Newspapers
can provide a wealth of information about your ancestors' lives. These are
available on the web through various sites. The most obvious being Find My
Past, the British Newspaper Archive and Ancestry. The Times Digital Archive can
also be accessed. Hampshire Library's website allows members to access this
site free of charge via a link. It is worth checking if other libraries
offer a similar service. You can visit your local library where the librarians
will be able to advise you what is accessible . Local newspapers allow access
to their archives. You may even be able to use copies of the actual newspapers.
Check out what is available at your local records office or museum. Obviously
some on-line sites require payment. Make sure you have a clear picture of the
costs involved. Once you have obtained an item that is relevant to your family
you may want to crop the actual article. This makes it easier to use and you
can put a paper copy in your records. Victorian newspapers tended to be broadsheets
packed with typeface.
Census
records and certificates can provide a good skeleton of facts about an
ancestor. News articles help to put flesh on the bones. One of my great great
grandfathers was a multiple bankrupt (amongst other things!). Reports of the
various court cases he was involved in read like a script of the trials. This
includes the laughter that broke out in the court room when his integrity was
referred to. You may find details of their businesses, social lives, court
cases and family announcements. Details from a funeral announcement in an
Australian newspaper helped me to find more recent relations. Their birth
records were inaccessible due to the time limits on public access to Australian civil
records.
In my
next post I will use examples from my research to show what you could discover.
Hint😉 You can find little nuggets of information about your family in unexpected places.
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