NEWSPAPERS

You may be only a few keystrokes away from finding out much more about the events, incidents and background of your ancestor’s life. That’s because one of the easiest ways of enriching your knowledge about your family in the past is by looking at accounts in newspapers. And, today, there are many online sources that give you the opportunity to access some of these papers quickly and cheaply (and sometimes even for free) from the comfort of your own home.

References in newspapers to individual forebears might include announcements of births, marriages or deaths as well as obituaries. More excitingly, he or she might have been hailed a local hero for some reason or another, fined for a misdemeanour, imprisoned for a crime, or injured in an accident. A relative’s business or place of work might