British Newspaper Archive launched today

[Paddy Casey]

A major historic British newspaper online archive has been launched today. The site will initially give access to four million pages from 200 newspapers from the 18th and 19th Centuries.

The project is a collaboration between the British Library and Dundee-based IT firm Brightsolid.

A total of 120,000 pages will be added to daily and 40 million pages will be digitised over the next 10 years, spanning three centuries. So a search in a year's time may be more productive than one done today and one done in 5 years time may be even more productive, and so forth. But a brief search today for "County Clare" (using the parentheses) already threw up a very large number of interesting hits so the database already appears to be a rich lode for Clare historians.

For more information go to the site at http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Paddy

[rph1981]

Yes, looks like an excellent resource. The only problem is it is behind a pay wall. Can't have everything I suppose!

[Paddy Casey]

The only problem is it is behind a pay wall.

That's right. Behind a paywall. Just like groceries, electricity, domestic water, accomodation, transportation, X-boxes, my cup of coffee in town yesterday, a holiday in Shangri-la, and that Lamborghini I so covet.

For me the cost saving is the key. Yesterday for the price of half a pint of beer and a small pizza I had a most interesting and productive couple of hours searching this site and reading the original pages. I cost me less than a twentieth of an uncomfortable and crowded train trip to the British Library and the accomodation in the vicinity which would have been needed to accomplish the same searches on site.

Paddy

[murf]

With a small amount of searching I turned up an 1844 article stating that one of the Ballynacally Murphys had been committed to jail. I have yet to obtain a copy of the full article, but it looks like opening up a whole new juicy line of research.
Happy hunting.
Murf

[smcarberry]

Having just subscribed to a different online Irish database service (see my next post), I am not ready to use this newspaper archive on a paying basis. Nonetheless I tried the search engine and came up with a rare gem, from a Scottish newspaper (and not online in any other newspaper yet online, per the Google search engine), shown below between parish record entries I have had for a while. I am ecstatic. The full article likely wouldn't add anything more of benefit.

Anyone knowing of Thomas Lee or Patrick Crotty families, kindly let me know. I cannot locate Michael Brandon in Clare at that time, using civil records (but thank you, Clare County Library, for the resources to try). I am aware that a Lee family currently owns property at Lakyle, which is the townland on which my Carberry family lived although no civil record shows a Carberry was ever there.

Sharon Carberry
USA


24 Sep 1843 marriage, Parish of O'Callaghan Mills
Thomas Liddy, Castle Connell and Bridget King, Kilenena
witnesses: Timothy King, Patrick Carberry

Stirling Observer, Stirlingshire, Scotland 27 May 1847
p. 2 Irish News
“Patrick Carbery, Thomas Lee, and Patrick Crotty, from the neighbourhood of Killaloe, summoned Mr Michael Brandon, clerk to Mr John Gleeson, ship-broker, under the provisions of the Emigrant Act, to recover their passage money...”

10 Jan 1850 marriage, Parish of O'Callaghan Mills
Patrick Carberry, Lakyle and Catherine Donnelon, Lakyle
witnesses: John Roche, Cappalaheen; Bridget Donnelon, Lakyle

[murf]

Regarding my Murphy search above, I first put "Edmond Murphy" in the search box and came up with (amongst other things) the following excerpt from the Cork Examiner:
“ Mr.Edmond Murphy, of Mount, in the parish of Clondigad, has been fully committed to the county jail.charged with conspiring to attack the habitations of Major Ball and F. B. Rosslewin, Esq. The alleged offence oc. curred some months ago. This committ ... ? "

I then did a second search with Rosslewin in the search box, and up popped this from the Freeman's Journal of the same date:
“ F. B. Rosslewin, Esq. The alleged cffnce occurred c some months ago. This committal has occasioned much , surprise in the country.-Clare Journal. CAPT. WARNEa'S INVISIBLE SHELLa.-We have rea-e son to believe that, so far as the Admiralty are concerne ... ?

So with a touch of skullduggery I managed to get the full article, and I can conclude that these two newspapers were printing an extract from an article in the Clare Journal. I'm now off to scour the pages of the Clare Journal for (hopefully) a more detailed account of Mr Murphy's alleged misdemeanours.
Murf

[AlStaunton]

I have subscribed. Have found some references to my Stenson line. My wifes family history is predominately English so I might turn up info of use in that regard.
I enjoy looking at old newspapers for general historical stories.
Trove here in Australia is free and that has been very useful for me.