This week we have added 386,252 new pages to The Archive, bringing us now to over 26 million pages available. We have added five new titles, covering the counties of Buckinghamshire and Cumbria, as well as updating five of our existing titles, which cover Newcastle, London, Kent and Bedfordshire.

In 1899 the West Cumberland Times reports on the death of one of Cumberland’s most famous sons,  Thomas Henry Ismay. Ismay was the founder of one of the world’s most illustrious, and arguably the most infamous, shipping companies, White Star Lines.

West Cumberland Times | 25 November 1899

Born in Maryport, Cumberland, in 1837 to a shipbuilder, Ismay moved to Liverpool and acquired a company called White Star Lines, which then consisted of a small fleet of Australian clippers. Recognising the need for a high-class passenger service between Liverpool and New York, he set about the creation of fleet of luxury ocean liners, with the aid of Belfast ship builders Harland and Wolff.

Hailed as the ‘inventor of luxurious ocean travel,’ Ismay’s first ship was the RMS Oceanic. He was widely revered for his philanthropy, and was much mourned upon his passing, with his birthplace of Maryport flying its flags at half mast.

Thirteen years later and the Ismay family were again the news, with the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912. Thomas Henry Ismay’s son, Joseph Bruce Ismay, was on board and managed to escape in one of the limited number of lifeboats. Consequently his survival was a topic surrounded by murky rumours: chief amongst which was that he had dressed as a woman in order to escape the doomed ship.

Jospeh Ismay faced intense scrutiny at the ensuing inquiry into the disaster, regarding both his role in the events leading to the tragic accident, and also to his survival, when the ship’s captain, Edward Smith, had gone down with his ship.

Wigton Advertiser | 04 May 1912

It was put to him that ‘it was his duty to remain on the ship until she went to the bottom.’ You can read an account of Joseph Ismay’s questioning at the inquest here.

New Titles

UPDATED TITLES

This week we have updated some of our recently added titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we have added to this 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.

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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.