For a limited time only, we’re offering 50% off 1 month subscriptions for the British Newspaper Archive. To take advantage of this opportunity, simply go to purchase a subscription, and use the code JUNE50 at the checkout. But hurry, offer ends 30th June. Take advantage now 3 reasons to try the British Newspaper Archive * Uncover history as it happened with over 14 million articles dating back to 1710 * Expose forgotten speeches and articles from famous names …
historic newspapers
Naomi Clifford chanced on the subject of her book The Disappearance of Maria Glenn (published by Pen & Sword in April) while browsing the British Newspaper Archive. She blogs about aspects of Georgian life at www.naomiclifford.com and is currently researching the women executed in England and Wales between 1797 and 1837. In 1829 a young man received an anonymous letter telling him that an heiress was willing to marry him if only he would only rescue her from a large house on the Clapham …
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Countless celebrations are taking place across the country to commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Wherever you live, you’ll find parades, talks, and performances of all kinds paying homage to the Bard’s work, but it was a very different story 100 years ago. Search the newspapers On the tercentenary of Shakespeare’s death in 1916, Britain had found itself in the middle of one of the most horrific battles in history. While the odd commemorative event took place in larger …
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The British Newspaper Archive is packed with weird and wonderful stories of every description. Search the newspapers However, of all the historic titles in this collection, no publication reported the bizarre and the shocking in quite the same way as the Illustrated Police News. The Illustrated Police News was one of Britain’s very first tabloids and one of the first periodicals to tap into the British public’s morbid appetite for crime and sensation. The paper was founded in 1843 and was partly …
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At 11:40 pm on 14 April 1912, the RMS Titanic, which had been transporting 2,208 people from Southampton to New York, hit an iceberg while crossing the North Atlantic ocean. Search the newspapers Over the course of the next few days the British press was littered with conflicting news and information, with statements claiming that all passengers were safe and the ‘unsinkable’ ship had started making its way to Halifax. The Western Times had quite a job keeping up with …
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There’s a lot to be learned from history. Thankfully, the newspapers are one way that those who came before us were able to record their advice to future generations. Search the newspapers One title in particular caught our eye. The Athlone Sentinel offered a wealth of advice on everything from being a man to the importance of white hands. The value of energy “He who, by any intellectual and moral energy, awakens kindred energy in others touches springs of infinite …
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In case you’re tempted to take out a “Lonely Hearts” ad this Valentine’s Day, be warned: according to the newspaper archive you’d be wise to stay vigilant. Search the newspapers In fact, as the Aberdeen Journal suggested in 1949: Aberdeen Journal – Monday 07 March 1949© THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Unfortunately, the famous Lonely Hearts murders in New York were not an isolated incident. William Sanchez d’Epina Hepper was born in Gibraltar in 1891. He spent …
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A calamitous plot to kill the king, uncovered by Regency Spies (published by Pen & Sword this month) author Sue Wilkes… In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, places like Chalk Farm and Spa Fields in London were the scene of mass meetings of Radicals campaigning for parliamentary reform. Subscribe for just £12.95 –> In 1816, Henry Hunt, one of the most famous reform activists, was invited to speak at Spa Fields by a group called the Spencean Philanthropists, whose chief …
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A recent study showed that 44% of people in Britain people think that “we should be proud of British colonialism”. Considering the Empire’s sketchy past of violence and massacres, this was a shock result. Subscribe for just £12.95 –> At the time, as today, people were mainly supportive of British rule overseas, though it would be fair to assume they didn’t know the full extent of the chaos it wrought. For some, the empire’s steady decline after World War 2 would have been …
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While researching her new book Regency Spies (published by Pen & Sword this month), Sue Wilkes uncovered the story of a desperate plot to kill George III and overthrow the British government… Colonel Despard (1751–1803) has gone down in history as the leader of a wildly impractical, hopeless scheme. Despard was the leader of a group known as the United Britons, which had links with rebel Irishmen. Unfortunately for their plans, some members of the group were government spies, who …