‘Oh, the sun shines bright on Charlie Chaplin’ Charles Spencer ‘Charlie’ Chaplin, ‘the Little Fella’, was reportedly born in East Street, Walworth, South London, on 16 April 1889 – interestingly, there is no official document recording his birth. We’re MASSIVE Chaplin fans at the BNA, and love reading stories about him in the Archive. So to celebrate the date of his birth, here are three online newspaper clippings. We think that the first clipping is a music hall advert for Charlie’s …
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Oi! No spitting, no smoking, no swearing, no sitting next to sensitive souls on the last bus home and embarrassing them with coarse, stentorian conversation and awkward, impertinent questions – oh, these famous ‘strong advice’ signs on buses are sweet music to our ears. We’re BIG fans of etiquette at The British Newspaper Archive. Indeed, we’ve posted several stories about etiquette on the blog over the past few months – just enter ‘etiquette’ into the search engine for the blog to find these …
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The Operas of Verdi The year 2013 is the bi-centenary of Verdi’s birth in 1813. He wrote a great number of operas. The celebrations this year reminds me of an early memory in operatic appreciation, when I attended a performance of Verdi’s Luisa Miller performed at Chelsea Town Hall, in the mid-1960s. I was struck by the power and inventiveness of Verdi, in his varied use of composition to supplement the drama. I have remained appreciative ever since, now preferring …
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Saving Seamen’s Lives (part 2). Samuel Plimsoll – Blog #8 by Edmund King If you have ever stood during a gale, upon a cliff top anywhere round the coast of Britain, your thoughts inevitably turn to those out at sea. Many ships were driven ashore during storms, unable to combat the elements. The development of lighthouses round the coast of Britain in the 19th century greatly reduced the risks of ship running aground. But what of man-made indifference to the lives …
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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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‘For unto us a child is born’ – Handel’s Messiah performed. Attending, for the fifth time at the Royal Albert Hall, on the 2 December 2012, a performance of Handel’s Messiah, sung from scratch by 3,854 souls under the direction of Brian Kay, I wondered about the endurance of this work, and the love that people have of singing in it. For me, one of the most moving pieces is the passage ‘For unto us a child is born’, anticipating …
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Jane Austen imitated by PD James Recently reading PD James Death comes to Pemberley, I wondered how reviews of this novel compared to those of Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen had sold the copyright of the novel to Thomas Egerton, and he published the first edition in January 1813 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice ). Perhaps it was Egerton who placed the advertisement in the Morning Post on 9 February 1813 (p.2 col.2): ‘This day published, in 3 vols. price 18s. in boards, Pride …
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We found dozens of stories (and adverts) in the Archive about Charles Bishop, the gg-grandfather of Liverpool comedian, John Bishop. From reading these old newspaper stories, it’s clear that the Bishop family possesses a special DNA gene for entertaining the masses with their music and stories. Concert at the Assembly Rooms in Chichester Hampshire Telegraph – Saturday 29 October 1853 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000069/18531029/007/0004 The Rifle Volunteers’ Concert Hampshire Telegraph – Saturday 08 December …
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We were delighted (and just a little star-struck!) to see John Bishop using the BNA website in last night’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ programme. John was looking for information on his gg-grandfather, Charles Bishop, who left the army in the 1850s to pursue a musical career, and he found several stories in the Archive about his musical ancestor. We’re going to post a couple of these stories on the blog shortly. But, in the meantime, if you live …
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The Italian composer, Giacomo Puccini, died in Brussels on 29 November 1924. When news of Puccini’s death reached Rome, a performance of ‘La boheme’ was stopped, as the orchestra abruptly shifted key to play Chopin’s ‘Funeral March’ to a shocked audience. So to commemorate his sublime music and his life, we’ve posted two stories that report on the life and music of Puccini. Hull Daily Mail – Monday 01 December 1924 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of …