The British Library, in affiliation with Gale (now owned by GENGAGE Learning) has made digital editions of forty-nine 19th-century British newspapers now available online. According to their press release, “every front page, editorial, birth and death notice, advertisement and classified ad that appeared within the pages of the selected papers is easily accessible from what is a virtual chronicle of history for this period.” In addition, users of the database can search every word on every page.
Searches are free. Access is a bit spendy, but if you’ve found someone who looks to be your ancestor, you could say that the the cost is cheap. Fees are £6.99 ($11.14 as of 9/25/09) for a 24-hour pass, allowing the user to view up to 100 articles, or a seven-day pass with 200 article views for £9.99 ($15.91 as of 9/25/09).
I like the search engine and the search results are kinda’ cool. I searched on the name, Canfield, and got 824 hits.
You may also view complete articles from the Penny Illustrated Paper and The Graphic free of charge. I played around with those papers a bit, and found that I could search them and look at the results without even having to register. Just choose those titles to search. You’ll see that they are marked as FREE when you get the search results. The files open right up. Cool…
The following papers are currently available:
- Aberdeen Journal Jan 06, 1800 – Jun 30, 1900
- Baner Cymru Mar 04, 1857 – Dec 29, 1900
- Belfast News-Letter Jan 01, 1828 – Dec 31, 1900
- Birmingham Daily Post Dec 04, 1857 – Sep 29, 1900
- Brighton Patriot Feb 24, 1835 – Aug 13, 1839
- Bristol Mercury Jan 04, 1819 – Jun 25, 1900
- Caledonian Mercury Jan 02, 1800 – Apr 20, 1867
- Champion Sep 18, 1836 – Apr 26, 1840
- Charter Jan 27, 1839 – Mar 15, 1840
- Chartist Feb 02, 1839 – Jul 07, 1839
- Chartist Circular Aug 16, 1839 – Sep 18, 1841
- Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register Jan 01, 1802 – Sep 17, 1836
- Daily News Jan 21, 1846 – Dec 31, 1900
- Derby Mercury Jan 02, 1800 – Dec 26, 1900
- Era Sep 30, 1838 – Dec 29, 1900
- Examiner Jan 03, 1808 – Sep 10, 1715 (Really?)
- Freeman’s Journal Jan 01, 1820 – Sep 29, 1900
- Genedl Feb 08, 1877 – Dec 25, 1900
- Glasgow Herald Feb 04, 1820 – Dec 31, 1900
- Goleuad Oct 30, 1869 – Dec 26, 1900
- Graphic Jan 01, 1870 – Dec 29, 1900
- Hampshire/Portsmouth Telegraph Jan 06, 1800 – Dec 29, 1900
- Hull Packet Jan 07, 1800 – Feb 26, 1886
- Illustrated Police News Jan 05, 1867 – Dec 29, 1900
- Ipswich Journal Jan 04, 1800 – Dec 29, 1900
- Jackson’s Oxford Journal Jan 04, 1800 – Jun 24, 1769
- Leeds Mercury Jan 03, 1807 – Dec 31, 1900
- Liverpool Mercury Jul 05, 1811 – Dec 31, 1900
- Lloyd’s Illustrated Newspaper Nov 27, 1842 – Dec 30, 1900
- London Dispatch Sep 17, 1836 – Oct 06, 1839
- Manchester Times Oct 17, 1828 – Dec 28, 1900
- Morning Chronicle Jan 01, 1801 – Dec 31, 1800
- Newcastle Courant Jan 08, 1803 – Apr 24, 1725 (Really?)
- North Wales Chronicle Oct 04, 1827 – Dec 29, 1900
- Northern Echo Jan 01, 1870 – Dec 31, 1900
- Northern Liberator Oct 21, 1837 – Dec 19, 1840
- Northern Star Jan 06, 1838 – May 22, 1793
- Odd Fellow Jan 05, 1839 – Dec 10, 1842
- Operative Nov 04, 1838 – Jun 30, 1839
- Pall Mall Gazette Feb 07, 1865 – Dec 31, 1900
- Penny Illustrated Paper Oct 12, 1861 – May 24, 1913
- Poor Man’s Guardian Jul 09, 1831 – Dec 26, 1835
- Preston Chronicle Jan 01, 1831 – Dec 02, 1894
- Reynolds’s Newspaper May 05, 1850 – Dec 30, 1900
- Southern Star Jan 19, 1840 – Jul 12, 1840
- Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post Jan 02, 1800 – Dec 29, 1900
- Western Mail May 01, 1869 – Dec 31, 1900
