What is the British Newspaper Archive?

The British Newspaper Archive is home to the largest online collection of historical British and Irish newspaper pages.

In 2011, Findmypast, the family history website owned by Scottish publishing giant DC Thomson, and the British Library launched this unique partnership to preserve, digitise and make the Library's newspaper holdings more accessible to the public. Since then, hundreds of millions of pages have been published online, with more added every week. 

Coverage spans more than 300 years, from some of the UK's earliest newspapers in the 1690s to contemporary press from the 2010s. 

You can explore local, regional and national titles from every corner of Britain and Ireland, as well as many publications from Commonwealth countries and beyond.

Within The Archive, you'll find everything from old photos to birth, marriage and death announcements and stories of major industrial change, sporting triumphs, court cases, social movements and wartime experiences. It’s a must-have resource for anyone interested in Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth's colourful past.

Digitising The Archive

From the British Library base at Boston Spa in Yorkshire, the British Newspaper Archive’s digitisation team meticulously preserves and scans every page for publication. From there, our software engineers make every word of small print searchable on the British Newspaper Archive and Findmypast websites, instantly bringing history as it happened to your fingertips on any device.