August, 2012 | The British Newspaper Archive Blog - Part 2

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The First English Football Match To Be Mentioned in a Newspaper Report – Sheffield FC v Hallam FC, 29 December 1862

In The British Newspaper Archive we found the first ever English match to be reported in a newspaper – the match between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC at Bramall Lane Cricket Ground on 29 December 1862. Played according to ‘Sheffield Rules’, the match sounds like it might have been a little rough in places, with ‘waistcoats’ being thrown off, as the intensity of the match heightened. It seems that the long interval at half-time also caused some raised eyebrows among

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The ‘Peterloo’ Massacre, St Peter’s Fields, Manchester – 16 August 1819

On the 16th of August 1819, 15 people were killed and 100s were wounded/injured, when the Manchester Yeomanry attacked a crowd numbering 60,000 at a political reform meeting at St Peter’s Fields, Manchester. So to commemorate the event that became known as ‘The Peterloo Massacre’, we’ve posted two letters written by the radical orator, Henry Hunt. These letters were written by Hunt while he was in prison (he was later sentenced to two years in prison for speaking at the

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‘A Donkey and a Parrot’ – Family History Show at the Edinburgh Fringe, 5 to 27 August 2012

While reading the listings for the Edinburgh Festival, we noticed that there is a one-woman show about family history running at the Gilded Balloon until 27 August 2012 – and it sounds excellent! With the enigmatic title, A Donkey and a Parrot, the show reaches back over 300 years to tell the dramatic story of Sarah Hamilton’s Huguenot family, as they moved from France to the UK and then to Australia. If your surname appears in the list below, then

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The Use of Historical Newspapers in the ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ BBC TV Series…

The first programme in the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? was shown on BBC1 last night, and it was fascinating. Samantha Womack, the former ‘Eastenders’ actress, discovered some amazing and revealing stories about several of her ancestors – including a very sad story about her g-grandfather. It was also great to see how using old newspaper for family history research can help to shed light on the lives (and characters) of her ancestors. If you missed

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New Series of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ – BBC1, Wednesday 15 August

The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? starts tonight, and we’re really looking forward to it. We’ve seen the trailer for the programme and noticed that old newspapers are being used to find interesting stories about the ancestors of the celebrity guests. The actress, Samantha Womack (nee Janus), is the first person featured in the new series – you can watch a wee snippet of tonight’s programme at the ‘WDYTYA’ website. – BBC1, Wednesday 15 August, 21:00.

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William Randolph Hearst, Newspaper Baron – Died on 14 August 1951

The American newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, died on 14 August 1951, aged 88. Famous as the muse for the film, ‘Citizen Kane’, Hearst also gained notoriety for his use of ‘yellow journalism’ – i.e. the use of invented interviews, fictional (though sensational) reports and photoshopped pictures. There are 100s of stories about Hearst in the Archive, so, to mark the day, we’ve posted three stories which highlight his life and times in the newspaper business. Western Daily Press –

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The Flemish People in Scotland – A Family and Local History Project Based on Flemish Surnames

Surname alert for family historians across the world! Two members of the Abertay Historical Society in Scotland are planning a project on the ancestry of Flemish people in Scotland, and are looking for people to share their family history stories with them. Although the project is looking at Flemish ancestry in Scotland, we suspect the project will be of interest to people all over the world. So if your surname is included in the list below, you might like to

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Georgian Street Map of Winchester, Hampshire

We saw this BBC news story about a very interesting project to publish street maps of Winchester from the Georgian era, and thought this could be of interest to family historians who are looking to trace ancestors in the Hampshire region. As Jane Austen lived in Winchester toward the end of her life, this project will also be of great interest to ‘Janeites’. – www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-19248074 Newspapers from Hampshire on the BNA website If you are looking to do family history

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‘The Television Will Be Revolutionised!’

Historical newspaper stories about John Logie Baird – born in Helensburgh on 13 August 1888 To celebrate the birthday of John Logie Baird, ‘the father of television’ who was born in Helensburgh, Scotland, on 13 August 1888, we’ve posted a couple of newspaper clippings from the Archive about the famous inventor and engineer. Without his wonderful invention, we would have missed seeing the ‘newspaper taxis’ and newsprint buildings in last night’s closing ceremony of the Olympics. As mentioned in the

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The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) – Family History Conference in Ottawa, 14 to 16 September 2012

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) is holding its annual conference from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 September 2012. The conference takes place at the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in Ottawa, and the main theme of this year’s conference is tracing Scottish ancestors. As 70% of Canadians have Scottish ancestry, the conference might well resemble ‘Clans Reunited’! There is a great line-up of family history and archive experts speaking at the event, including well-known genealogy blogger,

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