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In this week’s episode, singer Lulu traveled to her home-town of Glasgow, Scotland, to discover more about her mother’s family. Having been sent to live elsewhere as a baby, Lulu’s mother did not have a relationship with her parents, and so Lulu knew very little about the family. With the help of archivists, historians, and historical sources, Lulu was able to reconstruct the story of a family struggling to make love work across religious divides in 1920s Glasgow. We used…

Preserving local history is at the core of what we do here at The British Newspaper Archive.  Every week we add thousands of pages to the Archive from county and regional newspapers.  These papers are filled with the long-forgotten news from the villages and towns of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.  No village is too small, and no place is too obscure to find its way into the newspapers.  The Archive is the single-best research tool for re-creating the history…

London is steeped in rich history. Every borough, street and building in the UK’s capital city has a past and the British Newspaper Archive is one of the best resources available for unlocking the stories behind them. No matter what part of London you’re interested in researching, you’ll find newspapers covering every locality, with contemporary reports from some of the most pivotal eras in British history.Register now and view London newspapers for FREEOne of the quickest ways to…

On 31 July 1910, Hawley Harvey Crippen, better known as Dr Crippen, and Ethel Le Neve, his typist-turned-lover, were arrested on board the Montrose while trying to flee west to Canada. On top of being a sensational case and arrest, it was the first example of an arrest aided by wireless telegraphy.A cross-Atlantic chase of a fleeing couple is an apt ending to our July theme of travel and migration. When you ask yourself why your ancestor or the subject of…

Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk is a powerful portrayal of the rescue of  over 330,000 soldiers from the beach at Dunkirk in northern France.  The film pays tribute to the role of the French and British rearguard, the RAF and the little ships all of who played their part in the evacuation. Following the events of a single day the film compresses into two hours the heroism and tragedy of the events of the nine days between 27 May – 4 June, 1940.Researching an event…

Old newspapers regularly featured passenger lists, news from abroad, foreign destination guides and other travel-related musings, making the British Newspaper Archive the perfect research companion for anyone interested in how people moved around the world in days gone by.Register Now and View 3 FREE PagesWhether you’re a genealogist having trouble pinpointing your family’s voyage to another country or a student doing a thesis on historical migration patterns, the Archive may hold a key piece of information for your research.…

This week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured sports broadcaster Clare Balding.  The episode examined the business success and intimate lives of her ancestors.  Clare explored both her maternal and paternal lines in an episode which brought her into the circles of high society in both England and America.Famous names appeared from almost every document consulted as Clare examined her maternal line.  This line sees Clare connected to the Earls of Derby, a lineage which stretches…

This day marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. During the last two centuries, Jane Austen has become a household name. Austen and her modest-sized collection of works has enjoyed a vibrant presence in both academia and western culture, from quotes on magnets and clothing to movie adaptations and sequels to her novels. Austen’s name is equally as at home in highbrow literary essays and criticism as it is in contemporary periodicals meant for mass consumption, such as the…

This week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? took us down under and all over Australia. Craig Revel Horwood was able to learn how his ancestors on both sides of his family came to be in Australia and what activities occupied their days, from mining for gold to clog dancing.Convicts in the familyCraig’s family history journey began with his sister’s retelling of their great-great grandfather Moses Horwood being convicted of theft and transported to Australia.While…

We thought we would have to wait until the autumn for the return of our favourite television series, but Who Do You Think You Are? is already back on our screens!  The first episode of the new season featured Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance.  The episode featured some startling revelations regarding Charles’ father, and a history of artistry in the family.  The episode was a great illustration of how careful research can gently peel away the layers mystery that…