Search the blog

This September we are marking 200 years since the birth of the modern railway. On 27 September 1825 the first modern railway was opened, namely the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and what better way to celebrate this iconic transport first, than by uncovering 20 pioneering railway firsts from our Archive.Register now and explore The Archive1. The earliest mention of the word ‘railway’ in our Archive – March 1759Well before the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, railways, in the sense of tracks, were…

This week at The Archive we are delighted to welcome a brand new title from the sunny south coast, the Bournemouth Times and Directory, as we take a moment to remember the devastating Bournemouth Blitz. In all, over the last seven days, we’ve added 366,686 brand new pages to our collection, whilst we’ve updated 25 of our existing titles from across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.So, from Buckingham to Burnley, from Dingwall to Driffield, from Mid Sussex to Mid Ulster, read…

This week at The Archive we have been busy adding 272,091 brand new pages to our collection, whilst we have also taken a look at an eventful week for the British royal family in early April 1900. Meanwhile, we have added two brand new titles to our library of newspapers, whilst from Banbury to Belfast, from Falkirk to Fleetwood, from Retford to Ripon, we have updated 22 of our existing titles from across the United Kingdom.So read on to discover more about…

Eighteenth century writer, philosopher and early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft faced censure in her lifetime, not just for her radical beliefs, but also for her rejection of societal norms. Long after her death, however, attitudes began to shift, as she gained recognition as a trailblazing fighter for women’s equality and became an inspirational figure in the women’s suffrage movement.Following on from our blog on the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, in this second and final blog we shall examine the writer’s…

In December 1920 the world’s first illustrated weekly news magazine the Illustrated London News delved into the ‘curiosities and ingenuities‘ of the Patent Office, featuring some of Britain’s most unusual rejected patents.Illustrated by the publication’s own artist W.B. Robinson, the Illustrated London News presented a series of the bizarre designs that had been submitted to the Patent Office, but had since ‘lain dormant.’We at The Archive were keen to delve into our collection’s cabinet of curiosities, and these rejected…

This week at The Archive we have added 39,811 brand new pages to our collection, with four brand new titles joining us, including a Devon duo of new newspapers alongside new publications from Sussex and Norfolk. Meanwhile, from Haverhill to Huddersfield, from Salford to South London, we have updated eight of our existing titles.So read on to discover more about all of our new and updated titles of the week, as well as to find out more about the Devon…

This week at The Archive we have added 5 brand new Irish titles to our collection, including the Constabulary Gazette, which was the ‘accredited organ of the Royal Irish Constabulary.’ Meanwhile, our other Irish titles cover the counties of Kerry and Wexford, whilst we have added 52,710 brand new pages in all to The Archive over the past seven days.So read on to discover more about our new Irish titles of the week, and also to learn about the opening of…

Mercedes Gleitze (1900-1981) was the first British woman to swim the English Channel, and the first person to swim the Straits of Gibraltar. In an amazing career that spanned the 1920s and 1930s, Mercedes captured the imagination of the British public and became a household name.Born to German parents in Brighton, Mercedes was one of three sisters. Skilled in languages, she moved to London where she worked as a secretary and stenographer. Whilst living in London she began swimming in…

This week at The Archive we have added three brand new titles from the Manchester area, with another brand new title joining us from Lincolnshire, as we have added 63,325 brand new pages to our collection over the last seven days alone. Meanwhile, from Chester to Dover, from Denbigh to Grimsby, we’ve updated nine of our existing titles.So read on to find out more about all of our new and updated titles of the week, and also to learn about…

This March at The Archive we are celebrating inspiring women from history, who broke boundaries across different fields, whether they be medical, sporting, political and much more besides. We will be highlighting those inspiring women who broke the mould, and we will be showcasing the achievements of some lesser known women along the way, who deserve recognition for their trailblazing lives and careers.And in this special blog, we will be looking at ten inspiring women from history who you…