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An exciting feature of the new British Newspaper Archive will be the advanced search capabilities that are coming to the site.Searching historic newspapers has always been a balancing actSearching historic newspapers has always been a bit of a tightrope walk. Search too narrowly and you miss the articles you need. Cast the net too wide and you’re wading through pages of irrelevant results. Throw in inconsistent spelling, occasionally damaged print, and the inevitable quirks of Optical Character Recognition…

This week at The Archive we are delving into the history of nursing with the addition of brand new title the Nursing Times, as we mark both the anniversary of Florence Nightgale’s birth on 12 May 1820, and the anniversary of Mary Seacole’s death on 14 May 1881. We’re also exploring an important part of the UK’s religious history this week, with the addition of what is thought to be the country’s first Muslim newspaper. In what is a bumper week, we’ve added a…

The British Newspaper Archive is an unrivalled resource when it comes to tracing local history. Where else would you find millions of forgotten stories from your street, town or city all documented and ready to be discovered? Take Birmingham for example. The Archive contains over 50,000 pages and and a varied range of titles from the UK’s ‘Second City’ and this guide will show you how to make the most of them.Register now and view Birmingham newspapers for FREEYou…

During our first ever webinar, we have over 600 questions from more than 3,500 registered viewers. It was incredible to get so much feedback and interaction from our viewers.  Here we will share a sample of the questions from our webinar event.Didn’t get a chance to see the webinar?  Watch the event now.(The discount offer is no longer valid)QuestionsSometimes I try to find a name in the newspaper archive and it says there are no matches. Why and…

“I won’t be embarrassed by what I discover, bring it on! Let’s have an adventure.” – Warwick DavisIn last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? we joined Warwick Davis, best known for his acting career, as he uncovered a few family secrets including bigamy and multiple marriages on his mother’s side of the family, as well as tragedy and another successful performer on his father’s side.Searching for a Local PubWarwick wanted to find out about…

This step-by-step guide will show you how to search newspapers from a specific date range (such as World War One) at The British Newspaper Archive.Watch this short video tutorial or follow the steps below:Search the newspapersHow to search newspapers from World War OneThe easiest way to limit your search to a particular date range is to use the advanced search. You can get to this by clicking the ‘advanced search’ button on the homepage. Type the…

Following an ultimatum to withdraw German troops from Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. Monday 4 August 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the start of Britain’s involvement in World War One.Front pages from the start of World War OneThe news that Britain had joined World War One featured prominently in many of the newspapers printed the following day.Search newspapers from World War OneHere’s a selection of the newspaper headlines announcing Britain’s involvement in WW1.…

WW1 editions of the Evening Despatch now onlineThe Evening Despatch was published in Birmingham throughout World War One. Over 4,000 pages from newspapers published in 1915, 1917 and 1918 have just been made available to search online.Search the Evening Despatch  Newspaper pages added every weekThousands of extra pages are added to The British Newspaper Archive each week. We’ll be adding more from the Evening Despatch soon, so be sure to check the recent additions regularly.See what’s been added in the…