With the next census fast approaching in England and Wales, we thought we’d delve into the history of the census, and the changing attitudes towards it from its inception in 1801 and throughout the nineteenth century. From initial fears and suspicions, to feelings of pride and honour, our newspapers chart the evolving attitudes to the modern British census, and how it was depicted in popular culture, in poetry, illustrations and even on the stage. So read on to discover more …
England
This week we have added over 120 years of history to The Archive! With an increase of more than 109,000 pages, we have added 7 brand new titles and updated 15 existing titles. Our new pages span from 1860 to 1988 with a strong focus on the year 1880. Read on a discover more about the headlines from the 1880s. Register now and explore the Archive One of the largest releases this week is more than 47,000 pages of our brand …
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This week at The Archive we are thrilled to bring you 11 brand new titles and additions to 6 existing titles. We have added 19,712 new pages from regional titles across Scotland and England. Register now and explore the Archive Five of our new titles come to us from across Scotland including a newspaper from Scotland’s most northern point in the Atlantic Ocean, the Shetland Isles. The Shetland News The Shetland News was first published in 1855 and it …
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We’re happy to bring you word of the latest additions to The British Newspaper Archive. Three new titles have joined the site along with updates to ten existing titles. Our new titles are from Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland; Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England; and Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England: Jedburgh Gazette, Wisbech Standard, and Hunts Post, respectively. You can learn more about each of the titles we have added to this week by clicking on their names below. On each paper’s title page, you can learn more …
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In the month of August, we have looked at occupations and employment through the newspapers. To finish our theme this month, we are taking a closer look at coal miners, specifically in the 19th century. An initial search for miners reveals explosions, accidents, and strikes in the vast amount of mines operating across Great Britain. We will look at these topics in closer detail. The first coal mine was sunk in Scotland, under the Firth of Forth in …
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Emma Willis explored the back streets of Birmingham, uncovered a violent ancestor, and revealed magnificent Irish craftsmanship in her family tree. In this week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, we followed the lives of three of Willis’ ancestors: James Gretton, Richard Fowler, and Michael Kirwan. We will take a closer look at the newspapers and explore what more we can discover about the stories and lives revealed. James Gretton Emma Willis found out that her three-time great …
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Whilst Mothering Sunday is now commonly combined and celebrated with the secular holiday of Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom and Ireland, its origin is religious in nature and separate from that of the American Mother’s Day. Starting in the 1700s, individuals would attend a special service on Laetare Sunday (the fourth Sunday of Lent) at their mother church (usually the church where an individual was baptised or their local parish church/closest cathedral). This activity was soon coined as going …
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We have reached a major new milestone in our project to digitise up to 40 million newspaper pages from the British Library’s vast collection of historic British & Irish newspapers. Following the addition of a newspaper from the country’s smallest county, Rutland, the Archive now covers every corner of England as, for the first time, at least one title from each of the country’s 48 counties is now available to search and explore. We have added 3,968 pages from the Rutland …
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In honour of St Patrick’s Day, we’ve dug into The British Newspaper Archive to find out how the day has been celebrated in different parts of the world over the last century. Interested in finding more examples of St Patrick’s Day celebrations? Register today and explore all of The British Newspaper Archive! Register for free today!
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Over the course of its history and in its present-day iteration, Valentine’s Day has been a day fit for the writing and sharing of romantic verse. The union of romantic love and Valentine’s Day has been advantageous for aspiring poets, and the newspapers have been quick to publish such verse over the years to honour St Valentine’s Day. In the pages of the newspapers, you can find numerous poems celebrating Valentine’s Day. Here is a sampling. Discover more poems and …