British Newspapers from 1700 to 1999

Newspapers are really the life blood of a community, town or city — covering about events, places and people in that town. This is why finding newspapers from a certain area where our ancestors lived and then seeing if there was ever an article about that person or a family member can provide such additional information for you research.

If you had ancestors from the British Isles (including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) this online site, The British Newspaper Archive will be a resource you will need to view. There is a search box at the top. Look to the left and you will see the wide range of dates, the newspapers, the counties and towns available, all which will help narrow the search.

Place a full name, a keyword or if the surname is unusual enough, just the family name can be placed. You will see the title of the article, the date, the location and a short preview to the article. If this could be one of interest, click on that thumbnail.

Now this site does charge to get a full size paper in digital form. It does offer 15 credits free to get you started and see how you like it. You can purchase to get copies over a two day period or even for a full year (which offers the best rate). You would need to register with the site having an email address and creating a password.

When looking using the search, not just an article in reference to an ancestor, but family notices, obituaries, letters to the editor, as well as advertisements for businesses an ancestor many have had. That alone would produce a wealth of information. Plus as you search in the 20th century, there is the likelihood of a photograph.

So with any British ancestors in your tree, this is a great research to work on. With over 200 newspaper titles and some 5 million digital pages already, plus more to be added, there is quite a bit of information here.