English writer Virginia Woolf committed suicide on 28 March 1941. She struggled with depression and was deeply affected by the Second World War. ‘I cannot go on’ Woolf left a touching note for her husband, saying ‘I owe all my happiness to you, but cannot go on and spoil your life’. Read the full transcript of her letter, as printed in the Gloucestershire Echo: View the whole newspaper page Gloucestershire Echo – Saturday 19 April 1941 Image © Local …
The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire on this day in 1807. The Bury and Norwich Post reported that the Bishop of Landaff thought slavery was ‘so barbarous and inhumane that the abolition of it would be recorded in Heaven.’ Bury and Norwich Post – Wednesday 01 April 1807 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View the whole newspaper page
Tags
Bring newspapers to life with social media Join the British Library on Monday 31 March for History Relived, a fascinating storytelling event that will explore how it’s possible to bring historical stories to life. Tickets are just £5 and will give you: – Access to The British Newspaper Archive for the day – Guidance from Crossover Labs about using social media to uncover the past – Inspiration for your next storytelling projects How to book tickets Visit the …
Tags
We’re giving away these three fantastic books on our Facebook page this week: How to enter Comment on our Facebook post to let us know which title you’d like to win before 23:59 (GMT) on Monday 24 March 2014. We’ll contact our three lucky winners the following day. What you could win – Denise Bates, Breach of Promise to Marry: A History of How Jilted Brides Settled Scores – Michelle Higgs, A Visitor’s Guide to Victorian England – Gill Hoffs, The Sinking of …
Tags
The 30 mph speed limit was introduced in built-up areas of Britain on 18 March 1935. Not everybody appreciated the new signs – newspapers reported that eight signs were fished out of a pond a week later! View the whole newspaper page Nottingham Evening Post – Friday 29 March 1935 Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
Tags
Happy St Patrick’s Day! We just love these wonderful photographs of shamrock sellers in Plymouth in the 1930s, printed in the Western Morning News: Top photo View the whole newspaper page Western Morning News | 18 March 1937 Bottom photo View the whole newspaper page Western Morning News | 18 March 1939
Tags
Welcome to the first of a new series of blog posts from our newspaper scanning team. This month, our digitisation officer Andrew tells us about what his team does. ******* The digitisation team have been scanning newspapers at Boston Spa for almost two months. This series of blog posts will give you a ‘behind the scenes’ look at our work, how we capture images using state-of-the-art paper and microfilm scanners and how those images get onto The British Newspaper …
Tags
Mary Richardson, a Suffragette, slashed the Rokeby Venus painting at the National Gallery 100 years ago today. Read the stirring speech she gave at her trial, explaining her actions: View the whole newspaper page Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser – Friday 13 March 1914 Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
Tags
A 19th-century police officer named Jerome Caminada died 100 years ago today. Angela Buckley, author of The Real Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Story of Jerome Caminada, explains what newspapers can tell us about the detective’s incredible life. ************** On 10 March 1914, just five days before his 70th birthday, Detective Jerome Caminada died at home. Born in the slums of Manchester, he had enjoyed an extraordinary career, earning him a place in history as one of the city’s finest police …
Tags
The British Newspaper Archive added over 200,000 pages in February, bringing the current grand total to over 7.5 million. There’s still plenty more to be scanned, so we’ve already started chasing the next milestone – 8 million pages! Search the newspapers 50 titles have been updated this month, including the Durham County Advertiser, the Wiltshire Independent and the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. A full list of recent additions is provided below. Newspapers added to The …