Hertfordshire Genealogy: Newspapers: The Times

"The Times" is a major National newspaper which has widely been considered as a important historical source, in part, perhaps because it has been indexed since 1790. Palmer's index was published in part from 1790 to 1905, and while the indexing is somewhat superficial and a bit idiosyncratic it is far better that nothing. This was succeeded in 1906 by the Official Index to the Times. These indexes are now available online - but only by subscription or through major libraries worldwide. Many large libraries also have a compete set of microfilms of the paper.

There is a complete set of microfilms of The Times at the Library Store at New Barnsfield, Hatfield, together with an index.

The following is the result, carried out looking for "TRING" in the Palmer Index

PALMERS On CD-ROM

23 Sept 1791	Post Office, Recovery of the Tring, and Windover &c. Letter Bags	p.3 col.c
31 Jan 1811	SPORTS AND SPORTING Boxing Match, Woodcock and Tring, on Hazely Common	p.3 col.e
28 Nov 1826	LEADING ARTICLES Tyranny of Rev. Mr. Lacy of Tring	p.2 col.b
12 Dec 1826	Lacy (Charles) on Refusing a License to Mr. Kay of Tring	p.3 col.b
23 Jan 1836	FIRES at Tring, at Evans's Silk Mills	p.3 col.e
16 Oct 1837	RAILWAYS London and Birmingham, Opened to Tring	p.7 col.d
01 May 1838	Wingfield (W. W.) on the Imposition of the Railway to Tring	p.6 col.a
21 Aug 1839	RAILWAYS Liverpool and Birmingham, Bad Management at Tring	p 3 col.e
14 Sept 1839	Railway, Over Charges at Tring	p.5 col.f
21 Sept 1840	Death, Sudden, of Bowler of Tring	p.6 col.d
05 May 1841	Burglary with Violence at Mr. Bayman's near Tring	p.6 col.c
06 Jan 1842	FIRES in Tring, at Mr. Evans's Factory	p.5 col.f
07 Jan 1842	FIRES in Tring, at Mr. Evans's Factory	p.6 col.f
11 Jan 1842	FIRES in Tring, at Mr. Evans's Factory	p.4 col.d
19 Jan 1844	SPORTS AND SPORTING Steeple Chase at Tring	p.6 col.f
21 Oct 1844	Agricultural Association of Tring	p.6 col.d
25 Oct 1844	Gordon (J. A.) and the Tring Association	p.6 col.f
25 Oct 1845	Game Laws and the Tring Agricultural Meeting	p.7 col.e
23 Mar 1846	ACCIDENTS--RAILWAY Collision near Tring	p.4 col.e
12 Oct 1846	BANKRUPTCY COURT Tring, Reading and Basingstoke Railway	p.6 col.e
14 Oct 1846	BANKRUPTCIES Tring, Reading and Basingstoke Railway	p.3 col e
24 Oct 1846	BANKRUPTCY COURT Tring, Reading and Basingstoke Railway	p.7 col.c
	[many later references to this bankruptcy omitted]
25 May 1847	Tring, Depressed State of the Market	p.7 col.c
19 Aug 1848	ACCIDENTS--RAILWAY Thomas Sands, in Tring Cutting	p.7 col.f

In the printed index items were in alphabetical order - so only one of the above entries would have been found looking under "Tring". The computer search can be a great improvement but it must be remembered that each news item - whether a single sentence or several columns long, was reduced to a one line entry.

The above mentioned index has now been rendered obsolete as the Times has now been digitised and the index and images are available online through subscribing organisations. These include many public libraries and, for example, it is possible for members of the Herts Public Libraries to access the back issues of the paper on their home computers.