Making the Headlines: 52 Ancestors - Week 13

Old newspapers I have always found fascinating.  They are goldmines, full of snippets of information that give a contemporary eye view on many varied aspects of life at the time for ordinary people.  So Week 13 of "52 Ancestors" with its theme of "In the News" appealed to me. 

Image courtesy of Pixabay

How have newspapers helped my family history? 

I have found:

• A 1906 account of the funeral of my great grandfather James Danson (a local joiner) which included a list of chief mourners - in "The Fleetwood Chronicle & Fylde Advertiser":  28 September 1906. 

• A poignant account of the death of my great uncle George Danson at the Battle of the Somme in 1916  - again in the Fleetwood Chronicle.

• A lengthy, account of the weddings in the 1920's of my great aunt Jennie Danson and my mother's cousin Annie Danson - they are worth reading just for the journalistic "over the top" style in the description of the dresses - with such phrases as "gowned in delphinium blue georgette" and "Her hat was of georgette to tone with uneven pointed dropping brim, having an eye veil of silver lace and floral mount".    Do have a look at the links as they are great fun to read.
  
  
  
  
  

• On a sad note, I traced an account of a coroner's hearing  on the death of a distant ancestral connection - Haydon Lounds,  coach builder, who died of lead poisoning.

• Very recently local newspapers  provided me with a wealth of information on the court appearances of my husband's great grandfather, miner  Aaron Armitage, who led a life of crime from poaching and stealing a pig to assaulting the woman whom he later married.

• I came across in the death announcements this short but beautiful testimony to my g.g.g. grandmother Elizabeth (Betty) Danson, nee Brown.

"Betty, widow of the late Mr. Henry Danson, yeoman, Trap Estate, Carleton, near Poulton-le-Fylde. She was much esteemed, and will be greatly regretted by a large circle of acquaintances".
(Blackburn Standard:  Wednesday 20 May 1840)

These  few lines, somehow brought Elizabeth (or the more familiar Betty) alive for me, as no other record had done.  I knew little about Betty, but this description inspired me to write a blog post  on her life.  Read it HERE.
First important point:  I  found  these entries by doing a "county" search, rather than  specific town/village or specific newspaper title.  The results  were often in newspaper titles I would not normally have considered as covering my Lancashire village.  So it is worth widening your search beyond the obvious.

Second important point:   No doubt because of the cost, notices of births, marriages & deaths were often short merely stating - “On the 1st inst, a son named...."  with the mother’s name not always given!  Entries from the landed gentry and professions inevitably predominated, with reports on weddings and funerals  often lengthy.  

Death notices came from a more varied social background and could include information on the burial place and on the circumstances of death.   But unlike in America,  here in the  UK obituaries are usually reserved for prominent people who in some way had made their mark in their community.

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But even if you are unsuccessful in finding specific details on your own family, newspapers are an indispensable tool in providing you with that essential background material that can so enliven your family story.

• What was happening during the lifetime of your ancestors?  For instance - reports on  the coming of the railway or the opening of a cottage hospital,  which would impact on ordinary lives.
   
• Helping with your timeline,  you  should find reports of national and Internationale event including military campaigns abroad, court cases, politics, royal visits, etc.
   
• Accident reports (on roads, trains, in industry, by fire )  were often graphic. Reports during the First World War are particularly poignant as pages were filled with profiles of casualties.
   
• Regular  features throughout the year included  railway timetables, market prices, local shipping agents offering passages to America, Canada, South Africa, India, Singapore and Australia,  auction sales notices with lengthy details of estates and normal;"> contents on the market, bankruptcies, tradesmen, events such as balls and talks, and church activities plus new arrivals at shops from the last novel by Charles Dickens to India rubber boots.
• Advertisements, generally on the front page for maximum impact, offer a valuable source of information on all aspects of life. In “The Kelso Mail” of January 1804 the main advert informed readers of the signals that would be made across Berwickshire and Roxburghshire on the “enemy’s fleet appearing off the coast”, with the threat of a Napoleonic invasion.
   
  
• The classified adverts revealed households seeking housekeepers, cooks, parlourmaids, scullery maids, between maids, laundry maids.  But life was changing in 1916, with an advert for a "Lady Motor Driver" and a "Lady Clerk - not under 30, must be a first class typist and shorthand writer and experienced in filing and indexing". Also seeking work was a "Gentlewoman, excellent cleaner of plate....speaks French and Italian, with own portable Corona typewriter".

In rural areas, you will find lists of farm vacancies for shepherds, ploughmen, hinds, dairy maids, etc.,  particularly as communities moved on from holding hiring fairs. 
 

• Find out through adverts and articles  what your ancestors were eating, what was Christmas like in war-time, what was the well dressed lady wearing etc.

•  Front page advertisements in my local paper of 1889 promise:

"The constant desire is to supply goods of Reliable Quality  suitable for all classes of the parish." 

[Note:  that phrase "All classes of the parish" - you could not use that now!]

Also In  the field of fashion, draper, David Wallace,  advertised:

"An Immense and Magnificent Collection of every New and Fashionable  Dress Material....which for Variety, Superior Quality, Good Taste and Moderate Prices is unequalled in Earlston.

Tweeds in Cheviot, Homespun, Harris and Grampian makes, latest styles and newest mixtures, Black materials in great variety.

The latest novelties in Millinery, Flowers, Feathers etc.  Bonnets composed of Velvet and Jet, from 10s.6d to 25s.  The latest novelty in hats is Gladys in French Beaver, trimmed with Feathers.  All orders for this Department made up in the most Fashionable and Tasteful Manner." 

Note:   the reference to "black materials" - at a time when formal mourning wear was still the custom.  Somehow the name "Gladys" does not quite conjure up an image of a French beaver hat with feather

One article I came across advised on "The Home Treatment of Alcoholic Excess and the Drug Habit"- with no interference with social, business or other duties". Still topical today!

Other items which have caught my eye and inspired blog posts include:

• Female Fashions for December - 1805
• Woman's Age in the Census - 1891
• Slow Coach from Edinburgh - 1848
• A Society Wedding with a Tragic End - 1913
• A Female Navie - 1849

So enjoy browsing old newspapers - you never know what you might find! **********

Sources:

• British Newspapers Online 1710-1953 on the website Find My Past
  
  I chose this site , as I already had a subscription to Find My Past. I was delighted to find its wide coverage, that includes small weekly newspapers in rural areas, besides the obvious national titles.
• British Newspaper Archive  - Another popular site
• Contact your local archive centre or library relevant to your research. Most  hold copies oof old newspapers, often in microfilm versions, and also offer enquiry services and "look ups".  It  is advisable to have a good idea of date i.e. month and year, in case the collection is not indexed.
  

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