We are always delighted here at the British Newspaper Archive to read all about your discoveries – whether relating to family history, sport, fashion – and to feature them here on our blog. Register now and explore The Archive This very special post comes from economic historians Joachim Voth and Bruno Caprettini, from the University of Zurich. In it, they describe how they used the British Newspaper Archive for their research into the relation between new agricultural technology and social …
On 27 September 1888, in the midst of a series of horrific murders in Whitechapel, the Central News Office in London received a letter, signed by ‘Jack the Ripper’. Known as the ‘Dear Boss’ letter because of the way it was addressed, the letter changed the way British newspapers reported the Ripper murders. Read newspapers from 1888 Facsimiles of the ‘Dear Boss’ letter in the newspapers The name ‘Jack the Ripper’ reached the British press and general public on …
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This week we are delighted to welcome 71,598 additional pages to The Archive, as well as five brand new titles. Two of these titles, the Wakefield Express and the South Notts Echo, originate in England, while the the other three, the Leinster Reporter, the Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, and the Times of India are spread out across Ireland, Wales and India respectively. Register now and explore the Archive The Wakefield Express augments last week’s influx of Yorkshire titles. First published in 1852, this weekly broadsheet published from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, carrying everything from advertisements and local news to literary extracts. In 1952, one hundred …
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This year marks the 80th anniversary of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s most famous speeches. Coming to power after the failure of predecessor Neville Chamberlain to secure peace, Churchill faced a titanic task, and it was through his speeches that he laid down his powerful mantra. In this blog we will take a look at public feeling around the potential for peace with Germany during the weeks that Churchill came to power, and contemporary reactions to Churchill’s speeches in the …
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This week we have added 113,770 pages to The Archive, with the inclusion of several brand new Scottish titles such as the Dalkeith Advertiser, the Banffshire Advertiser, the Hawick Express (pronounced “Hoick”!), and the Coatbridge Express. The years we’ve added to the Coatbridge Express expose a time in distinct contrast to the quaint and bright North Lanarkshire town you’ll see today – or, indeed, you would have seen in the 18th century before the town became one of the primary mining towns in industrialist Scotland. Lush forest and greenery paved …
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This week 134,952 have joined the Archive. We have added two home counties titles for England, The East Kent Gazette and the Bucks Examiner for Buckinghamshire. We have also added to ten of our existing titles, details of those updated are in a table at the end of this post. Newspapers often change their names, as they are bought out by competitors and expand, or contract, their reach. Both of our new titles underwent name changes over the years, if …
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Here at the British Newspaper Archive, we love to hear about the discoveries our users have made on our site. Last week, we had the pleasure to receive a letter from Councillor Dan Kelly, from County Tyrone, detailing his experiences using the Archive. The letter is reproduced in full below. I come from the small village of Glenmornan in rural County Tyrone. Recently, I was asked for help with some local research – not being an historian, I started in …
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What a great year 2018 was for the British Newspaper Archive. We added 6,226,893 pages to the Archive across 329 titles. It has been our absolute privilege to assist the British Library, Reach Plc (Trinity Mirror) and Independent News and Media PLC, and other partners, to digitise their collections of historic newspapers and bring them online. Since our last update we have added an additional 228,772 pages across ten titles, including one brand new title. The Lennox Herald for Dumbartonshire …
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We are delighted this week to feature a very special blog post from the High School of Dundee, written by Niall Joss, which explores how pupils connected with the First World War through the British Newspaper Archive and a war memorial. How did the British Newspaper Archive and a war memorial inspire primary school children to connect with the First World War? With the centenary of the end of First World War just passed, how can children born in the …
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We are delighted to feature a guest post this week by Peter Manning, who used The Archive to research his new book Palace at the Palace – A History of The Crystal Palace & Its Football Club 1851-1915. My project started out as research into the Crystal Palace football teams that played at the old Crystal Palace at Sydenham, but the history that was revealed by searching the BNA’s archives was so interesting and so compelling that I ended up writing …