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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Boomeranger on Wednesday 23 December 15 05:47 GMT (UK)
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I am trying to source any newspaper reports about the fire which destroyed my father and grandparents home around 1937-1938. Possibly early 1938, as my grandfather was not insured and the family always said the shock was what killed him (he died 20 May 1938 in Glasgow). I have visited the two houses that are now on the site, and understand they were created from the shell of the building. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Hi ,
There is a report in a Hartlepool paper dated 8th May 1937, it mentions a Mrs Robertson (nd her dog) who had to be rescued from a fire at Maryville, Gournock. If you pm me I could send you the page.
Cathy :)
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The Greenock Telegraph online archive should have the story, it's c/o the James Watt Library.
Skoosh.
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The Glasgow Herald has a small report on page 11 of the 8th of May 1937 edition:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19370508&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
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Thanks for the link, its a little different to the earlier one, and greatly appreciated. Can you explain how to go about searching such archives? I was told my grandfather (whose house was burned) used to write articles for the Glasgow Herald on musical matters, and if there should be any records of such, I would like to read them.
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Hello
I believe the Google news archive has been removed from the Google menu, but it's still accessible.
If you follow this link,
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19140810&b_mode=2&hl=en
you can search via the Google news bar, which is second top, just below the general Google search.
It'll look for a match in all the papers in the archive.
You can also enter specific dates to search, or browse by issue.
You can also see all the other papers in the archive by clicking 'Browse all newspapers' in the top right corner.
Good luck
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Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try.
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Boomeranger, try this site,
http://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/search?q=Watt+Library
Skoosh.
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Just found another reference to the fire, in the Gourock Firemaster's report to Gourock Town Council for the month:
http://www.graemekirkwood.co.uk/SFB/Info/GOminutes.htm
There is an extensive report on the fire.
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Thanks for the link teacakeman, it's amazing so many records like this still exist! I have been advised that the local paper had no phot of the fire only because of some other newsworthy event, but I wonder if that was correct? My grandfather was well known in the church and the Masons, so it's surprising. Anyway, your 'digging' is appreciated.
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You're very welcome.
I've been looking at the history of Gourock generally and our street specifically, hence I keep finding gems like these in association with the house names. Basically, I've just kept doing Google searches on {house name Gourock} As more records go online, so I keep finding different results from the same searches on Google.
Maryville is the house next door to ours, or maybe I should say the two houses next door to ours. I've noticed some online posters get the names of houses mixed up, or assume two different names are actually the same house, as the names sometimes appear in both Greenock and Gourock, and there are often variants:
Maryville, Marymount, Normount, Barrwood, Barrhill, Craigard, Craigend, Craigbank, Maybank, and so on.
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Hello
I believe the Google news archive has been removed from the Google menu, but it's still accessible.
If you follow this link,
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19140810&b_mode=2&hl=en
you can search via the Google news bar, which is second top, just below the general Google search.
It'll look for a match in all the papers in the archive.
You can also enter specific dates to search, or browse by issue.
You can also see all the other papers in the archive by clicking 'Browse all newspapers' in the top right corner.
Good luck
Does anyone know which UK papers are in that archive, are how much they overlap (or not) with the ones in the British Newspaper Archive?
BugBear
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Here's a link to the index. There are a lot of titles, but some only cover a very limited period.
https://news.google.com/newspapers