At the age of seventeen, Leonora J. Gregory began working as a freelance writer for various Melbourne newspapers, including The Sun, The Herald, and The Weekly Times.
In 1928 she visited Croydon in Far North Queensland, where efforts were being made to keep The Croydon Mining News in circulation following the proprietor's death. Gregory offered to rent the plant, and in February 1930 she left Melbourne to become proprietor, manager and editor of The Gulf News. The first issue was published on 12 May 1930, and the newspaper continued publication until 1 February 1932.
