In the time-honored serendipity of research, I just stumbled across a
fascinating online source while looking for something else. Others may
already know of it, but in case not, I pass along the following information:
The London Gazette (see History* below) began in the 17th century as
something akin to our Federal Register. Issue one was published on November
7, 1665 (URL http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/1/pages/1 ) and the
gazette remains active today.
The general URL is:
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/AdvancedSearch.aspx?geotype=London
Which is where one can click on the access to a rather nicely thought-out
search engine.
Once you find something of interest, when you click on a chosen result, you
get a really clear PDF image of the relevant page of The London Gazette.
The page can be printed or saved as a pdf file.
So for example, the search engine will get you to this URL for a two-page
account of the 1666 Fire of London:
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/85/pages/1
Or, a bit later, here is the URL for Cornwallis's report of his surrender at
Yorktown:
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/12251/pages/2
Or (and I have no idea whether this is the author herself) the URL for an
1847 bank report that lists among others:
Austen, Jane Wootton-under-Edge Spinster
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/20701/pages/531
One final note - from the general URL given above, if you go to the Home
page, you can access similar publications for Edinburgh and Dublin !
--
Jon Kukla
www.JonKukla.com
*History (from the website)
During the 17th Century, it was believed that national efficiency depended
on the intelligence received by the Crown and that the reckless publishing
of news might endanger it. An embargo on the printing of news other than
reports of events abroad, natural disasters, royal declarations and
sensational crime continued until 1640. This had the effect of delaying the
development of the press in the UK. Censorship was introduced in 1643,
followed by licensing of news publications.
The London Gazette came about because of two momentous events: the Great
Plague and the decision of King Charles II to remove his court - effectively
the government of the time - to Oxford. The London Gazette started life as
the Oxford Gazette and after a few months changed to its current title.
At the outset, it met the need for authoritative news and in this served
both the Crown and the Executive. It had incomparable sources of information
from overseas; in peace time, its "foreign correspondents" were the British
embassies abroad; in time of war the British generals themselves. The first
news of Wellington's victory at Waterloo was carried in the Gazette, and
when the newly founded Times stopped its presses to carry the news of this
famous battle, it was the despatch which had been published as a Gazette
Extraordinary which was reprinted in full.
In recent times The London Gazette has evolved to reflect the trends and
needs of the legal process and the readership. Today it is a newspaper only
in a very specialized sense, but its role in publishing official information
is still a significant one.
Though the imposing legend "Published by Authority" which it has always
borne may be no more than a relic of the ancient Licensing Acts, those words
have come through the processes of time to acquire a greater significance as
a uniquely authoritative place of record, in print, through electronic data
feeds and online.
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