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Historical newspaper reports describing the big freeze in London in the winter of 1814With the predicted snow and ice all set to turn much of the UK into a ‘retreat from Moscow’ landscape, we thought we’d post some old newspaper stories about the freezing of the River Thames, back in January 1814.There are certainly some striking and surreal images described in these stories – not least of which is the poor pig, stuck on an ice floe and drifting down the…

Newspaper stories from January 1872 reporting the death of Greyfriars BobbyToday, we salute a dog good and true: Greyfriars Bobby, who passed away on 14 January 1872, after a 14-year vigil at the grave of his master, Auld Jock (aka John Gray).If you’ve ever visited Edinburgh, you’ll likely have seen the statue of Bobby (paid for by Baroness Burdett-Coutts), at the corner of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge.Bobby now bides in the great kennel in the sky, and goes…

‘Don’t expect new dresses all the time’: Old-fashioned newspaper advice on how to be a good wife…We’ve been working with some modern newspapers on a story about the advice that old newspapers used to publish about how wives might strive to keep their husbands happy.Amazing as it may seem to us now, such advice columns were a regular feature in UK newspapers during the 1800s and early 1900s.The ‘Mail Online’ has published our story, and we thought…

Newspaper report from 1900 on the mysterious disappearance of the crew at the Flannan Isles LighthouseOn 26 December 1900, the relief crew for the Flannan Isles Lighthouse (located in the Outer Hebrides, 20 miles west of Lewis), arrived at the lighthouse station only to find that the three keepers had vanished.The beds were unmade, the clock had stopped and an overturned chair in the kitchen were some of the details that were logged by the relief crew in an effort to work…

A letter about the Christmas Truce of 1914We found this wonderful newspaper report – based on a letter written by a junior officer- in The Archive about the impromptu Christmas Truce of 1914.…

We’ve been working with some modern newspapers on a story about the loan sharks who, 100 years ago, offered massive cash loans to the poor.The ‘Mail Online’ has published our story, and we thought visitors to the BNA blog might be interested in reading this ‘plus ca change’ story and viewing the gallery of loan shark adverts from 1912.…

The British Newspaper Archive will be attending ‘Who Do You Think You Are? Live’ at Olympia, London, from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 February 2013.As happened last year, we’ll be dressing up in our Victorian newsboy/girl outfits and will have our trusty (and updated!) newspaper hand-out with us.We’ll be posting more info about the show nearer the time.To find out more about the show, visit the WDYTYA Live website.…

Newspaper stories from December 1861, reporting  the death of Prince AlbertPrince Albert, the husband, consort and soulmate of Queen Victoria, died of typhoid on 14 December 1861, aged only 42.The Archive contains 100s of reports about Albert’s death and, from reading the reports, one can easily sense the level of shock felt across the UK by the untimely death of The Prince Consort.So we’ve posted three stories below which report on this sad and historic moment.Leicester Chronicle – Saturday 21 December 1861Image ©…

We found dozens of stories (and adverts) in the Archive about Charles Bishop, the gg-grandfather of Liverpool comedian, John Bishop.From reading these old newspaper stories, it’s clear that the Bishop family possesses a special DNA gene for entertaining the masses with their music and stories.Concert at the Assembly Rooms in ChichesterHampshire Telegraph – Saturday 29 October 1853Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000069/18531029/007/0004The Rifle Volunteers’ ConcertHampshire Telegraph – Saturday 08 December 1860Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL…

Upon recently visiting the Roman amphitheatre at Arles, I marvelled at the scale of the building, and Roman engineering skills.Picture taken of Arles amphitheatre – Image © Edmund MB KingDuring the visit, we came across a notice board: ‘Principaux amphitheatres du monde romain’, which shows a list of dimensions for each one. Arles is number twelve on the list, out of twenty-one. I was intrigued that Pouzzoles ( Pozzuoli/ Puteoli)  was even larger than the colosseum in Rome.As the wiki…