We may be on the run up to Christmas now, but here at The Archive we have been as busy as ever, adding 140,040 brand new newspaper pages over the past seven days, with the addition of eight brand new titles from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland over the last week. Meanwhile, we have updated fifteen of our existing titles, including updates to some of our recently added titles too. So read on to discover more about all of our new titles of the week, and to …
Ireland
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 …
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This week we are delighted to welcome 71,598 additional pages to The Archive, as well as five brand new titles. Two of these titles, the Wakefield Express and the South Notts Echo, originate in England, while the the other three, the Leinster Reporter, the Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, and the Times of India are spread out across Ireland, Wales and India respectively. Register now and explore the Archive The Wakefield Express augments last week’s influx of Yorkshire titles. First published in 1852, this weekly broadsheet published from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, carrying everything from advertisements and local news to literary extracts. In 1952, one hundred …
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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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We have come to the end of the year and for the month of December we are looking across the month at historic events that occurred during the month including the death of a famous musician, an explorer’s achievement, the first woman in Parliament, and the coronation of Napoleon. We do not claim that these are all the noteworthy historical events in December. If you know of any significant ‘December’ events that you have found in The Archive share them …
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We are thrilled to announce we have reached another 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 title from County Leitrim, our online archive now provides a title from all 32 counties across Ireland. Register now and view 3 pages for FREE The British Newspaper Archive contains more than 21 million newspaper pages from 815 titles from England, Wales, …
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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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Illustrated London News On 14 May 1842, 175 years ago today, the Illustrated London News, the world’s first illustrated newspaper, debuted. Founded by Herbert Ingram of Lincolnshire, the paper was a pioneer in pictorial journalism. The British Newspaper Archive is proud to hold more than 7,000 issues of the Illustrated London News across its 161-year run for you to explore. Register today and explore the Illustrated London News. From its inaugural edition, the editors were confident in their …
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March has been a great month at the Archive. We have added eight brand new titles this month including the Rutland Echo and Leicestershire Advertiser. In bringing online a newspaper for England’s smallest county we now have a newspaper for every county in England. And we won’t stop there. Our England collection will continue to grow. And watch this space for similar ‘country completion’ announcements. This month we are particularly pleased to announce the addition of issues from the 1850s …
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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 …