At present there is free online access to British newspapers 1600 - 1900 .
On August 12 1887 in "The Liverpool Mercury" there is a report about "Mexican Joe" , who is to appear in Liverpool for an extended tour . "!Mexican Joe" is Col Joe Shelley .
The site is "Gale Digital Collections" .
I entered the name of my great grandfather , who was a Manchester police constable , and I found an 1881 report in the Manchester Times , of a court case which describes his injuries when he tried to capture a burglar .
I also found a report , from 1852 , which mentioned this man's father in law giving evidence about the Stockport riots between the English and the Irish .