Newspapers and journals online
This page contains links to online editions of historical newspapers and periodicals that are of use to the British India family historian. Many of the books are from the Google Books website.
See also
Alexander's East India and Colonial Magazine
Originally Alexander's East India Magazine or East India Magazine : and Colonial and Commercial Journal c 1830. Then called Alexander’s East India and Colonial Magazine, and subsequently East India Magazine and Colonial and Commercial Journal.
| Nov-Dec 1834 * | Volume IX Jan-June 1835 | Vol X July-Dec 1835 |
* Contents at the back of the book. Google Books
The following volumes are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website, with mirror editions on Archive.org.
- Alexander's East India Magazine, and Colonial And Commercial Journal Volume 7, January-June 1834.Pdf download, Archive.org version.
- The East India And Colonial Magazine Vol 11, Vol 12 1836. Pdf download, Archive.org version. Note: Poor quality text/filming.
- Alexander's East India and Colonial Magazine Volume 13, January-June 1837. Pdf download, Archive.org version.
- East India And Colonial Magazine Vol. 14 (1837). Pdf download, Archive.org version.
Allen's Indian Mail
Where there are two volumes in a year, the index is generally in the first volume, although there is no index for 1860, 1862, 1868 (missing volume) or 1872. The volume for January 1872 contains an index, but it is actually in respect of the year 1871.
#Incorrectly contains "Index" for Volume 29, 1871 and is catalogued by Google Books as 1871, but is actually the volume for 1872
^ Bavarian State Library website.
Also see Indian News and Chronicle of Eastern Affairs below.
Asiatic Annual Register
| Vol 1, 1799 | 1799 (2nd ed) | Vol 2, 1800 | Vol 3, 1801 | Vol 4, 1802 |
| Vol 5, 1803 | Vol 6, 1804 | Vol 7, 1805 | Vol 8, 1806 | 1806 (pt 2) |
| Vol 9, 1807 | Vol 10, 1808 | Vol 11, 1809 | Vol 12, 1810-11 |
Asiatic Journal
See the separate list of editions of the Asiatic Journal.
Asiatic Review
Published in England. The title varied over time: 1886-1890 Asiatic Quarterly Review; 1891-1912 Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, and Oriental and Colonial Record. Beginning April 1895, the Proceedings of the East India Association are also included; 1913 Asiatic Quarterly Review; 1914-1952 Asiatic Review.
Archive.org
Many editions between 1886 and 1948 are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website, with
Mirror editions available on Archive.org.
Bengal Catholic Herald
Available on Google Books
The Bengal Catholic Expositor
| Volume 1 1839 | Volume 2 1840 | Volume 3 1840 |
The Bengal Catholic Expositor was replaced by the Catholic Herald (published in Calcutta) which in turn was replaced by the Bengal Catholic Herald
Bengal Catholic Herald
| Volume 1 1841 | Volume 2 1842 | Volume 3 1842 | Volume 4 1843 | Volume 5 1843 |
| Volume 6 1844 | Volume 7 1844 | Volume 8 1845 | Volume 9 1845 | Volume 10 1846 |
The following editions are available as pdf downloads on the Digital Library of India.
- Volume 11, 1846; Volume 15, 1848; Volume 16, 1850; Volume 17, 1850; Volume 18 1850
- Volumes 20, 21, 1851, Volume 22, 1852; Volume 23, 1852; Volume 24, 1853; Volume 25, 1853, July-December
Further editions to 1864, and editions of earlier publications from 1839 are available on the subscription website "19th Century UK Periodicals".
Bengal, Past and Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society
See separate page Bengal, Past and Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society
Bombay Quarterly Review
| Vol 1 1855 | Vol 2 1855 | Vol 3 1856 | Vol 4 1856 | Vol 5 1857 | Vol 6 1857 | Vol 7 1858 |
Calcutta Annual Register
| 1821 |
Calcutta Christian Observer
Printed at Baptist Mission Press, Circular Road, Calcutta. Volumes 1-5 include listings of births, marriages, deaths, however the later volumes seem to be limited to missionaries etc. Available to view or download on Google Books.
| Vol 1, June-Dec 1832 | Vol 2, Jan-Dec 1833 | Vol 3, Jan-Dec 1834 | Vol 4, Jan- Dec 1835 | Vol 5, Jan-Dec 1836 |
| Vol 6, Jan-Dec 1837 | Vol 7, Jan-Dec 1838 | Vol 8, Jan –Dec 1839 | Vol 1, New Series, Jan-Dec 1840 |
Calcutta Gazette
- The Calcutta Gazette was one of the official newspapers of the Government of India and its provincial governments, where official information was ‘gazetted’. Available on the Digital Library of India website for the years 1846 and 1872 to post independence (broken series). These volumes may be read online, but the volumes are not searchable. Some volumes, 1846 and 1872- 1942 (broken series) are also available on the website "DSpace at West Bengal State Central Library" under the subject category Gazetteers as pdf files. Theoretically the pdfs are searchable, but in practice do not appear to be. For editions published during the First World War, see separate list.
Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register
Published by Samuel Smith & Co, Calcutta. Note that page numbers in some of volumes seem not to be consecutive, perhaps due to the way they have been bound or filmed.
| Vol 1-3, 1830 | Vol 4-6, 1830 | Vol 7-9, 1830 | Vol 10-12, '1830 |
| Vol 13-16, 1831 | Vol 17-20, 1831 | Vol 21-24, 1831 | n/a |
| Vol 25-28, 1832 | Vol 29-32, 1832 | Vol 33-36, 1832 | n/a |
Calcutta Monthly Journal
Published by Samuel Smith & Co, 1 Hare Street, Calcutta
| Third Series Vol 2, Jan-June 1836 | July-Dec 1836 |
| Third Series Vol 3, Jan-June 1837 | |
| Third Series Vol 4, Jan-June 1838 | July-Dec 1838 |
| Third Series Vol 5, Jan-June 1839 |
Calcutta Review
See the separate list of editions of the Calcutta Review.
Colonial and Asiatic Review
Published in London from 1852-53. Was previously known as Simmond's Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany (1844-49) and The Colonial Magazine and East India Review (1849-52). Editions can be viewed by page on the National Library of Australia's periodical site.
Google Books and Hathi Trust have:
Colonial Magazine and Commercial Maritime Journal
Published in London between 1840-42, then under the title Fisher's Colonial Magazine and Commercial Maritime Journal from 1842-43. Editions can be viewed by page on the National Library of Australia's periodical site.
Google Books and Archive.org have:
Gazette of India
- The Gazette of India was the official newspaper of the Government of India, where official information was ‘gazetted’. Available on the Digital Library of India website for the years 1877-1922 (broken series). These volumes may be read online, in TIFF format, or as pdf downloads, see Gazette of India online. Currently the digital files do not appear searchable, however you could try the Search facility on the website. Some volumes 1877-1918 (broken series) are also available on the website "DSpace at West Bengal State Central Library" under the subject category Gazetteers as pdf files.
Hicky's Bengal Gazette or The Original Calcutta General Advertiser
- 1781 Many weekly editions from 1781. Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Indian News and Chronicle of Eastern Affairs
The British Library has holdings for 11 June 1840-27 July 1858. It was then incorporated into Allen's Indian Mail.
| 1848 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851 | 1852 |
| 1854^ | 1855 | 1856 | 1857 | 1858 |
^ From the Bavarian State Library website
London and China Telegraph
The London and China Telegraph. Published in London. Covers China, Hong Kong, Japan, Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang), Batavia and perhaps a wider area. One weekly issue (13 Jan. 1860) included notices for two deaths in India, and one in Alexandria, perhaps an indication for the rest of the series. There are two series of digitisations, both on Google Books, one from the Bavarian State Library, the other from Cornell University, the latter labelled A. Links for both series are provided, in case the content or digitisation quality varies.
| 1860 | 1861 | 1863 | 1864 | 1865 |
| 1866 | 1867 | 1868 | 1869 | 1870 A |
| 1871 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874: Jan-June | 1875 to Dec. |
Madras Courier
- Madras Courier January 12 1819 Archive.org. It is recommended that the newspaper be read using the single page option. Some of the pages are torn and incomplete.
Oriental Magazine, and Calcutta Review
| Volume 1, Jan-June 1823 | Volume 2, July-December 1823 |
Oriental Herald and Colonial Review
Parbury's Oriental Herald and Colonial Intelligencer
Published by Parbury & Co. London (Later, from 1839, became Madden & Co).
| Vol 2, July-Dec 1838 | Vol 3, Jan-June 1839 | Vol 4, July-Dec 1839 |
Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News
Printed weekly at Allahabad. Each weekly edition is separately numbered.
- No. 27, Volume 47. Friday July 2, 1920 to Friday December 31, 1920 Google Books
- Contains a BMD section each week, for example July 9, 1920, page 45
Quarterly Oriental Magazine, Review and Register
Published by Thacker & Co, Calcutta.
| Mar/Jun 1824 | |
| Jan/Jun 1825 | Jul/Dec 1825 |
| Jan/Jun 1826 | Jul/Dec 1826 |
| Jan/Jun 1827 | Jul/Dec 1827 |
Pay websites
- findmypast - British Newspapers and Irish Newspapers are available to individuals Britain Full & World Subscriptions but not via library and community subscriptions. (Irish Newspapers require a World subscription). The newspapers are from the collection of the British Library and appear to be the same newspapers as are included in the British Newspaper Archive, see next item. The date ranges for the newspapers are not listed on findmypast, but are listed on the BNA. The Search may be better on the BNA, and some people are known to search on the BNA, and then access the images on findmypast.
- British Newspaper Archive, a findmypast company, is a pay site, with newspapers from the collection of the British Library. The majority of the newspapers were published 1830-1950 and now includes some Irish newspapers. However the website does include some published pre 1800 and some post 1950, with details on this list of publications .This website may also be accessed (free) from the British Library Reading Rooms.
- Newspaper Archive is an American pay website which includes British newspapers and other publications. British newspapers may include information about people and events in India. A researcher found the newspaper Week's News contained B,M,D announcements for India. The following volumes with a (probable) India connection were noted, all published in Britain:
- Allen’s Indian Mail to 1870, but excluding January to April 9th 1868.
- Asiatick Miscellany 1785-1786
- British And Colonial Weekly Register 1824
- British Foreign And Colonial Journal 1823-1824
- British And Indian Observer 1889-1890
- British Indian Advocate 1841-1842
- Calcutta Chronicle 1788
- Colonies And India 1877-1898
- India Gazette 1790
- Irish Newspaper Archives is a pay site also available as a subscription website through subscribing libraries. Currently (October 2012) it contains 23 titles, mainly from the 1900s, but with some earlier publications dating back to the 1700s. This website may also be accessed (free) from the British Library Reading Rooms.
- The Times Digital Archive, refer next section is also available to those with a current Times subscription
Websites Accessible by participating Library Cardholders
There are seven sites which contain online newspapers, journals, directories etc, published in India. These websites, and additional websites, may also contain newspapers etc published in Britain which contain references to people and events in India.
Apart from minor exceptions, the access is restricted to Library Card holders of participating libraries, including the following National Libraries (noting there is generally a residential requirement): Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia, State Library of NSW, and many University Libraries. Most of the websites may also be accessed (free) from the British Library Reading Rooms.
The sites are
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
- Eighteenth Century Journals, Newspapers and Periodicals c 1685-1815
- 19th Century UK Periodicals
- The Making of the Modern World
- The Goldsmiths’-Kress Library of Economic Literature 1450-1850
- Proquest Historical Newspapers, Times of India option
- South Asian Newspapers, 1864-1922
- 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers
Other British publications
- The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
- 19th Century British Library Newspapers
- Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842-2003
- House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 1801-2008
- Irish Newspaper Archives
For details about the publications published in India included in these seven sites, and more details about the sites containing British publications, refer Subscription websites-online newspapers, journals and directories