Newspaper archives

[Merry]

I'm trying to work out what newspaper might have coverage for Somerset (Wincanton) for 1983. I'm looking at a death that took place on 3 July 1983 which should have a newspaper report (dreadful farming accident). There's nothing in The Times and I can't find anywhere else that has anything online for that year.

Any ideas please?

(If I don't reply I'm out, so not ignoring you!)

[Shona]

Western Gazette?

[Merry]

Thanks Shona. When I googled that I found this:

http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Newspapers.htm

:D:D:D

[kiterunner]

There are other national newspapers with online archives including 1983, e.g The Guardian and Observer Digital Archive, the Daily Express on UK Press Online, and the Daily Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000 is due to be launched next month.

[Merry]

I've tried The Guardian and Observer Digital Archive and ukpressonline, but nothing in any so far which seems very surprising.

Thanks for the ideas.

[Kit]

Could the family involved have somehow kept it out of the papers?

I have a case where it looks like this was done as the only thing I can find (coroners report) shows someone else was at fault, in a car accident case, but there is no prosecution etc in the papers, leading to speculation that my family member was possibly drunk, or thought to be, and the family somehow kept it out of the papers.

[Merry]

Toni- apparently the police visited the nok in the middle of the night to tell her as they realised the story would be in the paper the next day. The person who told me was living with the nok at the time. She said it was the second accident of a similar nature in the farming community in a short time so the papers were keen to sensationalise the story.

[Olde Crone]

Merry

Might only the inquest have been reported and therrefore much later than you think?

OC

*Gets ready to teach grandmother to suck eggs*

[Merry]

Maybe, but I've searched without remembering to include the date and that didn't turn up anything.

Apparently the dec'd was decapitated by his farm machinery.

[Merry]

Now I'm wondering if the story has become exaggerated? I should stop really - it's not my tree!!

[Olde Crone]

Maybe not exaggerated though.

I had a very genteel argument with a contact who swore that one person in the family was kicked to death by a horse (farmers). As I had it as one of the other brothers, we danced round each other for a while until we realised we were BOTH right - two brothers from the same family kicked to death by a horse, twenty years apart but only two days apart.

OC

[Kit]

Toni- apparently the police visited the nok in the middle of the night to tell her as they realised the story would be in the paper the next day. The person who told me was living with the nok at the time. She said it was the second accident of a similar nature in the farming community in a short time so the papers were keen to sensationalise the story.

Unless something else happened and the story didn't actually make it?

Apparently the dec'd was decapitated by his farm machinery.

Ouch. How does that happen?

have you searched for decapitated rather than the name. I'm just wondering if the name is not being picked up by OCR?

[Merry]

I've tried all sorts of search terms Toni but nothing!

Not entirely sure how it happened but apparently something to do with a combine harvester (though that might have been a guess).

I hadn't thought about something else happening. Very good point. I need to check out the headlines for that period.