Don't forget the newspapers!

[Janet in Yorkshire]

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

[Olde Crone Holden]

Lots of stuff from newspapers but the ones which stick in my mind were from church mags, which I literally tripped over in a local town archive. They were in a box on the floor. They dated from about 1830 and contained the most incredibly detailed information about local families, many of whom were of interest to me.

The chapel had fundraised and sent about 40 local people to a new life in the USA. These emigrants kept up a correspondence with their old chapel and their letters were faithfully reproduced for 50 years, when the chapel closed and presumably contact WS lost. I was absolutely entranced and spent many days reading and hand copying info ( the archive wouldn't let me photocopy anything, lol, proper jobsworths in those days). As a result I have been able to provide contacts with the missing bits" which I knew from the letters from America!

OC

[Jill on the A272]

Just yesterday I found a reference to OH's grandfather who was Hon Sec to a local society in 1933 having left the district. It doesn't say he decamped with his fancy woman.

[Anne in Carlisle]

I always check the newspapers as I go through my tree checking process. Sometimes I find nothing much at all but others there is a small gem including wedding dates (for those I don't have certs for), causes of death, including inquests and mentions of relatives. The searches can be very hit and miss and I have often found something by a different route and wondered why it hadn't picked it out in the first place!
Anne

[JudithM]

Only the other day I found a report of the wedding of one of my mum's cousins, in 1931, which apart from giving me the date listed the presents given by family and friends. I can now narrow down when one of my great aunts moved to London, and know that my grandparents gave them a silver plated cake stand

[Anne in Carlisle]

LOL Judith! Some things are 'need to know' and others are 'nice to know'. Things like present lists and guest lists are great!
Anne

[Olde Crone Holden]

Ah, a wedding guest list proved a connection between two specific families that I hadn't been able to confirm any other way.

OC

[Janet in Yorkshire]

I recently found a newspaper report of my parents' marriage. It was arranged at short notice during WW2 before my father was sent overseas. I possess a photo of mum in her wedding outfit and knew the identity of the best man (Dad's brother's leave was cancelled at the last moment and so a young man who lived across the road from my maternal grandparents stepped in at the last moment.) What I didn't know was that Mum's two younger sisters had acted as her bridesmaids and that all three had carried lupins (mum's were blue to match her outfit and the two sisters carried pink and white blooms) presumably from Grandad's and neighbours' gardens.

Judith, yes a list of wedding presents featuring in the newspaper is great. I recently found the report of the marriage of the parents of an elderly friend,who's aged 93. He was delighted as he could remember using many of the items whilst he was growing up and still has one of the cut glass bowls, which his late wife used to use for flower arrangements.

OC, yes, church mags are also brilliant. I've never found any as wonderfully revealing as yours, but in pre-internet days, I found the bp, mars & burials very useful and also membership of the temperance league, sunday school etc.

Jay

[Olde Crone Holden]

I also find Victorian newspapers, particularly local ones, a source of great amusement, unintentional I'm sure.

A distant relative was involved in a fatal collision when the brougham he was driving overturned on a corner. His passengers ( a lady and a woman, lol) were carried into the nearest hotel...."which has recently been refurbished to the highest standards of taste and elegance by Messrs Blogs and sons of the High Street at great expense blah blah".

OC

[Janet in Yorkshire]

LOL, OC - love the distinction between lady and woman :D

Jay

[GallowayLass]

My cousin sent me a copy of a page from a parish magazine which had a list of recent baptisms, marriages and burials. We know know the funeral date for my father's twin brother who died aged only a few months. It was a pauper's funeral so we would never have found a burial fee invoice or a record of the opening of a family grave which would have had this info. My grandparents didn't have enough money to buy one then.

[Blaeberry]

Those are great finds! Can I ask a dumb question please? How do you search the old newspapers? Are they available online or through libraries?
Thanks

[Lin Fisher]

Some are available on FMP others are available at libraries.

I think you can log on if you have a library ticket but not sure if every county does it.

I'm sure someone else will have more knowledge than me.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

Blaeberry, there's nothing dumb about your question.

I have subscribed to both FMP and the British Newspaper Archive - you can take out monthly subs for each, I think.

Jay

[Blaeberry]

Great thanks, I'll definitely have a look.