So, you’ve searched the censuses, found the BMDs and built the family tree. But what do you know about the day-to-day lives of your ancestors?

Who did they fraternise with? Who did they NOT get on with? Did they get into trouble? Were they pillars of the community?

Historic newspapers are a great way of finding out this type of information, as well as validating data that you’ve found from other sources.

Newspaper stories about your ancestors add colour to your tree – and family announcements (births, marriages and deaths) can provide pointers to burial locations and other circumstances surrounding their deaths.

This episodes explores the options for scouring newspapers (both online and offline), and to mix things up a little, I’m joined by a guest co-host – regular listener Jeremy – who is a keen advocate of the role of newspapers in genealogy.

Recommended drinks to accompany this episode: Very strong coffee. (As a former journalist, I know this drink POWERS newspapers!)

Recommended biscuits to accompany this episode: Digestives to go with the ‘news digest’.

Listen now