How do I search historical newspapers on Findmypast?

When it comes to tracing your family tree, newspaper archives are a resource like no other. They reveal the daily lives of your ancestors and every kind of family story you could imagine.

To access Findmypast's historical newspapers, select 'Search' and then 'Newspapers and Periodicals' from the site menu when logged in. You'll be taken to our newspaper search where you can choose a collection and filter your search by name and keyword. 

Free-to-view newspapers

As part of our pledge to make family history more accessible for everyone, we’ve made over a million newspaper pages completely free to search and view in partnership with the British Library.

To explore our free newspaper archives, simply select ‘Free To View’ from the ‘By Access Type’ filter. To view our free papers, you won’t need a paid subscription but you’ll need to be signed up to Findmypast. 

Searching and viewing newspapers

Begin by searching for a name or keyword and gradually narrow your results using the relevant filters via the drop-down boxes - these include place and country published, date published, and publication title.

If your search relates to more than one individual, you can search multiple names at once. For the best results, be sure to use the dedicated name box when searching for names, and be as specific as possible.

You can search for a specific phrase by using quotation marks ("). Another handy search feature to remember is that you can include or exclude search terms using the + and - signs. This can help you to narrow down your search results, by excluding any name variations that may be filling up your search results.

When you select a newspaper page to view, we'll make the details you're looking for easy to find on the page by automatically zooming in on the relevant article and highlighting your search terms.

To see a full list of newspaper titles included in a collection, select the 'Title of Publication' filter. We add new pages to our archive every week on Findmypast Friday.

Saving and printing newspapers

To save a newspaper page, select the 'Download Page' button when viewing an article.

If you want to save just a part of the page, you can use our handy snipping tool to do so. Use the 'create a clipping' button to choose the area that you'd like to snip. Once you select 'clip', you'll have the option to add the clipping to your family tree, print it, download it to your device, or copy it to your clipboard.

To attach a newspaper clipping to your tree, simply select the tree, and then the specific family member, that which you'd like to attach it to. To print, simply select the relevant option, and your device's print settings will be displayed.