This afternoon I had half an hour to spare, so I did a 50 year newspaper sweep of one county for one of my surnames of interest. I found -
the court appearance of a bigamist;
the court appearance of a man who'd deserted his wife;
a report of a wedding where the presentation of a silver horseshoe by the bride's nephew indicated which of two Hilda's was the bride, so placing both Hildas in their respective families;
a court case where a wife had failed to declare that her soldier husband had been discharged from service and kept on receiving her allotment, then when he was recalled for service, she had made a further claim, receiving an additional second allotment from a different post office;
a soldier who stole seven blankets and some scrubbing brushes from the army during WW1;
6 cases of arrests for drunkenness and disorderly behaviour;
some excellent amateur cricketers in village matches;
children winning a variety of races at school sports and in local shows;
an account of a funeral with full military honours;
reports of who'd attended various family funerals, kinship, who'd sent flowers and even what hymns had been sung.
What little gems has anyone else discovered from searching old newspapers?
Jay
the court appearance of a bigamist;
the court appearance of a man who'd deserted his wife;
a report of a wedding where the presentation of a silver horseshoe by the bride's nephew indicated which of two Hilda's was the bride, so placing both Hildas in their respective families;
a court case where a wife had failed to declare that her soldier husband had been discharged from service and kept on receiving her allotment, then when he was recalled for service, she had made a further claim, receiving an additional second allotment from a different post office;
a soldier who stole seven blankets and some scrubbing brushes from the army during WW1;
6 cases of arrests for drunkenness and disorderly behaviour;
some excellent amateur cricketers in village matches;
children winning a variety of races at school sports and in local shows;
an account of a funeral with full military honours;
reports of who'd attended various family funerals, kinship, who'd sent flowers and even what hymns had been sung.
What little gems has anyone else discovered from searching old newspapers?
Jay
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