This week at The Archive we have put in a sterling effort as we have now reached over 87 million pages, having added 299,609 brand new pages in all, alongside two brand new titles (the Rotherham Advertiser and the Stirling Journal and Advertiser), as we get into the festive spirit by exploring an Edwardian Christmas. That’s not all, as from Brechin to Bridgnorth, from Crawley to Cumbernauld, from Larne to Leamington Spa, we’ve updated 22 of our existing titles from across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
So read on to discover more about all of our new and updated titles of the week, and also to learn about an Edwardian Christmas in Rotherham, some 115 years ago. Please note also, this will be our last blog of the year, but we will continue to add new pages over the festive period, and return in the first full week of January.
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So before exploring what an Edwardian Christmas was like in Yorkshire, let’s take a look at our new titles of the week. It’s only fitting that we begin in Yorkshire then, with the Rotherham Advertiser. Established in the Yorkshire Minster town of Rotherham in 1858, this Liberal title was known to ‘circulate in Rotherham, Masborough, and all the towns of the district.’
Appearing every Saturday, the Rotherham Advertiser during the Victorian era was longer than most newspapers of the period, filing some sixteen pages. Eminently thorough therefore, the paper represents a unique window onto Rotherham life, reporting on a whole host of local events: from the deaths of notable residents, to anniversaries of local couples, from missing people in the area to recent weddings. Furthermore, the paper printed the latest from the Rotherham Police Courts, the Rotherham Quarter Sessions and the Rotherham Rural District Council.
With a bias towards local affairs, the Rotherham Advertiser published all the ‘District News,’ from the likes of Canklow, Catcliffe, Bramley, Dinnington, Greasbrough, Laughton, Scholes, Stainton, Swallownest, Treeton, Thorpe Hesley, Thrybergh, Whinney Hill, and Wickersley. It also closely followed sport in the area, with a particular focus on football, and local teams Rotherham Town and Rotherham County.
Meanwhile the newspaper printed its share of special interest pieces, with a section devoted to gardening. But Rotherham was its main focus, with pieces like ‘Round and About Rotherham’ and ‘Historical Notes of Wesleyan Methodism in the Rotherham Circuit.’ The paper also contained lengthy advertisements, as well as long lists of births, marriages and deaths.
The Rotherham Advertiser is still in print to this day, with the reputation for being an ‘award-winning newspaper.’
We’ll return to Rotherham soon to take a look at an Edwardian Christmas in the town, but our next stop is Stirling, with the Stirling Journal and Advertiser. A paper with a long history, the Stirling Journal and Advertiser was established in Stirling, a city in central Scotland, all the way back in 1820. Circulating ‘throughout the counties of Stirling, Clackmannan, Fife, Kinross, Dumbarton, Lanark, Linlithgow, and Perth,’ the paper was Conservative in its politics, and was also known as a ‘Gazette of News, Politics, and Literature, for the Midland Counties of Scotland.’
Appearing every Friday at the cost of two pence, the Stirling Journal and Advertiser was an entertaining read, covering both general and local matters. For example, it regularly published poetry and articles on literature, alongside a women’s column and national and international news. Meanwhile, the paper cast its eye on news from the district, reporting on the latest from West Plean, Dunblane, Doune, Muthill, Milngavie, Dumbarton, Falkirk, Linlithgow, Balfron, Kirkintilloch, and Perth.
A comprehensive title, the Stirling Journal and Advertiser also printed sporting news, with a focus on curling, and updates from the army and navy. It ceased publication in 1971.
That’s it from our two new titles of the week, but we have a festive feast of updates to our existing titles for you to get stuck into this Christmas. With nearly 100,000 brand new pages joining its ranks we have left-wing early twentieth century newspaper the London Daily Chronicle, whilst over 38,000 brand new pages, spanning the years 1915 to 2002, join the Shrewsbury Chronicle. We’ve also added more brand new pages to the lavish Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.
It’s a good week for Scottish newspapers too, with updates to ten of our Scottish titles. These updates include the over 24,000 brand new pages we have added to tabloid the Daily Record, meaning we now have a full run of this paper up to 1999. Finally, we have added new pages to one of our titles from Northern Ireland, the Larne Times.
An Edwardian Christmas – Rotherham 1909
Although we have added the year 1910 to the Rotherham Journal, on 1 January 1910 the paper looked back at Christmas events in the town in 1909. We therefore have a very special window on this Edwardian Christmas in Yorkshire, told through the pages of its local newspaper.
Reporting on this Edwardian Christmas was nothing but thorough. Under the heading ‘Christmas Events,’ the Rotherham Journal reported not only on how Christmas was marked in the town, but its impact upon local infrastructure, such as the railways and post office.
For example, under the secondary heading of ‘Railway Bookings,’ the paper reported how there was ‘a slight increase over last year…in the bookings at the Rotherham and Masbro’ Great Central Railway Station during the Christmas holidays.’ Indeed, the Rotherham Journal went so far as to list out the destinations of those travelling away from Rotherham during the festive period.
So, from Rotherham and Masborough Great Central Railway Station (now just Rotherham Central), ‘the principle bookings were:- Nottingham 17, Cleethorpes 29, Bridlington 4, Hull 28, Liverpool 16, Marylebone 5; and Lincoln 14.’ Meanwhile, from Masborough Station (now closed), the ‘principal bookings’ were to ‘Bradford district 120, Leeds 150, Normanton 50, Barnsley 150, Sheffield 2000, Normanton 50, Derby and Burton district 60, Birmingham 40, Bristol district 25, London 23, and Manchester 20.’
It is fascinating to note the most popular locations for people from Rotherham travelling to see their families during the Christmas period, Sheffield being by far and away the most popular destination.
But what were the other practicalities to consider around this Edwardian Christmas? The post was another concern, and to that end, the Rotherham Advertiser reported how ‘the pressure of the Christmas work at the Post Office at Rotherham was quite up to if not beyond that of previous years.’ The paper detailed how ‘the heaviest postings took place on the 23rd. Though the public responded fairly well to the appeal made to post early, there were heavy postings on Christmas Eve.’
Quite shockingly to our modern sensibilities, the paper went on to detail how ‘the heaviest delivery was experienced on Christmas Day.’ Indeed, to facilitate this Edwardian Christmas, some 50 ‘temporary men’ were brought in to assist with the Christmas post, meaning that ‘the delivery on Christmas Day was completed before noon.’ This was, as the Rotherham Advertiser noted, ‘a record,’ as the delivery was ‘finished earlier than any that has ever been made before at Rotherham.’
After dealing with the practicalities of Christmas, the paper then took a look at how the festivities were experienced by the more unfortunate residents of Rotherham. For example, at the Rotherham Union Workhouse, where they were 605 men, women and children staying, inmates (described as ‘a happy family’) enjoyed ‘very effective decorations…in the large dining hall and in the hospital wards,’ with the ‘effect of falling snow being produced in a clever manner.’
Finally, those at the workhouse enjoyed an ‘excellent’ spread of roast beef and plum pudding.
Meanwhile, the Rotherham Advertiser also described Christmas at Rotherham Hospital, where ‘everything possible was done to make the day memorable.’ Here the 63 patients, which included 16 children, enjoyed decorations consisting of ‘mottoes, evergreens, and coloured lanterns.’
This article from the Rotherham Advertiser gives us a wonderful sense of an Edwardian Christmas. Discover more about Christmas history, its traditions and customs, in the pages of our Archive today.
New Titles
| Title | Years Added |
| Rotherham Advertiser | 1910 |
| Stirling Journal and Advertiser | 1875, 1877, 1882-1883 |
Updated Titles
This week we have updated 22 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.
| Title | Years Added |
| Aris’s Birmingham Gazette | 1745, 1755 |
| Brechin Advertiser | 1982, 1986-1987, 1989-1991 |
| Bridgnorth Journal | 1987-1988, 1995, 2000-2003 |
| Carluke and Lanark Gazette | 1995-1996, 2000 |
| Crawley and District Observer | 1911, 1925, 1973-1976, 1978-1980 |
| Cumbernauld News | 1993 |
| Daily Record | 1984-1985 |
| Forfar Dispatch | 1987-1988, 1990-1991, 1993 |
| Galloway Gazette | 1874-1876, 1879, 1883, 1886, 1993-1995 |
| Halifax Evening Courier | 1987 |
| Horncastle News | 1908-1913, 1945-1949, 1953-1956 |
| Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News | 1924, 1933 |
| Inverness Courier | 1969-1977, 1980, 1982-1983 |
| Larne Times | 1990 |
| Leamington Spa Courier | 1990-1992 |
| London Daily Chronicle | 1890-1904, 1906-1921 |
| Milngavie and Bearsden Herald | 1901-1902, 1970-1979 |
| Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express | 1995-1999 |
| Shrewsbury Chronicle | 1915-1916, 1919, 1922, 1926-1929, 1947-1949, 1987, 1989-1990, 1993, 1996-1997, 2001-2002 |
| Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advertiser | 1989-1992 |
| Wolverhampton Express and Star | 1987 |
| Worthing Herald | 1988, 1991 |
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.
