October, 2013 | The British Newspaper Archive Blog

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Halloween Party – Goblin Pie, Witch’s Brew, Hallow Fair Gingerbroad…

We love all these old recipes for the perfect Halloween Party! Goblin Pie, Ghost Biscuits, Witch’s Brew, Midnight Cake, Hallow Fair Gingerbroad – yum! And here is a blog post that highlights some Halloween traditions and superstitions – as reported in 19th Century newspapers. Aberdeen Journal – Monday 30 October 1922 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000576/19221030/010/0002 Western Gazette – Friday 24 October 1930 Image © Local World Limited. Image created

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John Keats – Born on 31 October 1795

‘You are always new. The last of your kisses were ever the sweetest, the last smile the brightest, the last movement the gracefullest…’ – John Keats in a letter to Fanny Brawne John Keats was born in Moorgate, London, on 31 October 1795. Included below is a newspaper story from 1891 about the sale of one of the most famous letters that Keats wrote to Fanny Brawne. What price love? The letter sold for £55, which is about £3,300 in today’s

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Our technology upgrade is almost complete

Dear BNA customers, We wanted to give you an update on progress with our new system for publishing newspaper pages on the BNA website. At the start of June 2013, we started to make a large scale upgrade to the way that we publish newspapers on the site. This is to prepare The British Newspaper Archive for the next stage in its evolution: it improves the capacity of the publishing system and allows us to add more papers, more quickly.

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Terror in the Underground – 30 October 1883

The BNA is very lucky to have the writer, historian and genealogist, Angela Buckley, as a guest blogger. Previously, Angela has written fascinating articles about the ‘real’ Sherlock Holmes, Detective Jerome Caminada, and the miracle cures of Reverend Silverton. Her third article for the BNA blog is about the terrorist explosion at Praed Street station (now Paddington) on the London Underground, which took place on 30 October 1883. ************************************************************************************* The devastating events of 7/7 are still all too fresh in

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The Resignation of Prince Louis Alexander Mountbatten, the UK’s First Sea Lord – 29 October 1914

Just 11 weeks after the outbreak of World War One, Prince Louis Alexander Mountbatten, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, was forced to resign. Although the 60-year-old Mountbatten had given over 40 years of loyal service to the UK, it was felt that, as he was born in Austria, there might be questions regarding his loyalty to the UK as the war progressed. Included below is a news report about Mountbatten’s resignation, and also a short snippet about Lord

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The clocks go back an hour – Sunday 27 October 2013, 2am

‘If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?’ Time’s winged chariot screeches to an emergency stop and slams into reverse gear for an hour tonight, as the clocks (in the northern hemisphere) do their weird time machine shtick before facing up to the arrival of winter. Hmm, it does all make us wonder if ol’ Father Time is in denial about winter and tries his utmost to stop it from arriving (perhaps he suffers from SAD?). But as Shelley (perhaps

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The Sinking of the Empress of Britain – 28 October 1940

On 28 October 1940, RMS Empress of Britain was torpedoed in the Atlantic by U-32 and sank about 70 miles off County Donegal. The attack by U-32 was a follow-up attack after the ship had been bombed by German planes on 26 October – after which, most of the passengers and crew had been safely evacuated from the stricken ship. The Empress of Britain was the largest ship sunk by a U-boat during the Second World War, and it is

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Wallis Simpson is granted a divorce from her second husband – 27 October 1936

At the Ipswich Assizes on 27 October 1936, Wallis Simpson was granted a divorce from her second husband, Ernest Simpson, on the grounds of her husband’s adultery. Here is a very interesting contemporary nerwspaper report on the courst case, with the attention-grabbing headline, ‘Society Divorce Case’. The Courier and Advertiser – Wednesday 28 October 1936 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19361028/134/0007

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The Founding of the Football Association – The Freemasons’ Tavern, London, 26 October 1863

‘The following resolution was carried: That is is advisable a Football Association should be formed for the purpose of settling a code of rules for the regulation of the game of football.’ On 26 October 1863, 11 football clubs and schools from London met at The Freemasons’ Tavern to form the Football Association and to agree on a code of football rules. We thought we’d mark this historic day by posting three contemporary newspaper stories that report on this momentous

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‘Charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade’ – the Battle of Balaclava, 25 October 1854

On 25 October 1854, Lord Cardigan led the charge of the Light Brigade againt the Russians in the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimea. The insane order to attack the gun positions arose due to a miscommunicated message somewhere along the chain of command. 156 men of the Light Brigade were killed in the charge and 122 were wounded – 335 horses were also killed during the attack. Included below is a newspaper article from November 1854 that reports on the

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