Southam Newspapers

Southam Newspapers is a Canadian newspaper chain owned by CanWest.

The newspaper service "Southam Inc" was created in 1904 by William Southam (1843 - 1932). He had been a delivery boy for the London Free Press, and by 1867 he had become part owner. He bought and transformed the failing Hamilton Spectator in 1877. In 1897 he bought up many other papers including The Calgary Herald, The Edmonton Journal, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Province and many more. Southam Newspapers were sold to Conrad Black in 1998, and then to the Torstar Corporation in 1999.