The National Library of Scotland has digitized over 1800 Broadsides from the years 1610-1950. These Broadsides are a wealth of social history and very revealing about the times in which our ancestors lived.
Broadsides were one page "newspapers" that were distributed in the public market areas of any city or town. Often they were also posted on trees, sides of buildings, market stalls, walls and later lamp posts.
Broadsides not only include the days news but also local gossip and local advertising. The Broadsides were the pre-cursor to todays tabloid papers.
The Broadsides are fully searchable and can also be downloaded in PDF format. Have a look to see what ancestor news YOU can uncover:
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Friday, 22 February 2013
Happy Haggis, a family tree research site, is offering unlimited access to over 24,000 BMD notices from Scottish (and other British) newspapers. The cost for this unlimited access is £7 ($11). The time frame is 1849-1854. So, if your ancestor was Scottish and fits those timelines, the newspaper listings might be worth a look: