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This week at The Archive we’re delighted to welcome 202,948 brand new pages to our collection, as we mark 135 years since the opening of the new Battersea Bridge, which was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Meanwhile, we’ve added four brand new titles and updated nine of our existing ones, from across the British Isles and Ireland.So read on to discover more about all of our new and updated titles of the week, as well as to learn more about the…

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…

We are at The Archive are deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. During her seven decades on the throne, she witnessed great change. With her calm determination, her sparkling humour and an unwavering sense of duty, she stood as a beacon of constancy and comfort to millions.To honour the memory of the late Queen, we have looked back at her extraordinary life through our newspapers, from when she was born, when her destiny was set…

On 16 January 1867 Regent’s Park in London was witness to the worst ice-skating tragedy in British history. In this special blog post, we take a look at how the newspapers in our Archive can help us understand exactly what happened that day, by hearing from the voices of those who were caught up in the catastrophe.In the Luton Times & Advertiser, 19 January 1867, the following is described:At about a quarter-past four, when a large number of persons were skating and sliding…

This week we are delighted to bring you some very special highlights from The Archive. We are diving into our immense collection to bring you our choice of ‘Newspaper of the Week,’ as well as uncovering headlines from the past.Register now and explore the ArchiveNewspaper of the WeekThis week’s pick for newspaper of the week is one of our more well known titles, namely the Illustrated London News. The Illustrated London News ran for over 160 years, and…

Using newspapers from The Archive, in this special blog we take a look at the history of Charter Fairs, from their inception in the medieval period to their continuation in twentieth century Britain.In his June 1955 article for The Sphere, entitled A Partial Eclipse of the Fair, Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald notes how ‘Fairs are of very ancient origin,’ and have been part of British life for thousands of years. A Charter Fair was a fair endorsed by the Crown. Crown-issued letters…

The Illustrated London News, the world’s first illustrated newspaper, debuted in 1842.  Over the decades, the publishers expanded into the ‘great 8’ titles: Sketch, Sphere, Tatler, Graphic, Bystander, Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, and Britannia and Eve.  In 1928, the Illustrated London News published an illustration of the interior of their own offices at Inveresk House, ‘a hive of journalistic industry’.Discover more about the history of the Illustrated London NewsIn the image, you can see the offices of the individual editors…

Old newspapers regularly featured passenger lists, news from abroad, foreign destination guides and other travel-related musings, making the British Newspaper Archive the perfect research companion for anyone interested in how people moved around the world in days gone by.Register Now and View 3 FREE PagesWhether you’re a genealogist having trouble pinpointing your family’s voyage to another country or a student doing a thesis on historical migration patterns, the Archive may hold a key piece of information for your research.…

This week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? took us down under and all over Australia. Craig Revel Horwood was able to learn how his ancestors on both sides of his family came to be in Australia and what activities occupied their days, from mining for gold to clog dancing.Convicts in the familyCraig’s family history journey began with his sister’s retelling of their great-great grandfather Moses Horwood being convicted of theft and transported to Australia.While…

On this day, 30 June, in 1864, American President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Valley Grant Act.  The Act gave the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the state of California, ‘upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation’.   Today, more than 4 million people visit the site every year, which has become both a national park and World Heritage Site.  We have rambled through the pages of The British Newspaper Archive to…