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Adding 220,681 pages this week brings us tantalisingly close to 90 million pages in the Archive—another milestone on our journey to 100 million pages. To reach this, we’ve welcomed three new titles and expanded fifty-three existing ones.While we always enjoy adding new titles (and more on those in a moment), one of the most rewarding, and often intricate, tasks is adding new material to existing publications. Expanding coverage by tracking down ‘missing years’ requires careful investigation by our scanning team. Once a…

This week 282,566 pages have joined the archives from ten Titles. We have added one new title and augmented our holdings of a further nine titles extending coverage from the 1810s and 1990s.New to the Archive this week is the Folkestone Daily News 1910-1914. The title, which shows evidence of extensive handling before being microfilmed and subsequently digitised, joins three other Folkestone titles in the Archive. The four titles combined cover the history of the harbour town from 1855 to 1999.In our…

This week we’ve added 320,174 new pages to The Archive.  We have added a baker’s dozen, 13, brand new titles.  We are delighted to have added new titles for England and Ireland this week.  We’ve added to our Sports Titles with the Football Gazette (South Shields), the Sports Gazette (Middlesbrough), and, for Ireland, Ireland’s Saturday Night which covered football, cycling and athletics.As always we’ve added more pages to our existing titles, both old and new.  Forty-nine titles have had pages added…

It’s 1841 and Josiah Mister is on trial in Shrewsbury for attempted murder – committed at the Angel Inn in Ludlow.The victim was William Mackreth, a trader from Bristol who was in the town for the summer fair. In the early hours of the morning, he was brutally attacked by someone who’d been hiding under his bed. He managed to fight him off and his assailant escaped; a trail of blood led to Josiah’s room and he was arrested.But did…

Of witches and witchcraftAs we kick off our Halloween celebrations and delve into the history, contained within the newspapers, of witches and witchcraft (and supernatural beings), it is imperative that we preface this — perhaps unnecessarily — with an important disclaimer and reminder: witches, in the sense of practitioners of malevolent powers to do evil works, never existed. Those persecuted during the sixteenth century and onward were, more often than not, local healers and midwives.In 1562, Queen Elizabeth passed the law…

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…

With summer well underway and a new month dawning, we take a look at the month of July with the help of The British Newspaper Archive. What events and holidays of significance took place in July? How have our newspapers covered such happenings? Join us as we explore the history and newspaper coverage of Canada Day, the Battle of the Somme, and Independence Day.Canada DayThe national holiday celebrates the anniversary of the enactment of the Constitution Act, which…

After the Battle of Jutland, Admiral Jellicoe sent this message to his Fleet, as recorded in the Cornishman on the 15th June 1916:“I desire to express to the flag officers, captains, officers and men of the Grand Fleet my very high appreciation of the manner in which the ships fought during the action of May 31, 1916.At this stage, when full information is not available, it is not possible to enter into details, but quite sufficient is already known to enable…

For a limited time only, we’re offering 50% off 1 month subscriptions for the British Newspaper Archive. To take advantage of this opportunity, simply go to purchase a subscription, and use the code JUNE50 at the checkout. But hurry, offer ends 30th June.Take advantage now3 reasons to try the British Newspaper Archive * Uncover history as it happened with over 14 million articles dating back to 1710* Expose forgotten speeches and articles from famous names* See your family make headlines in local newspapersThe…

Naomi Clifford chanced on the subject of her book The Disappearance of Maria Glenn (published by Pen & Sword in April) while browsing the British Newspaper Archive. She blogs about aspects of Georgian life at www.naomiclifford.com and is currently researching the women executed in England and Wales between 1797 and 1837.In 1829 a young man received an anonymous letter telling him that an heiress was willing to marry him if only he would only rescue her from a large house on the Clapham…