The Hull Daily Mail was founded in September 1885 by leading Conservative party members who formed the Hull, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Conservative Newspaper & Printing Company Ltd. It incorporated the weekly Hull Packet which had been established in 1787.

The Hull Daily Mail was not Hull’s first daily paper – that accolade fell to the Eastern Morning News in 1864. Hull was a competitive newspaper market.  Following the establishment of James Alfred Cooke’s halfpenny HullDaily News in 1884, which promoted Liberal Party interests, the Conservative owners of the Mail were keen to counteract the influence of Liberal newspapers in the area.

George Eastwood edited the Hull Daily Mail until 1890 when he was succeeded by Frederick Brent Grotrian, merchant, ship owner and Conservative MP for Kingston upon Hull East. Grotrian became the sole proprietor and the family continued to control the business until 1928.

In 1930, the Hull Evening News (which incorporated the Eastern Morning News) was amalgamated with the HullDaily Mail.