Each week, the British Newspaper Archive releases a batch of newly scanned newspapers and magazines. These are a treasure trove for social and family history researchers, and it’s always worth checking what’s new. One that attracted my attention was the The Norwood Review and Crystal Palace Reporter. If you are not familiar with the geography of the UK, it’s on the south side of Greater London.
Aside from the advertisements, which are useful in themselves, the pages are filled with local news, misdeeds, and scandals. As the creator of the Victorian sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle probably trawled the pages of the Norwood Review for ideas for his novels. He resided in South Norwood from 1891 to 1894. An example of a Norwood-based story is the The Adventure of the Norwood Builder published in The Strand Magazine in November 1903.
Sometimes newspapers can provide us with direct evidence of a person we are researching, but they should not be overlooked in adding context and colour to our ancestors’ lives. Fiction writers, too, can provide insights into the homes and streets where our ancestors lived and walked, even if they stayed on the right side of the law.
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