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Back in June 2022, we wrote a blog covering the formative, contentious years of the Pride movement in the United Kingdom. Looking through our newspapers on The Archive, we were able to piece together a historical trajectory from 1972-1992, demonstrating how Gay Pride rallies and marches drove both cultural and political expansion in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Tracing the narrative of Pride’s inception, we saw how members of Gay Pride protests, marches, and riots were met with widespread hostility and intolerance.…

This week at The Archive we are marking St Patrick’s Day with the addition of five brand new Irish titles, and updates to 29 of our existing Irish titles, as we delve into a potential Oscar Wilde work, where all is not as it seems. Furthermore, in all, we’ve added 215,303 brand new pages to our collection, as The Archive continues to grow.So read on to discover more about our new and updated titles of the week, and also to read…

This week we are marking 200 years since the birth of the modern railway, with the addition of three brand new railway titles to our holdings. That’s not all, we’ve added 362,596 brand new pages to our collection, with extensive updates to one of the south coast’s most famous titles, the Portsmouth Evening News.Through our new railway titles this week, we’ll take a look at another important moment in railway history, the opening of the North British Railway in June 1846, which…

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 have put in a sterling effort as we have now reached over 87 million pages, having added 299,609 brand new pages in all, alongside two brand new titles (the Rotherham Advertiser and the Stirling Journal and Advertiser), as we get into the festive spirit by exploring an Edwardian Christmas. That’s not all, as from Brechin to Bridgnorth, from Crawley to Cumbernauld, from Larne to Leamington Spa, we’ve updated 22 of our existing titles from across England, Scotland…

This September at The Archive we are going back to school with the addition of brand new title the Schoolmaster and Edinburgh Weekly Magazine, alongside three other brand new titles from London, Liverpool, and Kent. Meanwhile, we’ve added 302,872 brand new pages so far this month, with 26 of our existing titles updated too, from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.So from Bayswater to Bury, from Carmarthen to Croydon, from Donegal to Dumfries, read on to discover more about our new and…

1889 was the year of the Cleveland Street scandal, in which a male brothel was raided in Cleveland Street, in London’s West End. At the time, sexual acts between men were illegal in Britain, and those who visited the house of assignation on Cleveland Street faced prosecution. However, due to the high social standing of many of the clientele of 19 Cleveland Street, only a few men faced prison time, as the British government were accused of covering up the scandal in…

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).…

As part of our railway history month on The Archive, we’re delighted to welcome a very special guest blog post from Dr Mike Esbester, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth and co-lead of the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death Project.’ In this special blog, Mike takes a look at the dark side of railway work, and how the British Newspaper Archive has helped to inform research into railway accidents from days past.The Dark Side of Railway Work…

Long before Agatha Christie envisioned murder on the Orient Express, or before she wondered what might have taken place on the 4.50 from Paddington, murder, mystery and mayhem were already well established on the railways of Britain and beyond.The first victim of murder on British railways was 70-year-old Thomas Briggs. In this special blog, we will take a look at his story, as well as nine others sourced from the pages of our newspaper Archive, which tell the strange, the…