In this our latest animal-themed blog, we take a look at the extraordinary story of Tirpitz the pig. A shipwreck survivor, and charity fundraiser, we look through our newspapers to tell her remarkable and unlikely story.Register now and explore The ArchiveTirpitz and friend | Daily Record | 24 March 1916The tale of Tirpitz begins on board the SMS Dresden, a light cruiser of the German Imperial Fleet. Pigs were often kept on board battleships to supply fresh meat, but in a…

We have been extremely busy over the past seven days here at The Archive adding an exciting array of brand new titles and pages to our collection. We have a bumper crop of new titles (twelve in all!), as well as updates to fourteen of our existing titles, covering England, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland. We are delighted to have added 141,258 new pages in all. Read on to find out more about our fabulous array of new regional, national and…

Every Army, Air Force, Navy and Secret Service in the world has its feathered battalions, and when the story of the war is written finally it will be found that many a battle has been won, many a ship preserved and many a life saved through the help of the feathered soldiers.These were the words of Victor Newton as he wrote for the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 1943, describing ‘how pigeons play their part in war.’ And so, in…

This month at the British Newspaper Archive we are celebrating all things pet related – and what better way to start than by taking a special look at some of the bravest cats and dogs that we have found in the pages of our newspapers?Irma the Alastian receives the Dickin Medal for rescue work during the Blitz | Illustrated London News | 20 January 1945From the role that dogs played on the European front during the First World War, and interwar domestic heroism,…

This week we have added 70,450 new pages to The Archive, with two new and very important titles joining us from home and abroad.We have added an extensive run of pages to the Westminster Gazette, which was seen by some as ‘the most powerful paper in Britain.’ Established in 1893 by E.T. Cook, the Westminster Gazette was a liberal newspaper, which found its audience in London’s gentlemen’s clubs and was consequently known as a ‘clubland paper.’ Despite this audience being small,…

‘It is not proposed to make total war total misery,’ said the Home Secretary Herbert Morrison in 1942, as he announced in the House of Commons that dancing was not to be included in the ‘recreations that are to be restricted to prevent interference with the war effort.’Indeed, for many, dance was synonymous with their experiences of life in the Second World War. American GIs brought over with them new and exciting dance styles, and dancing itself was a way…

This week we are delighted to welcome 137,896 new pages to The Archive, with new pages spanning 128 years from 1871 to 1999. We have additions to eighteen of our existing titles, including extensive updates to the Walsall Observer, and South Staffordshire Chronicle, which cover the years 1873 to 1969 and number nearly 35,000 pages.This week also sees updates to six of our London titles, including the Acton Gazette, as well as three of our Scottish titles, with pages added to the Hamilton Advertiser, the Dumfries…

To mark the centenary of the armistice that ended fighting during the First World War, throughout 2018, we are tweeting a historical newspaper front page from the same date 100 years ago. We’re delving into the British Newspaper Archive to bring you the daily news as it was reported a century ago, during one of the most momentous years in history. Follow us on Twitter and look for #1918Newspapers to stay up-to-date each day or keep track via our specially-designed tweet wall…

During the First World War (1914-1918), the role of women in Britain was massively altered and the women’s sphere was enlarged in every direction. Some historians mark the First World War as a watershed moment in women’s history when women were looked at less as fragile creatures and more as robust figures.  A single blog post is not enough to explore all the contributions of women during the Great War, but we have combed through The British Newspaper Archive and pulled…

War impacts every part of life, some more obvious than others. In this post, we will explore the impact of war on fashion; particularly, we will look at how the topics of economy and quality shaped war-time fashion. The article excerpts included in this post are from two recurring columns: ‘The Highway of Fashion‘, printed in The Tatler, and ‘Fashions by Jean Burnup‘, printed in Britannia and Eve.Explore knitting and fashion in the Second World WarEconomyWith the…