Public domain newspaper titles in Living with Machines

Summary: a long list of newspaper titles (including variations) with information on the number of articles available, by Mia Ridge and Nilo Pedrazzini.

Which public domain (out of copyright) newspaper titles did we search for crowdsourcing and linguistic work in the latter stages of the Living with Machines project? As part of documenting work on annotating articles about accidents, defining machines and words related to mechanisation, and even playing ‘is this text an ad or not?‘, we have listed public domain newspaper titles available to the Living with Machines team below. Huge thanks to Nilo Pedrazzini for compiling this data!

Automatically-transcribed (OCR) text for these titles is available for download from the British Library’s Research Repository. The alto2txt tool might be helpful for turning the METS/ALTO XML datasets into plain text files. If you use the newspaper texts in any way, we’d love to hear about your experiences!

Background

The Living with Machines project had some budget to digitise historical newspapers. We’ve written about the selection, digitisation, copyright clearance and other processes in blog posts: Over half of a million pages of historical newspapers now openly available, Sharing the benefits: free to view newspapers on the British Newspaper Archive and Releasing content for researchers to re-use; Newspaper copyright and Living with Machines; Finding your way… among newspapers and Press Picker: visualising formats and title name changes in the British Library’s newspaper holdings. We’ve also described our work in a chapter, ‘Hunting for Treasure: Living with Machines and the British Library Newspaper Collection‘, and our open access book Collaborative Historical Research in the Age of Big Data: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Project.

We were also able to work with newspapers digitised by another British Library project (called ‘HMD’, for ‘Heritage Made Digital’).  The Heritage Made Digital project focused on digitising newspapers in a ‘poor or unfit condition’ that were also published in London and also distributed outside London – or ‘metropolitan newspapers with a wider circulation’. We’ve included the funding source (LwM or HMD)  in the table of newspaper titles below.

Public domain newspaper titles with word and article counts, year spans and funding source

We’ve listed each newspaper with a normalised title, i.e. without the other names a title might have used over time – the names (or ‘titles’) of newspapers changed often! British Library records for a given title usually indicate the previous and subsequent versions of a title. We have used those to group all the versions of a title together under one title, choosing (mostly) by the version on the British Newspaper Archive (BNA) title overview page. The full list of variant titles is at the end of this post. 

The table below is sorted by the number of words per title. The year span uses the first and last year of publication, ignoring any gaps in the years published for the sake of brevity.

A note on numbers: ‘articles’ are outlined during a post-digitisation process called ‘optical layout recognition’, or OLR. Ideally, the OLR process segments, or breaks up, pages of text into individual articles, advertisements, etc. However, articles in 19th century newspapers often look different than in modern newspapers, so the OLR process isn’t entirely accurate. (In future, comparing the number of words to the number of identified articles might give us a sense of which titles have the least accurate OLR.)

Title	Number of articles	Number of words (whole)	Num words (short)	Year span	Funded by
The Sun	1,625,117	1,404,533,002	1.4B	1801-1871	HMD
The Express	368,107	278,915,230	279M	1846-1868	HMD
Birkenhead News	400,749	193,945,716	194M	1878-1920	LwM
The Star	203,386	191,025,349	191M	1801-1831	HMD
The Liverpool Standard	267,993	187,542,672	188M	1832-1856	HMD
Widnes Examiner	268,014	157,504,625	158M	1876-1916	LwM
Northern Weekly Gazette	291,956	117,879,714	118M	1860-1920	LwM
The Cotton Factory Times	223,560	116,796,935	117M	1885-1920	LwM
Glasgow Courier	162,766	111,315,801	111M	1802-1866	LwM
The British Press	114,487	109,503,748	110M	1803-1826	HMD
The Swansea and Glamorgan Herald	129,274	108,144,705	108M	1847-1889	LwM
Weymouth Telegram	137,574	84,449,322	84M	1862-1901	LwM
The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette	99,328	81,725,592	82M	1858-1886	LwM
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser	138,131	80,454,850	80M	1858-1892	LwM
The Northern Daily Times	179,988	79,720,507	80M	1853-1861	HMD
The Statesman	77,439	75,187,658	75M	1806-1824	HMD
The Haslingden Gazette	148,991	71,677,020	72M	1901-1920	LwM
Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express	132,543	67,875,309	68M	1898-1920	LwM
The Central Glamorgan Gazette	142,003	66,630,044	67M	1866-1894	LwM
The Northern Guardian	202,362	63,071,671	63M	1891-1899	LwM
Blackpool Gazette & Herald	116,541	60,570,186	61M	1874-1905	LwM
Cradley Heath & Stourbridge Observer	80,110	59,246,462	59M	1864-1888	LwM
Denton and Haughton Examiner	70,773	56,233,637	56M	1874-1892	LwM
Warwickshire Herald	81,998	44,878,518	45M	1884-1899	LwM
Nelson Chronicle, Colne Observer, and Clitheroe Division News	88,544	44,725,823	45M	1890-1904	LwM
Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser	76,487	42,417,638	42M	1866-1890	LwM
The Blandford and Wimborne Telegram	70,359	40,830,413	41M	1874-1886	LwM
Bridlington and Quay Gazette	91,095	40,183,231	40M	1877-1914	LwM
Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette	73,120	37,813,238	38M	1879-1899	LwM
The Potteries Examiner	49,244	37,760,646	38M	1871-1881	LwM
The Herald of Wales	55,185	36,866,805	37M	1882-1890	LwM
Bridport, Beaminster, and Lyme Regis Telegram	61,261	34,072,527	34M	1865-1886	LwM
The Atherstone, Nuneaton, and Warwickshire Times	58,502	33,822,478	34M	1879-1891	LwM
The Kenilworth Advertiser	62,164	29,099,469	29M	1873-1898	LwM
The National Register	38,578	26,907,777	27M	1808-1823	HMD
Lancaster Standard and County Advertiser	43,381	23,930,663	24M	1894-1909	LwM
Dewsbury Chronicle and West Riding Advertiser	27,915	23,350,478	23M	1872-1895	LwM
The Warrington Examiner	33,532	23,063,640	23M	1869-1893	LwM
The Poole Telegram	40,568	21,509,658	22M	1879-1886	LwM
Runcorn Examiner	30,254	18,874,041	19M	1870-1905	LwM
The Press	25,434	18,129,411	18M	1853-1858	HMD
Bridgend Chronicle, Cowbridge, Llantrisant, and Maesteg Advertiser	46,011	17,798,676	18M	1880-1894	LwM
The Bee-Hive	21,746	15,801,612	16M	1869-1876	HMD
The Pontypridd District Herald	35,330	15,106,991	15M	1878-1894	LwM
Irvine Express	20,446	13,789,532	14M	1882-1886	LwM
Weekly News	22,398	13,553,895	14M	1889-1892	LwM
The Glasgow Chronicle	18,366	12,774,946	13M	1847-1850	LwM
Colne Valley Guardian	29,118	12,640,100	13M	1896-1906	LwM
British Miner and General Newsman	13,127	12,537,292	13M	1862-1867	LwM
The North Cumberland Reformer	21,617	12,293,417	12M	1890-1895	LwM
The Shropshire Examiner	17,809	12,080,658	12M	1874-1877	LwM
The Cannock Chase Examiner	15,852	11,737,026	12M	1874-1877	LwM
The Weekly Journal	23,371	10,781,208	11M	1901-1904	LwM
Bargoed Journal	32,944	9,734,572	10M	1904-1912	LwM
The Manchester Examiner	8,477	9,617,032	10M	1848-1848	LwM
The Halifax Comet	41,875	9,440,007	9M	1893-1904	LwM
The Forest of Dean Examiner	13,016	9,368,205	9M	1875-1877	LwM
Tamworth Miners’ Examiner and Working Men’s Journal	9,975	8,195,566	8M	1873-1876	LwM
Darlington & Richmond Herald	10,635	7,209,684	7M	1870-1874	LwM
Alston Herald and East Cumberland Advertiser	13,110	6,934,211	7M	1875-1880	LwM
The East Riding Telegraph	17,596	6,341,382	6M	1895-1903	LwM
Blandford Weekly News	9,209	6,080,568	6M	1886-1889	LwM
The Northern News	10,979	4,705,132	5M	1896-1898	LwM
Nantwich, Sandbach & Crewe Star	8,913	4,343,840	4M	1888-1891	LwM
Lancaster Herald and Town and County Advertiser	7,703	4,185,814	4M	1831-1832	LwM
The Midland examiner and Wolverhampton times	5,862	3,958,508	4M	1875-1877	LwM
Liverpool Weekly Courier	5,351	2,954,915	3M	1893-1893	LwM
Stockton Examiner and South Durham and North Yorkshire Herald	4,166	2,767,739	3M	1879-1893	LwM
St. Helens Examiner	5,532	2,755,780	3M	1905-1905	LwM
The Industrial Review, Social and Political	4,278	2,594,173	3M	1877-1878	HMD
Swansea Journal and South Wales Liberal	4,607	2,584,181	3M	1895-1902	LwM
The Atherstone Times.	4,103	2,376,136	2M	1879-1879	LwM
The South Staffordshire Examiner	2,015	2,120,821	2M	1874-1874	LwM
The Nuneaton Times	2,661	1,415,861	1M	1875-1875	LwM
Stretford and Urmston Examiner	850	1,078,708	1M	1879-1879	LwM
Stalybridge Examiner	719	525,362	525K	1876-1876	LwM
Halifax Local Opinion	2,026	478,762	479K	1892-1892	LwM
The Ripon Observer	580	266,927	267K	1893-1893	LwM
Barnsley Telephone	636	180,572	181K	1918-1920	LwM
Colored News	1,025	72,709	73K	1855-1855	HMD

​Higher-level geographical regions

In order to compare different sets of articles, we grouped the titles into regions within England – North, South and Midlands, in addition to the national categories of Scotland and Wales.

In percentage of articles:

• North       43.914546%
• South       41.482479%
• Wales        6.270077%
• Midlands     5.494909%
• Scotland     2.837989%

In raw number of articles:

• North       3119183
• South       2946437
• Wales        445354
• Midlands     390295
• Scotland     201578

Related (variant) titles

A detailed breakdown of the titles as they appear in our corpus and the corresponding normalised version. You can use this to find the normalised title for a given variant in the table above.

• “The Sun”: “The Sun.”
• “The Express”: “The Express.”
• “Birkenhead News”: “The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser.”
• “The Liverpool Standard”: “The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.”, “The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.”
• “Widnes Examiner”: “Widnes Examiner.”
• “The Cotton Factory Times”: “The Cotton Factory Times.”
• “Glasgow Courier”: “Glasgow Courier.”
• “The British Press”: “The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.”
• “The Swansea and Glamorgan Herald”: “Swansea and Glamorgan Herald, and South Wales Free Press.”
• “Northern Weekly Gazette”: “Northern Weekly Gazette.”, “The North-Eastern Weekly Gazette.”, “The Middlesbrough Gazette and General Advertiser.”, “Middlesbrough & Stockton Gazette and General Advertiser.”, “Stockton Gazette and Middlesbrough Times.”, “Middlesbro’ & Stockton Gazette and General Advertiser.”, “The Weekly Gazette for Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool and Cleveland District.”
• “The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette”: “The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.”
• “Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser”: “Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser.”
• “The Haslingden Gazette”: “The Haslingden Gazette.”
• “The Central Glamorgan Gazette”: “The Central Glamorgan Gazette, and General, Commercial, and Agricultural Advertiser.”
• “The Northern Guardian”: “The Northern Guardian.”
• “Blackpool Gazette & Herald”: “The Blackpool Herald.”, “Blackpool Herald and Fylde Advertiser.”
• “Cradley Heath & Stourbridge Observer”: “The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.”, “Cradley Heath & Stourbridge Observer.”, “The Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.”
• “Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express”: “Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express, etc.”, “Penistone, Stocksbridge, Hoyland and Ecclesfield & Chapeltown Express.”, “Penistone, Stocksbridge, Hoyland & Chapeltown Express, etc.”
• “Weymouth Telegram”: “The Telegram.”, “The Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester Telegram.”
• “Denton and Haughton Examiner”: “Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc.”, “Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser.”, “Denton & Haughton Weekly News, and Audenshaw, Hooley Hill, and Dukinfield Advertiser.”, “The Denton, Haughton, & District Weekly News.”
• “Warwickshire Herald”: “The Warwickshire Herald.”
• “Nelson Chronicle, Colne Observer, and Clitheroe Division News”: “Nelson Chronicle, Colne Observer, and Clitheroe Division News.”
• “The Northern Daily Times”: “The Daily Times.”, “Northern Times.”, “The Northern Daily Times.”
• “Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser”: “The Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser.”
• “The Blandford and Wimborne Telegram”: “Blandford, Wimborne and Poole Telegram.”, “The Blandford and Wimbourne Telegram.”
• “Bridlington and Quay Gazette”: “Bridlington and Quay Gazette.”
• “Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette”: “Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette.”, “Brighouse Gazette and Local Railway Guide.”
• “The Herald of Wales”: “The Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder.”, “The Herald of Wales.”
• “Bridport, Beaminster, and Lyme Regis Telegram”: “Bridport, Beaminster, and Lyme Regis Telegram and Dorset, Somerset, and Devon Advertiser.”
• “The Atherstone, Nuneaton, and Warwickshire Times”: “The Atherstone, Nuneaton, and Warwickshire Times.”
• “The Potteries Examiner”: “The Potteries Examiner :”, “The Staffordshire and Potteries Examiner.”
• “The Star”: “Star.”
• “The Kenilworth Advertiser”: “The Kenilworth Advertiser.”
• “Lancaster Standard and County Advertiser”: “Lancaster Standard and County Advertiser.”
• “Dewsbury Chronicle and West Riding Advertiser”: “The Dewsbury Chronicle, and West Riding Advertiser.”
• “The Warrington Examiner”: “The Warrington & Mid-Cheshire Examiner.”, “The Warrington Examiner.”
• “The Poole Telegram”: “The Poole Telegram.”
• “Runcorn Examiner”: “Runcorn Examiner.”, “Runcorn and Widnes Examiner.”
• “The Press”: “The Press.”
• “Bridgend Chronicle, Cowbridge, Llantrisant, and Maesteg Advertiser”: “Bridgend & Neath Chronicle, and County of Glamorgan Advertiser.”, “Bridgend Chronicle, Cowbridge, Llantrisant, and Maesteg Advertiser.”
• “The Bee-Hive”: “The Bee-Hive :”, “The Bee-Hive.”, “The Penny Bee-Hive.”
• “The Pontypridd District Herald”: “The Pontypridd District Herald and Rhondda Valley, Llantrisant, Caerphilly, and Mountain Ash News.”
• “Irvine Express”: “Irvine Express and North Ayrshire Post.”, “Irvine Express.”
• “Weekly News”: “Weekly News.”
• “The Glasgow Chronicle”: “The Glasgow Chronicle.”
• “Colne Valley Guardian”: “The Slaithwaite Guardian and Colne Valley News.”
• “The North Cumberland Reformer”: “The North Cumberland Reformer.”
• “The Shropshire Examiner”: “The Shropshire Examiner and all round the Wrekin advertiser.”
• “The Cannock Chase Examiner”: “The Cannock Chase Examiner.”
• “The Weekly Journal”: “The Weekly Journal.”
• “The Manchester Examiner”: “The Manchester Examiner.”
• “Bargoed Journal”: “Bargoed Journal.”, “New Tredegar, Bargoed & Caerphilly Journal.”
• “The Halifax Comet”: “The Halifax Comet.”
• “The Forest of Dean Examiner”: “The Forest of Dean Examiner :”
• “Tamworth Miners’ Examiner and Working Men’s Journal”: “The Tamworth Examiner and Working Men’s Journal.”, “The Tamworth Miners’ Examiner and Working Men’s Journal.”
• “Alston Herald and East Cumberland Advertiser”: “Alston Herald, and East Cumberland Advertiser.”
• “Darlington & Richmond Herald”: “Darlington & Richmond Herald.”, “The Darlington & Stockton Telegraph, Richmond Herald, South Durham and North York Review.”
• “The East Riding Telegraph”: “Beverley and East Riding Telegraph.”, “The East Riding Telegraph.”
• “Blandford Weekly News”: “Blandford Weekly News.”
• “British Miner and General Newsman”: “The Commonwealth.”, “The Workman’s Advocate.”, “The Miner.”, “British Miner and General Newsman :”, “The Miner and Workman’s Advocate.”
• “The Northern News”: “The Northern News.”
• “Nantwich, Sandbach & Crewe Star”: “Nantwich, Sandbach & Crewe Star”
• “Lancaster Herald and Town and County Advertiser”: “The Lancaster Herald, and Town and County Advertiser.”
• “The Midland examiner and Wolverhampton times”: “The Wolverhampton and Midland Counties Advertiser.”, “The Midland Examiner and Wolverhampton Times.”, “The Midland Examiner and Times.”, “The Wolverhampton Times and Bilston, Willenhall, Wednesfield, and Sedgley Journal.”
• “Liverpool Weekly Courier”: “Liverpool Weekly Courier.”
• “St. Helens Examiner”: “The St. Helens Examiner, and Prescot Weekly News.”
• “Stockton Examiner and South Durham and North Yorkshire Herald”: “The Stockton Examiner, and South Durham and North Yorkshire Herald.”, “The Stockton & Thornaby Herald and South Durham Advertiser.”
• “The Industrial Review, Social and Political”: “The Industrial Review, Social and Political.”
• “Swansea Journal and South Wales Liberal”: “Swansea Journal and South Wales Liberal.”
• “The Atherstone Times.”: “The Atherstone Times.”
• “The South Staffordshire Examiner”: “The South Staffordshire Examiner.”
• “The National Register”: “The National Register.”
• “The Nuneaton Times”: “The Nuneaton Times.”
• “The Statesman”: “The Statesman.”
• “Stretford and Urmston Examiner”: “Stretford and Urmston Examiner.”
• “Stalybridge Examiner”: “Stalybridge Examiner, and Ashton, Dukinfield and Mossley Advertiser.”
• “Halifax Local Opinion”: “Halifax Local Opinion.”
• “The Ripon Observer”: “The Ripon Observer.”
• “Barnsley Telephone”: “Barnsley Telephone.”
• “Colored News”: “Colored News.”