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Today is a momentous day in the history of the British Newspaper Archive – we have reached 100 million newspaper pages – all available for you to search at the click of a button. Indeed, to be accurate, we now have over 100 million newspaper pages for you to enjoy, as we tipped over this incredible figure with the addition of 206,718 brand new newspaper pages this week.Our 100 millionth newspaper page comes from none other than the wonderfully historic Dundee Courier. Read on to…

Here at The Archive, we love to learn of the discoveries you have made through our newspaper pages, and how you have used them, whether they have influenced novels, or provided information for dissertations. We were incredibly grateful, therefore, when crime writer and athletics historian Peter Lovesey contacted us with his account of sixty years of researching newspapers. From accessing historical newspapers in their original form, to scrolling through microfilm reels, and finally to searching newspapers digitally on the British…

At The Archive we are delighted to welcome guest blogs from our users, which highlight a wealth of different research interests. This month, we are excited to feature a blog on researching queer history by Staffordshire researcher Rebecca Morris-Quinn.My name is Rebecca, I am a queer woman living in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. I’ve been interested in genealogy and history for many years, since I found out that I share a birthday with a great-great aunt, Olive (albeit over 100 years ago).…

Our newspaper Archive contains many thousands of obituaries and death notices, which can help you unlock fascinating information and stories about your family history. In this special blog, we present your guide to obituaries on The Archive: how to search them, where to find them, and how to make the most of them for your family history research. But first, what is an obituary?Register now and explore the ArchiveWhat Is An Obituary?An obituary, according to the Cambridge…

The British Newspaper Archive, in partnership with the British Library, has been bringing history to life for over a decade through the pages of its extensive collection. We are now delighted to announce that the British Library will be extending this long-term partnership, and together we will continue to digitise more and more historic newspaper titles from across the United Kingdom and beyond.First launched in 2011, the British Newspaper Archive, working with the British Library, has so far digitised over 42…

This week we have added 103,570 new pages to The Archive, with an impressive 6 brand new titles joining our collection. In addition to these new titles, we have updates to 9 of our existing publications. In all, our new pages this week cover 120 years of history, and span the towns, cities and countryside of England, Scotland and Wales.This week sees a brand new addition to our Leicestershire newspapers. The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Gazette covers the area around the market town, and was a…

We are delighted this week to feature a very special blog post from the High School of Dundee, written by Niall Joss, which explores how pupils connected with the First World War through the British Newspaper Archive and a war memorial.How did the British Newspaper Archive and a war memorial inspire primary school children to connect with the First World War?With the centenary of the end of First World War just passed, how can children born in the…

Using newspapers for your Scottish genealogy researchDo you find yourself daunted at the prospect of researching your Scottish ancestors? Keep the heid! There exists a fantastic array of records that can get you further along in your family history research. The main problem, however, is access. Much of what exists has not been ditigised, and for those that have been, many are not indexed. It is overwhelming figuring out where to search and what records, if they were created,…

Anyone starting to research their Irish heritage has heard the story: ‘all of their records were destroyed in 1922’.  The destruction of the Four Courts on 30 June 1922, which housed the public records office, was a huge loss… but! with digitisation, Irish family history is getting easier by the day.  Sites like our sister site Findmypast are opening up new avenues of research by digitising a wide variety of sources, and many of their Irish collections are free!Newspapers are particularly…

Paul Roberts’ book is now available to purchase! Order your copy of History Maker here.How The British Newspaper Archive played a key role in the completion of a new book about my great-great-grandfather who had 30 grandsons serving King and CountryI found the picture by pure chance – on a village history website. It was of John Roberts, a man with a bushy beard and sideburns and wearing a bowler hat and a big smile. A caption below it was…