This week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? took us to India and Bangladesh with Sunetra Sarker. During the program, Sarker became familiar with her Indian ancestors and learned how the tragedies of war affected her family. With the use of newspapers, Sarker was able to place her ancestors into the context of public events and gain a deeper understanding of the lives they led. At the beginning of the episode, Sunetra conveys a feeling most of us …
February 15, 2017 marks the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore during the Second World War. The event was one of the greatest British military defeats in history. It meant the loss of a military stronghold to the Japanese as well as the capture of almost 100,000 men, women, and children as prisoners of war. The event was covered extensively in the newspapers, from the initial invasion and evacuation of civilians to the surrender and questions that immediately …
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Last night on Who Do You Think You Are? comedian Greg Davies, best known for his role on The Inbetweeners and Cuckoo, explored his Welsh ancestry. Through newspapers, Davies discovered that his great-grandfather was taken to court to pay child maintenance, and his great-great-grandfather was killed in a tragic accident. Finally, Davies discovered he was descended from royalty. Using The British Newspaper Archive, we will delve deeper into the Davies family stories and extract more details about the lives of …
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We have all fallen victim to superstitions. I avoid walking under ladders, never open an umbrella indoors, and dread spilling salt at the table. Even Napoleon was influenced by superstitions. Once when he was separated from his beloved Josephine, a picture of her fell over, and with haste, Napoleon sent a message to Josephine to make sure she was well. A look through The British Newspaper Archive proves that people of all walks of life have been touched by fear …
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Each month, we will examine the newspapers from 100, 75, or 50 years ago and pull out the top headlines as well as the lesser known events from our villages and towns. This month we found stories from the ongoing First World War, a career criminal, a modern Don Juan, tips for housekeeping, and more. War-Promotions On this day, in 1917, the front page of the Illustrated London News displayed the faces of the British generals who received promotions in the …
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The British Newspaper Archive brings you news from India, China, and further East during the height of the British Empire. The Homeward Mail from India, China and the East was first published in 1857 by Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co. and provided Britain with news from its colonies in the East. The publishing company also produced the first Dictionary of National Biography and worked with major authors such as Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, Alfred Tennyson, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Along …
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Last night, during Who Do You Think You Are? we searched through Liz Bonnin’s family tree and discovered her Indian and French heritage. This week’s episode opened with gorgeous views of a sun soaked beach and crashing waves, making us all envious as we watched by our fires and with hot cups of tea in our hands. The first part of the episode took us to Bonnin’s mother’s home in Trinidad to find more clues about Liz’s Indian ancestors. Early …
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Read all about it, The British Newspaper Archive is 5 years old today! We are delighted to be celebrating our 5th anniversary at The British Newspaper Archive. We launched on 29 November 2011 with 4 million pages. Today, we have four times that amount, and just this week, we have passed the 700 mark on the number of titles we hold. Along with our British titles, we have also published over 125 newspaper titles from across Ireland. According to our …