Archive sheds light on town’s history

Based in the Discovery Centre of Experience Barnsley, which is soon to welcome its 40,000th visitor, the new resource will give people access to digital versions of the town’s weekly newspaper.

A spokesman for Barnsley Council said: “Newspapers are a fantastic tool for family and local history research and accessing Barnsley news from days gone by will be made that much easier with the launch of this new archive.

“Containing digital versions of the long-running Barnsley Chronicle, dating back to the foundation of the newspaper in 1858, the archive will mean that gone are the days of having to spend hours trawling through pages.

“The digital newspapers can be keyword searched, allowing researchers to find references to ancestors, local places and events that otherwise they might not ever have found.”

A further 30 local newspapers, spanning more than 200 years, will be made more accessible on new microform scanners.

Experience Barnsley, which opened in June this year, is located within Barnsley Town Hall.