The Northern Age and North Queensland Telegraph began publication on 10 June 1889 after the merger of The Northern Age and The North Queensland Telegraph and Territorial Separationist. When the proprietors, The North Age and Telegraph Newspapers Company Ltd, went into liquidation in 1892, publisher Alfred Henry converted The Northern Age to a weekly paper and moved it to Ingham and then Halifax under the names of The Ingham Planter and The Northern Planter.