This week we are delighted to welcome a bumper crop of new and updated titles to The Archive, with 163,404 new pages added. We have seven brand new titles added this week, covering both England and Scotland. We have three new London publications joining us – the Harrow Midweek, the Middlesex Gazette and the Middlesex Independent – as well as one Scottish title (the Northern Ensign & Weekly Gazette) and one new Essex title (the Essex Guardian).

We are also delighted to welcome two specialist sporting titles – namely, the Volunteer Record & Shooting News, which ‘warmly supports the interests of the shooting man,’ and the Fishing Gazette, a publication which covers all types of fishing across the world.

Further to these new arrivals, we have also updated sixteen of our existing titles. Updates this week cover the length and the breadth of the United Kingdom and Ireland, with updates incorporating publications from Aberdeen to Jersey, from Kingston to County Down, from Bristol to Kensington, from Crawley to Strabane.

This week we are going to take an in depth look at our two new specialist publications – the Volunteer Record & Shooting News and the Fishing Gazette. The Volunteer Record & Shooting News, for which we have available the years 1884-1902 with nearly 13,000 pages, is a publication which details the going-ons of British volunteer forces, as well as the sport of shooting. Within its pages you will find extensive lists of competition results and tournaments across the country, as well as the reports from rifle clubs, and advertisements for shooting equipment.

Volunteer Record & Shooting News | 31 May 1884

We have also added our first year to the Fishing Gazette, which truly is a thorough and fond guide to the sport of fishing in late Victorian Britain. We have added editions from the year 1895, and be sure to look out for more pages covering the years 1877 to 1900, which are set to be joining The Archive soon.

The Fishing Gazette covers all types of fishing, from sea fishing to angling, from trout fishing to salmon fishing. It provides a comprehensive guide to fishing across the British Isles, containing reports on fishing conditions every week. In the ‘Scotch Notes’ column, 23 March 1895, the salmon fishing conditions are outlined: ‘In Scotch waters as whole, and even in connection with the most productive early rivers, the salmon net fishing for the week up to Monday night was unproductive by comparison with the results of the previous week.’

Apparently, ‘Lots of the fish…did not look in high condition, and the bulk of them, for the general scope of the fishings, seemed to be somewhat under the usual size.’ The ‘great dearth of salmon’ was blamed on the ‘running out of a great volume of snow water to the sea, the calm weather, brilliant sunshine and light seas.’

Fishing Gazette | 5 January 1895

Using the Fishing Gazette is possible to get a fantastic idea of fishing history across the British Isles, with detailed reports published every week. Also included are in depth factual pieces about the pursuit – from the lifespan of a salmon, and reports regarding sea-fishing in South Africa. The Fishing Gazette also publishes illustrations and photographs of scenery and fishermen in action, furthermore making it an invaluable resource for those with in interest in the history of the sport, or simply just fishing itself.

There are also wonderful advertisements included within the pages of the Fishing Gazette  – such as this one for ‘improved fishing stockings’ and ‘light combination waders.’ The fishing stockings would set you back 10s. 6d. whilst the light combination waders would cost 45s. This helps to paint the picture of what it was like to fish during the Victorian era. The pages of the Fishing Gazette are truly an ode to the sport, and provide a unique and thorough record of its history.

Fishing Gazette | 5 January 1895

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated sixteen of our existing titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

Register now and explore the Archive

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.