Cumbria FHS
Newspapers
NEWSPAPERS
Newspapers
There are a number of newspapers that cover Cumbria. They often contain details of births, marriages and deaths and other articles of interest to the genealogist. In the 19th Century though, most local newspapers were not as we know them today and although they carried local news they also carried national and international news, it is probably only in the second half of the 19th century that the National Newspapers started to be available once they could be distributed by rail. Higher society events would have course be published in newspapers like the Times as well as in local editions. A list of newspapers for the county togther with the years of publication and the location of the archive is given below.
The read link in the Transcriptions column takes you to the Forum where transcriptions from the newspaper are available, if the button is green access is free to all, if the button is blue then you need to be a logged in member of CHFS to access them.
| County | Name | Established | Available Online BNA | Transcriptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CUL | Adairs Maryport Advertiser 1853 - 1905 held at Maryport Library | |||
| CUL | Alston Herald and East Cumberland Advertiser 1874 - 1881 held at Alston Library | c 1874 | 1880 | |
| WES | Ambleside Herald 1880 - 1887 held at Kendal Library | |||
| LAN | Barrow Guardian 1910 - 1947 held at Barrow | |||
| LAN | Barrow Herald 1864 - 1914 held at Barrow | c 1863 | 1874, 1880-1890 | |
| LAN | Barrow News 1883 - 1986 held at Barrow | |||
| CUL | Carlisle Express and Examiner 1857 - 1913 held at Carlisle Library | 1870 | 1872, 1874-1876, 1878-1879, 1881-1887, 1890-1895 | |
| CUL | Carlisle Journal 1801 - 1968 Carlisle Library | 1798 | 1801-1805, 1810-1811, 1814-1815, 1818-1820, 1833-1867, 1870, 1877-1878, 1881-1912 | Read |
| CUL | Carlisle Patriot 1815 - 1910 Carlisle Library | 1815 | 1816-1873 (missing: Mar 1821-Sep 1822, Jan-May 1825, 28 eds. of 1830, Dec 1873), 1877, 1885-1887, 1889-1891, 1895, 1897 | Read |
| CUL | Cumberland and Westmorland Advertiser and Penrith Literary Chronicle | 10 July 1855 | 1855-1856, 1858-1859, 1861-1874 | |
| CUL | Cumberland and Westmorland Herald (Formerly Penrith Herald) 1860 to date held at Penrith Library | 13 Feb 1869 | 1869-1895 (missing: Jan 1869, Aug 1869 - Oct 1870), 1897-1912 | Read |
| CUL | Cumberland News 1910 to date held at Carlisle Library | |||
| CUL | Cumberland Pacquet and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser 1774 - 1915 held at Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington, Penrith, Kendal | 1774 | 1777-1783 (missing: 16 Nov 1779 - 24 Oct 1780), 1785-1808 (missing: 21 eds 1801, most of 1802), 1811-1871 (missing: 28 eds 1832, Nov-Dec 1848, 18 eds 1857, 15 eds 1862 +1865 each), 1874, 1877, 1889-1893, 1895-1896 | |
| CUL | English Lakes Visitor 1877 - 1910 held at Carlisle Library | 26 May 1877 | 1877-1888, 1890-1895, 1897-1908, 1910 | |
| CUL | Evening News 1910 to date held at Carlisle Library | |||
| CUL | Evening Star 1929 - 1967 held at Workington Library | |||
| LAN | Grange Visitor 1875 - 1891 held at Kendal Library | |||
| WES | Kendal and County News 1888 - 1899 held at Kendal Library | |||
| WES | Kendal Herald 1864 - 1866 held at Kendal Library | |||
| WES | Kendal Mercury 1834 - 1917 held at Kendal Library | 17 May 1834 | 1834-1871, 1873-1880 | |
| WES | Kendal Weekly Courant 1731-32 held at Kendal Library | |||
| CUL | Keswick Reminder 1915 to date held at Keswick Library | |||
| CUL | Lakes Herald 1880 - 1916 held at Kendal Library | 27 Mar 1880 | 1880-1916 (missing: 26 May - Dec 1916) | |
| WES | Lakes Chronicle and Reporter | 19 May 1875 | 1875-1895, 1898-1910 (missing: 09 Jun - Dec 1910) | |
| LAN | Lancaster Gazette 1801 - 1850 held at Kendal Library and Barrow | 20 Jun 1801 | 1801-1836, 1838, 1841-1848 (missing: 06 Apr - Dec 1842), 1850-1885 (missing: 21 Sep - Dec 1850), 1887-1894 (missing: Jul - Dec 1894) | |
| LAN | Lancaster Guardian | c 1837 | 1855, 1857, 1860-1862, 1866, 1877, 1894, 1937-1939, 1941-1956 | |
| LAN | Lancaster Standard and County Advertiser | Apr 1893 | 1894-1896, 1898-1909 (missing: 17 Sep - Dec 1909) | |
| CUL | Maryport Advertiser | 2 Sep 1853 | 1853, 1862-1864, 1866-1895, 1897-1905 | |
| WES | Millom Gazette 1892 - 1933 held at Barrow, Whitehaven | 1890 | 1892-1933 (missing: Jan - 11 Jun 1892, 26 Aug - Nov 1927, May - Dec 1933) | |
| LAN | Morecambe Guardian | c 1920 | 1922, 1924, 1927-1935, 1938-1940, 1946, 1948-1949, 1951-1953, 1955-1959 | |
| NBL | Newcastle Courant 1711 - 1800 held at Carlisle Library, Kendal Library, Whitehaven | |||
| LAN | North Western Daily Mail 1898 - 1940 held at Barrow | 6 Jan 1866 | 1911 | |
| LAN | North West Evening Mail 1941 to date held at Barrow | |||
| NBL | Northumberland Reformer (Northern News from 1896) | 28 Jan 1890 | 1 (missing: 28 Jan - 04 Apr 1890), 1893-1896, 1898 | |
| CUL | Penrith Observer 1860 - 1968 held at Penrith Library | 31 Dec 1860 | 1860-1878, 1880-1959 | |
| LAN | Soulby's Ulverston Advertiser and General Intelligence 1848 - 1914 held at Barrow | 10 Aug 1848 | 1848-1890, 1892-1909, 1912 | |
| LAN | Ulverston Mirror and Furness Reflector 1860 - 1885 held at Barrow | 14 Apr 1860 | 1860-1885 | |
| CUL | West Cumberland Times 1874 - 1966 held at Workington Library | 21 Mar 1874 | 1874-1875, 1878-1891, 1893-1897, 1899-1912 (missing: Jan - 21 May 1902) | |
| CUL | West Cumberland Times and Star 1967 to date held at Workington Library | |||
| WES | Westmorland Advertiser and Kendal Chronicle 1811 - 1834 held at Kendal Library | 29 Jun 1811 | 1811-1826 (missing: 16 Mar - 20 Jul 1822), 1832-1833 | |
| WES | Westmorland Gazette 1818 to date held at Kendal Library | 23 May 1818 | 1818-1826 (missing: 17 eds 1823, 24 eds 1825), 1828-1867, 1871-1872, 1877, 1879, 1889-1890, 1898 (missing: Oct - Dec 1898), 1909 | Read |
| CUL | Whitehaven News 1856 to date held at Whitehaven | 1856 | 1857-1867 (missing: Jan - 19 Mar 1857), 1869-1873 (missing: Jan - Nov 1869, 28 eds 1870, 13 Jul - Dec 1871) | |
| CUL | Wigton Advertiser | Jan 1857 | 1857-1868 (missing: Jan - Jun 1857), 1870-1940 (missing: 25 May - Dec 1840) | |
| CUL | Workington Star | 29 Jun 1898 | 1888-1910, 1912 | |
Newspaper data courtesy Petra Mitchinson and up to date May 2021 but papers are added all the time.
Carlisle Archive Centre has the below newspapers on 35mm microfilm available in the search room.
- Carlisle Journal 1802-1805; 1810-1811; 1818-1820; 1822-1824
- Carlisle Patriot 1815 - 1910
- Northern Counties Gazette 2 December 1876 - 4 September 1886
- Penrith Observer January 1861 - December 1906
- Whitehaven Guardian 4 February 1875 - 28 March 1878
- Whitehaven Gazette April 1819 - December 1820
Cumbria County Council Carlisle Archive Centre, Lady Gillford's House, Petteril Bank Road, Harraby, Carlisle, CA1 3AJ 01228 227284
Some of the newspapers are now available in the British Newspaper Archive. This archive is free to look at the index, but payment is required to actually read the pages, this access is often included in site such as Ancestry or Find My Past as well as being available in your local library. In addition excellent work is being done by Petra Michenson in transcribing BMD's from the Carlisle Journal, and Carlisle Patriot. Plus Barb Baker has done some transcripts from the Penrith Herald and for members there are transcripts from The Westmorland Gazette all these are available in our Forum.
Jim Patterson who runs www.cultrans.com has extracts from a number of local newspapers.