This week at The Archive we are giving a hearty welcome to new title Chad (Alfreton), as we celebrate another local hero, this time miniaturist and friend of Harry Houdini, Randolph Douglas (1895-1956). Meanwhile, over the last seven days we have added another 285,136 brand new pages to The Archive, whilst from Brighouse to Broughty Ferry, from Carluke to Clitheroe, from Montrose to Morpeth, we have updated 21 of our existing titles from across England and Scotland.

So read on to discover more about our new and updated titles of the week, as well as to learn all about amateur escapologist, collector and artist Randolph Douglas.

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First and foremost this week we’re delighted to welcome Chad (Alfreton) to The Archive. This interestingly named newspaper was founded in 1989 as the Alfreton Chad, a companion newspaper to the Mansfield Chad. The name ‘Chad’ was born out of the Mansfield Chad’s prior name of the Mansfield Chronicle Advertiser, the moniker representing the shortening and subsequent amalgamation of the Chronicle Advertiser to form simply Chad.

The Chad (Alfreton), meanwhile, covers the news from Alfreton, a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, which is said to have been founded by King Alfred. Indeed, Chad (Alfreton) also serves the nearby towns and villages of Somercotes, Swanwick, Pinxton, South Normanton and Selston, across the counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Dubbed the ‘more local newspaper,’ and also ‘a friend dropping in,’ the Chad (Alfreton) is printed in the Nottinghamshire town of Mansfield. A weekly title, it appears every Friday.

Well that may be all from Chad, but with 21 of our existing titles being updated this week, there is plenty more for you to explore. By far and away the largest update of the week are the over 107,000 brand new pages we’ve added to the Wolverhampton Express and Star, whilst we’ve added over 34,000 brand new pages to the Warwick Courier. We’ve also added a range of dates (1869 to 1901) to Derbyshire title the Glossop Times.

It’s a good week for our Scottish titles too, with ten of our titles from Scotland being updated. Highlights include the over 10,000 brand new pages that we have added to the Kirkintilloch Herald, with new pages also being added to the likes of the Carluke and Lanark Gazette, the Broughty Ferry Guide and Advertiser, and the Montrose Review.

Collector, Miniaturist and Escapologist – Remembering Randolph Douglas

Continuing with our theme of celebrating local heroes (last week we shone our spotlight on Whitley Bay photographer and inventor Gladstone Adams), this week we are highlighting High Peak legend Randolph Douglas, of Castleton, Derbyshire.

We came across Randolph Douglas thanks to an article in the Chad (Alfreton) newspaper on 21 August 1992, which reported how ‘a collection of historical items which were once a popular tourist attraction in North West Derbyshire has been returned to the area – thanks to action taken by the Derbyshire County Council.’ The article relates how these items ‘used to be on display’ at Randolph Douglas’s ‘House of Wonder’ in Castleton during the 1920s and 1930s.

But what did these items include? Well, Chad (Alfreton) tells us how Randolph Douglas, himself an amateur escapologist, ‘built up a vast collection of locks and keys.’ This in turn led to him fostering ‘a close friendship with escapologist Harry Houdini,’ and indeed Douglas even ‘invented several tricks for Houdini to use as part of his act.’

It wasn’t just his collection of locks and keys that brought tourists to the so-called ‘House of Wonder.’ The newspaper article relates how Randolph Douglas was a ‘keen modelmaker,’ with a focus on recreating everyday items in miniature. Some of his creations included ‘what was claimed at the time to be the world’s smallest electric motor, and a model of a greenhouse, complete with pots and plants.’

Upon Douglas’s death in 1956, his widow continued to show people around the exhibits, which took up two cottages in Castleton. However, as the Chad (Alfreton) relates, ‘when she passed away there was a danger that the magnificent collection might be split up.’ This was when the ‘Derbyshire County Council stepped in and saved the day,’ enabling the collection to go ‘on display at Buxton Museum.’

We were keen to discover more about the works of Randolph Douglas, and turned to the pages of his contemporary press to find more reports about this extraordinary man. On 2 June 1935 national title Reynolds’s Newspaper took a trip to the ‘old-world cottage at the foot of Peveril Castle, Castleton, Derbyshire,’ where one could ‘see the world in miniature.’ Indeed, the newspaper described how:

People visit the remote village from all parts of the globe to see the Lilliputian craftsmanship of Mr. Randolph Douglas. Experts have proclaimed him one of the most faultless miniature craftsman in the world.

The reporter for Reynolds’s Newspaper went on to showcase the creations of Randolph Douglas, detailing how:

When Mr. R.O. Douglas conducted me round his treasure house he handed me a replica of Ann Hathaway’s cottage at Stratford-on-Avon, which, although complete with old-world gardens, I was able to quite easily place on the palm of my hand. On my thumbnail, I balanced a tiny greenhouse, perfect in every detail, with plant-pots and flowers in full bloom. I saw, operating, the smallest electric motor in the world. It can be covered by a small thimble. A safe, worked by intricate mechanism, has a door which can be covered by a postage stamp.

The article continued by explaining how it took Douglas some ‘three months to fashion’ such designs, with ‘wealthy people’ commissioning the miniaturist to make models of their homes. We also discovered some further details about Randolph Douglas through the Reynolds’s Newspaper piece:

Mr. Douglas became a Lilliputian craftsman after the war shattered his hopes of following in the wake of his friend, Houdini, the American escapologist. Even to-day, however, he is one of the most famous lock experts in the world, and possesses more than 1,000 locks and keys dating back 4,000 years.

Meanwhile, Randolph Douglas was profiled by another national title on 19 January 1939, the Daily Mirror. Indeed, the title even featured a photograph of his work, with the below description:

Gives you the shivers to look at, doesn’t it? This dentist’s chair, complete with drill, basins, syringes, etc. Well, that’s a compliment to Mr. Randolph Douglas, of Castleton (Derbyshire), who built it. He’s made himself a real-life Gulliver, has Mr. Douglas, for anything he sees that strikes his fancy – houses, machinery, anything, no matter how intricate – he builds in miniature.

We love bringing the stories of the forgotten personalities from history to light – including that of Randolph Douglas – here at The Archive. Discover more about Randolph Douglas, and other remarkable figures from history, in the pages of our Archive today.

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated 21 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.

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.