A walk along Piccadilly in the black-out is one of the many queer experiences of this war. The once brilliant centre of London’s night life is now as dark as any forest, and indeed, like a forest, the darkness is full of rustlings and whisperings, of half-seen shapes, and of a sinister feeling of eager, but invisible, life. Daily Herald | 26 April 1940 So began a Daily Herald article on blackout crime in London during the Second World War. …
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Crime stories have filled newspapers since the seventeenth century. From sensational murders to notices seeking the return of stolen property, you will find stories relating to crime in all of our newspapers. While crime-related news can be found in almost every title, we do hold several newspapers dedicated to crime and punishment. Title Years Cleave’s Weekly Police Gazette 1835, 1836 County Courts Chronicle 1847-1870, 1885-1896 Illustrated Police Budget 1899 Illustrated Police News 1867-1938 Lloyd’s Companion to the Penny Sunday Times …
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Throughout the month of October, The British Newspaper Archive will take a closer look at stories of crime, courts, and punishment in the papers. We have pulled together some headlines from the month of October including a riot, a case of arsenic poisoning, a couple of London’s notorious criminals, and a political crime. Register now! 4 October 1936 The Battle of Cable Street took place in London’s East End on the day of a scheduled march by Oswald Mosley’s right wing …
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This week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? took us down under and all over Australia. Craig Revel Horwood was able to learn how his ancestors on both sides of his family came to be in Australia and what activities occupied their days, from mining for gold to clog dancing. Convicts in the family Craig’s family history journey began with his sister’s retelling of their great-great grandfather Moses Horwood being convicted of theft and transported to Australia. While it is …
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The bombing of civilian targets in Britain during the Second World War is now commonly referred to as ‘The Blitz’. The song ‘All Stick Together’ released by Ralph Butler in 1939 summarised the need for Britain to pull together as a nation against the threat of an invasion, and the ‘Blitz Spirit’ has gone down in history and is still invoked today in times of strife. However, whilst the vast majority of the population may have been sticking together, there …
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The lovely people at history magazine Bygone Kent got in touch to share the shocking stories they’ve uncovered about Charles Dickens’ life in Higham, Kent. We’d love to hear about your own discoveries – email press@britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk to tell us about them. A ‘diabolical attempt’ to overturn the carriage of Charles Dickens while it drove through his home village has been discovered by local historian and journalist Andrew Rootes, editor of Bygone Kent. The incident was uncovered in The …
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The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials started on 20 November 1945. Here are some historical newspaper reports that were published on the day that the trial started. Evening Telegraph – Tuesday 20 November 1945 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19451120/001/0001
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On 21 October 1854, Florence Nightingale (‘the Lady with the Lamp’) and 38 volunteer nurses sailed from Southampton on their way to Scutari in the Crimea. Here’s a newspaper report published on 27 October 1854 thar reports on the departure of Miss Nightingale’s party. Read some more of our blog posts about the Crimean War. Cork Examiner – Friday 27 October 1854 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000425/18541027/028/0003 Dundee Courier – Saturday 16 May 1953 Image …
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It’s amazing the letters that sometimes find their way into newspapers. This despairing and incredibly moving letter, written in January 1855 by an officer (known only as ‘M.M.’) serving at a ‘Camp Above Sebastopol’ during the Crimean War, is one such example of a letter you might not expect to see in a newspaper during wartime. Having to thaw the ink before being able to even write this letter, the officer reports the starvation and horrific conditions endured by the …
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In October 1947, actress Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson, also known as Gay Gibson, disappeared from the ship upon which she was travelling home from South Africa. Her disappearance, which later led to a murder trial, hit headlines across the globe, as the sensational case mirrored plots akin to those to be found in books authored by Agatha Christie. In the first part of this special blog series, which you can read here, we took a look at who Gay Gibson …