This week we have added 96,038 new pages to The Archive. We have two brand new titles – the Sun (London), not to be confused with today’s tabloid publication, and the Colored News, the first British newspaper to publish colour images. For the Sun (London), we have so far have available the years 1801 to 1868. Published daily, bar Sundays, the newspaper is a fascinating resource for the tumultuous days of the early nineteenth century, a time of great political …
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The bathing machine, once a familiar sight at British seaside resorts, has all but become extinct, its legacy only really reflected in the beach huts which still line coasts up and down the United Kingdom. In this special blog we take a look at some of the wonderful photographs and illustrations of bathing machines that can be found using the British Newspaper Archive. The Bystander | 7 August 1912 There is some conjecture as to where the bathing machine originated – …
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The first recorded mention of women’s cricket was in 1745, in Surrey. We searched our Archive for early mentions of women’s cricket, and we came across a treasure trove of articles describing the early history of the sport. Harrow versus Pinner | Graphic | 18 August 1888 One of these comes from the Sherborne Mercury, published in August 1849. It describes a match between ‘nine married ladies’ and ‘nine single ladies’ played at Picket Post, in the New Forest. The single ladies …
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This week we have added 57,277 new pages to The Archive. We are excited to welcome specialist sporting title – the Football Post (Nottingham) – to our collection, with 1069 issues added so far. We now have thirteen specialist sporting newspapers available to search – you can find a comprehensive list of sporting newspapers here, as well as hints and tips for using The Archive for sporting research here. We have also updated five of our existing titles, including three of our …
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Using newspapers from The Archive, in this special blog we take a look at the history of Charter Fairs, from their inception in the medieval period to their continuation in twentieth century Britain. In his June 1955 article for The Sphere, entitled A Partial Eclipse of the Fair, Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald notes how ‘Fairs are of very ancient origin,’ and have been part of British life for thousands of years. A Charter Fair was a fair endorsed by the Crown. Crown-issued …
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In this special blog we use the remarkable photographs and illustrations contained in our Newspaper Archive to trace the tradition of the May Queen over one hundred and fifty years, as well as exploring the origins of this fascinating ritual. We start out at Wymering, just outside of Portsmouth, in 1867. It was here, in the ‘latter part of the month of merrie May’, that a May Queen was crowned. The Illustrated Times tell us that the event is looked …
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This week we have added 112,314 new pages to The Archive. We are delighted to see updates to over seventy of our existing titles, which cover locations across the British Isles and Ireland. As well as updating regional papers, there are updates to some of our specialist titles including sporting publication The Referee, and religious publication the Catholic Standard. Updates this week variously cover the years 1872, 1912 and 1959, with more extended additions joining the Fulham Chronicle. We also have two brand new …
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On the 6 February 1952 the world was stunned by the news of the death of King George VI. His 25 year-old daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, succeeded him. In this special blog post we take a look at how the news was broken on that day 70 years ago, and how it impacted the country and indeed the rest of the world. Coventry Evening Telegraph | 6 February 1952 The Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail reported the King’s passing in the following …
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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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This week we have added 166,508 new pages to The Archive. We have updated fifteen of our existing titles, with updates to four of our Irish titles, and titles covering the counties of Surrey, Cheshire, Devon, Dorset, Kent and Middlesex, as well as the cities of Newcastle and Liverpool. This week also sees updates to one of our performing arts publications, The Showman. The Showman was ‘an illustrated journal for showmen and all entertainers,’ and our updates include pages from 1901. The Showman gives a fascinating …