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 …
First World War
We’re always delighted to hear about people’s newspaper discoveries, especially when they solve a mystery. Well this week the Uckfield News reported a great story we’d like to share. In a great show of community pride, the people of Uckfield banded together to secure the medals of Private Albert Corden when they appeared for sale online. Since the medals came home they’ve been researching more about Pte Corden but until very recently didn’t have a picture of him. They recently …
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Suzie Grogan used The British Newspaper Archive extensively while researching her book, Shell Shocked Britain: The First World War’s legacy for Britain’s mental health. She got in touch to show us the heart-breaking story she found about her own ancestors and some of the terrible accounts about life during World War One. ************** My book is the product of two years of intensive research into the trauma of the Great War and its aftermath. But it was a chance …
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After watching Sainsbury’s Christmas advert, Kate Cole was inspired to research the real story behind WW1’s Christmas Truce. She used The British Newspaper Archive to unearth the experiences of soldiers on the Western Front in 1914. ************** In December 1914, during first year of World War One, a remarkable event known as the Christmas Day Truce occurred in small pockets along the Western Front. 100 years later, one of Britain’s largest grocery shops has released a Christmas advert re-enacting …
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You can search more than 390,000 newspaper pages from 1914-1918 at The British Newspaper Archive, with more being added all the time. Juliet Greenwood got in touch to explain how she used the collection to research World War One recipes for her novel, We That Are Left. ************** When I first began writing a novel set during the First World War, I knew I wanted to focus on the experience of women and civilians. For Elin, the heroine …
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The British Newspaper Archive is full of grisly stories about the unusual and the unexplained. We’ve selected some of the oddest tales, including a description of a monster with the head of a sea lion and a rumour that Germany was turning dead soldiers into explosives during the First World War. Let us know if you’ve found a story to rival these. You can comment below or post on our Facebook page. 1) 1877: A bizarre 70-foot beast A very strange creature …
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This step-by-step guide will show you how to search newspapers from a specific date range (such as World War One) at The British Newspaper Archive. Watch this short video tutorial or follow the steps below: Search the newspapers How to search newspapers from World War One The easiest way to limit your search to a particular date range is to use the advanced search. You can get to this by clicking the ‘advanced search’ button on the homepage. …
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The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, like other British newspapers, reported that Britain joined the First World War on 4 August 1914. The Courier makes for especially fascinating reading because it reported the news in a very different way. Manchester Courier: ‘Keep your country out of a wicked and stupid war’ Many newspapers included an advert encouraging unmarried men between 18 and 30 years old to join the Army on 5 August 1914. This example is taken from another …
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Following an ultimatum to withdraw German troops from Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. Monday 4 August 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the start of Britain’s involvement in World War One. Front pages from the start of World War One The news that Britain had joined World War One featured prominently in many of the newspapers printed the following day. Search newspapers from World War One Here’s a selection of the newspaper …
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World War One officially started on 28 July 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. There are currently 25 newspapers from 28 July 1914 available to view online at The British Newspaper Archive. You’ll find clippings from some of these newspapers below, showing how the start of the war was reported. Explore newspapers from 1914 Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war starts WW1 The Serbian Prime Minister received a telegram at 12.30pm on 28 July 1914. It stated that ‘Austria-Hungary… …