The founder of the "Guardian" was the late Charles Edward Russell, who was born at Bay Roberts in 1877. In 1909, he bought a small printing plant from Harris and Wesley Mosdell who for a number of years published a weekly newspaper called "The Bay Roberts Outlook". On 9 July 1909, the first issue of the Guardian rolled off the man-power-driven press. (Part of this printing equipment was acquired from the late (Magistrate) Jabez P. Thompson, who printed a newspaper called "The Vindicator" at Brigus, around the start of the 20th century.) Just after the founding of "The Guardian" in Bay Roberts, the Western Union Cable Company of New York became interested in acquiring a site in Conception Bay for their Atlantic Cable Relay Station. The "Guardian" was instrumental in persuading the promoters into selecting Bay Roberts as their site.