Articles by The BNA

Introduction and backgroundWe love hearing about your discoveries in The British Newspaper Archive.John Bland of the Lincolnshire Family History Society dropped us a line to tell us about his family history research in The British Newspaper Archive. John has been researching the millers and blacksmiths in his family (research that involves learning about major legislation such as the Enclosures and the Corn Laws) and, thanks to The British Newspaper Archive, has just learned that one of his ancestors

‘A black vicious ugly customer as ever I saw, whale-like in size, and with as terrible a row of incisor teeth as ever closed on a French frigate’ – Charles DickensHMS Warrior, the Royal Navy’s first ocean-going ironclad warship, was launched in London on 29 December 1860. Included below is a report of the launch that was published in the Liverpool Daily Post of 31 December 1860 and an illustration of the vessel as she appeared just after completion.

‘The awful catastrophe which occurred at the Tay Bridge on the last Sunday of the year is still the all-absorbing theme of conversation in the community…’A section of the Tay Bridge, which connects Dundee and Wormit in Fife, collapsed during a terrible storm on the night of 28 December 1879.  Tragically, a Dundee-bound train plunged into the freezing waters of the river, with the loss of 60 lives (although some estimate the loss to have been 75 lives).Graphic illustrated the scenes of

‘All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.’J.M. Barrie’s classic play, Peter Pan (aka The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up), received its world premiere at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London on 27 December 1904.Included below is a newspaper review of the play, that was published on Wednesday 28 December 1904, and also some wonderful illustrations of the main characters in the classic tale.The Evening Post – Wednesday 28 December 1904Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans), author of such classic novels as Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner, died at 4 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, on 22 December 1880 – she was 61.To commemmorate the day, included below is a newspaper obituary of Eliot, which was published just two days after her death – and we’ve also included also a terrific illustration (from ‘The Graphic’ newspaper) from her beautiful novel, Silas Marner.Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Friday 24 December 1880Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

On 16 December 1850, the ‘Charlotte Jane’ sailed into Lyttelton harbour, thus becoming the first emigrant ship to arrive at Canterbury, on the south island in New Zealand.Four ships had set out together – the ‘Randolph’, the ‘Cressy’ and the ‘Sir George Seymour’ – but the ‘Charlotte Jane’ was the first of the four ships to arrive.To mark this historic date in New Zealand’s history, here is a newspaper story from September 1850 that reports on the events surrounding the emotional departure of

At Grand River in South Dakota on 15 December 1890, the great Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, was shot in the head during a struggle by the police to arrest him.Here is a newspaper story – published just two days after the event – that reports on the struggle and the subsequent death of Sitting Bull.Interestingly, the article then goes on to describe the Indian policy as advocated by the US government.London Daily News – Wednesday 17 December 1890Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL

What the Victorians did for us…On 10 December 1868, the first set of traffic lights in the world were erected outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London.To mark the day, here’s a fascinating newspaper story (published on 8 December 1868) that reports on the installation of the signals, as well as explaining why these new traffic signals were needed.We are also very luck to have an illustration of the ‘new street semaphore,’ as it was called then, from our title

On 9 December 1897, the feminist activist, Marguerite Durand founded ‘La Fronde’ newspaper.‘La Fronde’ was written entirely by women, and its intended audience was, well, women – oh, and perhaps some enlightened and cultured males, too, we imagine!Here is a terrific newspaper article from December 1897 that reports on the publishing of ‘La Fronde’.According to Wiki, a ‘fronde’ was a type of sling which the mobs in Paris used to break the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin during the French

Thomas Penson De Quincey, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, died in Edinburgh on 8 December 1859 – he was 74.To mark the day, here is a newspaper obituary of De Quincey that was published two weeks after his death.Royal Cornwall Gazette – Friday 23 December 1859Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000180/18591223/036/0006Manchester Times – Friday 08 August 1890Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000504/18900808/030/0005