NEWSPAPERS AS A GENEALOGICAL SOURCE
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      Newspapers in England started early in the 18th century and
   quickly proliferated to the provinces and even out to the outlying
   country areas.

      The earliest provincial paper was probably the Norwich Post which
   first published in 1701 to be quickly followed by papers in Bristol
   and Worcester.

      Copies of many of these newspapers have survived and can be found
   in a variety of repositories.  Provincial papers tend to be deposited
   in local libraries or in County Record Offices, whilst some have
   found their way into the British Newspaper Library at Colindale,
   which has produced a seven volume catalogue of their collection.

      Few newspapers have been indexed, but there are exceptions, and
   obviously the work involved in finding your ancestor is much improved
   by indexing.  If you are uncertain of the date of an event that might
   have been reported in the press then commence by searching the
   indexes to likely newspapers.  If, however, you know the date of the
   event, then a search by date is likely to prove more successful.

      The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer ran from 1731 to
   1883 and has been indexed, and the London Times is indexed from 1790
   to 1941 by Mr Palmer, and copies of this index are available in hard
   copy or on micro-film in Auckland Public Library and elsewhere.
   And don't dismiss the London Times as a source just because your
   ancestors were maybe labouring class, many ordinary persons got their
   names printed in the London Times. And events that occured remote
   from London were printed, when reader interest was assured. For
   example, the death of an English Lady in the South of France, or the
   death of a private soldier in WW1 whilst working on a farm in Sussex,
   or the drowning of a yachtsman on holiday in Cork Ireland.

      Some events result in a series of press reports. For example, an
   accident involving death may result in an "Accident report" followed
   a few days later by "Coroner's Inquest" and finally "Funeral Report".
   In some cases the same event may be reported in more than one paper,
   each report varying somewhat in detail from the other.

      The Federation of Family History Societies has published one of
   its well-known guides covering Newspapers.  Its title is:- "Local
   Newspapers 1750-1920 England & Wales" compiled by JSW Gibson.  It is
   available in NZ for about $7.00.  But it does not list newspapers
   that existed for less than four years.  It contains a very
   comprehensive list of well-established newspapers in order of County,
   and giving details of where they can be found and whether indexed or
   not.

      Newspapers over the ages have covered a wide range of events of
   interest to the genealogist and in many cases were more fully
   reported than the same event would be to-day. Further more in many
   cases the information contained in the paper may be greater than one
   might expect in official records. For example, birth announcements
   may give parents' names, residence and may well tell you how many
   children the couple already had. Death notices were frequently small
   obituaries particularly in the time of Queen Victoria. Accidents and
   criminal trials had the fullest coverage as did bankruptcies , and
   divorces, seldom reported these days.

      The London Gazette and other papers provide details of the change
   of surname, and this reached a peak around the start of the World
   Wars when persons with Germanic surnames hastened to anglicise them.
   Minorities tended to adopt very English surnames frequently
   choosing English place names as their new surname.

      Willing's Press Guide is an annual publication listing current
   newspapers in many countries of the world, together with their
   details as regards publication frequency, editorial staff and price.
   In New Zealand there is the Union List that covers all New Zealand
   papers over the years.

      Although newspapers appear as single issues, they are frequently
   bound into very large books by month or quarter depending upon their
   size and frequency of issue.  In many instances, they have now been
   mico-filmed so that the originals will no longer be subjected to the
   wear and tear of being handled.