People around the world can now access newly digitised historic editions of the world’s oldest English language daily newspaper still in circulation, thanks to a UK Government project to highlight Northern Ireland’s cultural heritage.

From today (Thursday 29 May) copies from three centuries of the historic Belfast title will become accessible to the public online for the first time, strengthening understanding of Northern Ireland’s newspaper heritage around the world and delivering on commitments made in the Safeguarding the Union command paper.

First published in September 1737, the News Letter will mark its 288th anniversary as the oldest continuously published English language daily paper this year. The Northern Ireland Office has worked in partnership with the British Library and Findmypast to expand the online collection of the historic publication on the British Newspaper Archive dating to the late 18th, early 19th and 20th centuries. 

Announcing the launch, Secretary of State Hilary Benn visited the British Library in London to view the new additions to the online archive. The British Library provided originals of the News Letter in microfilm and newspaper format, which were digitised by the online platform Findmypast, which has spent nearly 15 years working on a separate collaborative project to digitise the British Library’s vast newspaper collection.

It was wonderful to be able to view the newly digitised editions of the Belfast News Letter at the British Library in London using the online archive.

Bringing Northern Ireland’s newspaper heritage to a global audience will encourage research, exploration and appreciation of Northern Ireland’s rich political and cultural history.

This UK Government project has opened up a unique resource to readers and researchers in nations around the world with historic links to Northern Ireland, including the USA.

The archive is available online through the British Newspaper Archive and on Findmypast, and can be viewed freely at the British Library sites in London and Yorkshire, as well as at any library or by any private individual around the world with a subscription.

We’re delighted to bring these historic News Letter pages to the public, enabling more people to access this rich resource documenting Northern Ireland’s past at the click of a mouse.

Over the past 15 years, through our unique relationship with the British Library, we have been able to bring millions of these key historical records to communities across the globe, so that families and researchers alike can uncover and understand their heritage.

We are thrilled to make all known surviving copies of the News Letter accessible for the first time through the British Newspaper Archive, in partnership with Findmypast and the UK government. As the world’s oldest English language general daily newspaper still in circulation, the historic Belfast title offers insight into centuries of life, politics, and culture in Northern Ireland and beyond.

The British Library is custodian of one of the world’s largest news archives, with over 60 million newspaper issues dating back to the 1600s, alongside growing collections of broadcast and digital news. Digitising all known surviving copies of the News Letter and making them available online preserves a vital piece of heritage and opens up the archive to researchers around the world.

Digitising The News Letter is an important step in preserving the paper’s iconic history of covering news from Northern Ireland and across the world for three centuries. By making historic copies of the paper available, we can recognise its continuing role in delivering quality journalism on stories that matter to its community.