Articles by The BNA

At 11:40 pm on 14 April 1912, the RMS Titanic, which had been transporting 2,208 people from Southampton to New York, hit an iceberg while crossing the North Atlantic ocean.Search the newspapersOver the course of the next few days the British press was littered with conflicting news and information, with statements claiming that all passengers were safe and the ‘unsinkable’ ship had started making its way to Halifax.The Western Times had quite a job keeping up with the latest reports. A

Next month sees the marking of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Irish nationalists headed a campaign to end British rule in Ireland during a time when the outcome of World War 1 was uncertain. We take a look at how the events of 1916 were documented in the British press at the time.Search the newspapersNews of the Rising started to filter through to the British newspapers on Tuesday, 25 April 1916. A smattering of local papers managed to squeeze in

In case you’re tempted to take out a “Lonely Hearts” ad this Valentine’s Day, be warned: according to the newspaper archive you’d be wise to stay vigilant.Search the newspapersIn fact, as the Aberdeen Journal suggested in 1949: Aberdeen Journal – Monday 07 March 1949© THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Unfortunately, the famous Lonely Hearts murders in New York were not an isolated incident.William Sanchez d’Epina Hepper was born in Gibraltar in 1891. He spent most of his life living in

A calamitous plot to kill the king, uncovered by Regency Spies (published by Pen & Sword this month) author Sue Wilkes…In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, places like Chalk Farm and Spa Fields in London were the scene of mass meetings of Radicals campaigning for parliamentary reform.Subscribe for just £12.95 –>In 1816, Henry Hunt, one of the most famous reform activists, was invited to speak at Spa Fields by a group called the Spencean Philanthropists, whose chief members were

A recent study showed that 44% of people in Britain people think that “we should be proud of British colonialism”. Considering the Empire’s sketchy past of violence and massacres, this was a shock result.Subscribe for just £12.95 –>At the time, as today, people were mainly supportive of British rule overseas, though it would be fair to assume they didn’t know the full extent of the chaos it wrought. For some, the empire’s steady decline after World War 2 would have been incomprehensible.

While researching her new book Regency Spies (published by Pen & Sword this month), Sue Wilkes uncovered the story of a desperate plot to kill George III and overthrow the British government…Colonel Despard (1751–1803) has gone down in history as the leader of a wildly impractical, hopeless scheme. Despard was the leader of a group known as the United Britons, which had links with rebel Irishmen. Unfortunately for their plans, some members of the group were government spies, who reported their

On the night of the 19th January 1915, two German Zeppelins appeared out of the dark on the Norfolk coast and conducted the first airship attack on British soil. They had set out for Humberside, but strong winds had seen them divert to the areas around Great Yarmouth, Sheringham and King’s Lynn.It would be the first of over 50 Zeppelin attacks on the UK. Strategically, they proved largely ineffective, with night raids and bad weather conditions making it difficult to target

On the 8th of January 1940 rationing was introduced in Britain. With over 70% of the food supply imported before WWII, the government decided to safeguard against any plots to starve Britain into submission by introducing the rationing scheme.The Ministry of Food’s explanation for the scheme was published in a number of newspapers:The new scheme was well documented across the newspapers…But there was reassurance that even the royal family was doing their bit for the war effort:

And so, as with every New Year, we welcome the quinoa-packed saucepans, virtuous jars of coconut oil and the herbal remedies which, we hope, will push out the carbs and caffeine binges of last year. The supermarket queue displays a thousand promises of health, wealth and well-being from slim, smiling models.But in a world where a simple glass of red wine can have a thousand conflicting effects from self-declared health experts, what’s the real secret to longevity? Well, why

In the first of a new occasional series we’re talking to author Richard Tomlinson, whose latest book Amazing Grace: The Man who was W.G, was partly researched using the Archive. We talked about his research techniques and how digital searches can uncover extraordinary detail about famous lives.In Amazing Grace, Tomlinson has painted a picture of a sporting celebrity and a complex man with fresh insights into some of the contradictions that made up the cricketing hero. He told us