Welcome to your NEW British Newspaper Archive which has been quietly but meaningfully evolving. This new site is less about surface‑level changes and more about reshaping how research actually works, from the first search to long‑term projects built over time. Taken together, three areas stand out:  A more powerful search experience The shift from bookmarks and saved searches to WorkspacesNew tools for organising clippings into collections and structured research. At a glance here’s what’s changed, and why it matters.…

Since August 2021, the Archive has been working in partnership with the British Library to build a collection of free to view newspaper pages. This collection enables enhanced access to the diverse newspaper holdings of the British Library, with the titles, which have carefully curated by the British Library, spanning four centuries of news and covering not just Britain and Ireland, but the Caribbean, India, and beyond.You can search our free to view pages by creating a free account with…

Today marks the release of over one million new free to view pages on the British Newspaper Archive. Thanks to our ongoing partnership with the British Library, we have now made over four million newspaper pages freely accessible since 2021.Our collection of over four million free to view newspaper pages represents a significant step in making historical resources available to more and more people, an effort to which the British Newspaper Archive and the British Library are firmly committed.As…

Today we have released one million new free to view pages on The Archive, meaning that we now have a total of nearly 3.5 million free to view pages all now available as part of our collection.These pages have been brought to you thanks to our partnership with the British Library. Both the British Newspaper Archive and the British Library are committed to making historic resources available to more and more people, and these 3.4 million free to view pages represent…

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…

Today we have reached a landmark of 50 million pages all now available to search on the British Newspaper Archive. That’s 50 million pages of news stories that span four centuries, from 1699 to 2009, that come from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and beyond. And we’re not stopping here – we plan to add millions more pages over the coming weeks, months and years.When the British Newspaper Archive was launched in partnership with the British Library in November 2011 a goal of 40 million pages…

So far this November we’ve been celebrating all things local history, and earlier this month we brought you a guide on how to discover more about the history of your street. But now we turn from urban to rural, as we take a look at how to uncover the history of those places where there might only be one street, the hamlets and the villages of the United Kingdom.This blog, therefore, will show you how to uncover local history…

The British Newspaper Archive is a fantastic resource for local history, and in particular, it can be very useful in researching the history of your street.In this special blog, we will give you all the hints and tips you will need to start your own research into your road, whilst also examining the story of one of London’s lesser known historic streets, which was once a pathway of pilgrims before becoming one of the city’s most notorious slums.So…

In partnership with the British Library, the British Newspaper Archive features 1 million free to view newspaper pages as part of its collection. A great way to get started with your research, and to begin to explore historic newspapers and their stories, all you need to do is register a free account with us to access the free to view pages.Register now to explore FREE pagesOnce you’ve registered, you can explore 150 different newspaper titles, which span the years 1720 to 1880.…