‘The British Newspaper Archive is a grand project on a scale the Victorian themselves would applaud’ – Jeremy Clay The BNA as a muse for writing books In addition to using the BNA for ancestral research, there are many researchers who visit The Archive to do other types of historical research. On top of that, there are a fair few folk who are writing books about what they’ve been finding in the BNA. One such person is Jeremy Clay, who …
Your newspaper discoveries
We’ve said it before, but hearing your wonderful stories about what you’re finding in The Archive make us feel like we’re travelling to Canterbury with a motley crew of ancestor-finding pilgrims. The latest family history pilgrim to share her story is Emma Jolly, a genealogist from London, who has been researching her ancestors from the Birmingham area. Emma has been finding newspaper stories that offer a fascinating insight into the personalities of her forebears. In particular, we love the colourful …
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As supporters of the theory that modern professional football started ‘going to the dogs’ when dogs somehow stopped running on to the pitch, we always like to hear stories about “the working people’s ballet” when fans were bunneted and players were brilliantined. So when Kjell Hanssen got in touch to tell us about the research he is doing in the BNA on the early history of Liverpool FC, we were all ears. A former regular through the turnstiles at the …
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We’re often moved by the amazing stories you tell us about what you’ve been discovering in The Archive. Jan Barlow, a professional genealogist based in SE England, recently tweeted to tell us about some of the stories she’s been finding about her family ancestors in the BNA. Poignantly, Jan’s research has uncovered some very sad facts regarding the many dangers of the workplace during the Victorian era. Jan has written a fascinating article about her “bus driver’s holiday” ancestral research, …
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We love hearing stories about what you’ve been finding while rummaging around in the Archive. Pollie Scott, a family history researcher from East Yorkshire, has been finding dozens of fascinating stories in the Archive about her ancestors. And not only stories, for on her most recent visit to the Archive, she found a photograph (pipe in hand and standing in front of a very rickety-looking biplane!) of an ancestor who served in the Royal Flying Corps during World War One. Poignantly, this is …
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Back in November 2012, Angela Buckley, a researcher and writer from Manchester, tweeted to tell us about an exciting book project she’s working on. The book is entitled, The Real Sherlock Holmes: the Hidden Story of Jerome Caminada, and Angela wrote a fascinating article in November 2012 about her work-in-progress which, as well as telling a cracking story, also highlights how she’s using the BNA for much of her research. As Jerome Caminada was a detective who operated in Manchester’s …
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Much like Scheherazade’s husband, the BNA Team is lucky enough to hear a wonderful story almost every day from visitors to the website. So when Sarah Hayes, a freelance curator from the West Midlands with a passion for social and family history, tweeted to tell us about her research in the BNA, we were all ears. Sarah and her mum are researching their family tree and, well, they are certainly discovering some fascinating stuff. In particular, the story of one …
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We love hearing stories about what people are finding in the Archive. In particular, we enjoy hearing stories about how the newspaper reports have provided added insight into the lives of ancestors and helped people to gain a better understanding of their forebears. So we were delighted when Debra Watkins tweeted to tell us about how she had learned more about her ancestors through reading newspaper reports on the BNA website. In short, Debra had long been puzzled by the …
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We love hearing stories about what you’re up to in the Archive. Truly, we feel extremely privileged to hear your tales. So when professional genealogist, Matt Ball, tweeted us about his research on his music hall ancestors we were keen to hear his story. Through his research in The Era and other papers in the Archive, Matt has discovered some terrific stories about his theatrical ancestors. Matt very kindly agreed to be a guest blogger for us, and we’ve published …
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We’re endlessly fascinated by the stories that people are finding in the British Newspaper Archive. While most of the stories (so far!) that people have kindly sent in have been about family history, there are 100s of other history researchers rummaging around in the Archive. Just recently, the History Department at Sevilla Football Club contacted the BNA to tell us about their amazing and historic discovery in the Archive. So, if you much preferred the “working people’s ballet” back in …