William Hargrove (16 October 1788 – 29 August 1862) was an English newspaper proprietor and historian of York.
[1] After the expiration of his articles Hargrove returned to Knaresborough, but in 1813 he purchased, with two partners, the York Herald, then a weekly newspaper.
[1] In October 1818 Hargrove entered the corporation of York as a common councilman for Bootham ward.
He defended Queen Caroline in the York Herald, and announced her acquittal in 1820 by torchlight from the steps of the Mansion House.
In 1827 he successfully promoted, along with Charles Wellbeloved, a scheme for the erection of a Mechanics' Institute, of which he became the first secretary and treasurer.
This started as a Whig newspaper, but gradually became more Tory as Hargrove came to support George Hudson.
Hargrove supported the York Society of Political Protestants" (founded 3 July 1819), whose aims included annual parliaments and universal suffrage.
By his marriage on 2 September 1823 to Mary Sarah, daughter of William Frobisher, banker, of Halifax, Hargrove had a numerous family.