw (Associate Professor of Eighteenth-Century History at the University of Leeds).

The journal's purpose is to publish scholarly work on the history of the seven historic Northern counties of England: Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire.

Since it was launched it has always been a refereed journal, attracting articles on Northern subjects from historians in many parts of the world.