Historical Newspapers
Historical newspapers offer a fascinating look at our history and are an invaluable source for historians and people researching their family history and geneaology. This page offers an introduction to historical newspaper collections available at your library. See our newspapers guide for information on contemporary newspaper titles.
Viewing and searching historical newspapers
Due to the fragile nature of the paper it is generally not possible to handle the actual newspapers. Libraries around the world have been microfilming – and more recently digitising – newspapers from their archives and making them available on the web or through online subscription databases.
Finding information on a topic in a historical newspaper that has not been digitised can be difficult. Newspaper indexes can help here, although not all content will have been indexed.
Historical Newspaper Collections Online
Papers Past
The British Newspaper Archive
British Library Newspapers
The Guardian (1821-2003) and the Observer (1791-2003)
The Irish Times (1859-2015)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
19th Century UK Periodicals
Illustrated London News 1842-2003
17th and 18th Century Nichols Newspaper Collection
17th and 18th Century Burney Newspapers Collection
19th Century U.S. Newspapers
The Independent Digital Archive
The Financial Times Historical Archive 1888-2016
International Herald Tribune 1887-2013
The Times Digital Archive 1785-2019
The Daily Mail Historical Archive 1896-2004
Newspapers on microfilm
Microfilm is a way to preserve newspapers for future researchers — we provide microfilm readers on Tuakiri | Identity, Level 2, Tūranga. You are able to print from any microfilm using our equipment.
- Microfilm of The Press is from the start date of the newspaper and is received currently.
- Microfilm of the Sunday Star Times is received currently.
- Microfilm of The Star is complete, and our holdings are all available on microfilm.
- Overall year dates are listed for most titles i.e. not month and day as well.
- Microfilm holdings may be of a partial run of a newspaper, not the complete run. Runs may lack some issues.
Newspapers from around New Zealand which we do not hold but have been microfilmed can be interloaned. These newspapers are listed in the National Library publication New Zealand newspapers on microfilm.
Christchurch newspapers
The library has local newspapers from the first Lyttelton Times, through to the present day. Most of these newspapers are available on microfilm. Access these newspapers on Tuakiri | Identity, Level 2, Tūranga.
