Newspapers

Contemporary newspapers are a valuable resource for tracing ancestors. There were dozens of English language newspapers published in India and these often include information such as:

• Domestic occurrences - published announcements of birth, marriages and deaths
• Military promotions, movements and stations
• Shipping news such as arrivals and departures
• Court reports and police news
• Public notices

All sorts of other information can be found in the newspapers and if nothing else they are an entertaining and informative glimpse of the society in which your ancestors were living.

FIBIS resources

Online records taken from newspapers and periodicals can be viewed here.

• Times of India Domestic Occurrences - FIBIS volunteers in Australia are transcribing births, marriages and deaths published in the Times of India. There are already thousands of records online and these can be searched or browsed in the database.

Accessing newspapers

United Kingdom

The British Library holds extensive microfilm copies of newspapers. Some are available to view at the Colindale Newspaper Library, whilst others can be read at the APAC reading room in St Pancras. Colindale based titles can be searched on the Newspaper Catalogue, whereas St Pancras based titles can be accessed via a printed list available in the reading room (on top of the card file cabinets near the Enquiry desk).