Local Newspapers

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Renfrewshire Libraries Local Studies Library has a wide collection of local newspapers dating from 1824 to present day. Local newspapers provide a unique, contemporary view of the history and development of an area and its relations with the rest of the world. In addition, family historians may also find valuable information about individuals in the form of articles and obituaries.

If the family were of note in the community, it is possible that birth, marriage or death notices may have been inserted by the family or printed as news by the editor. This has never been obligatory in Scotland. Intimations in the Births, Marriages and Deaths column has only become common in the last few decades.

Reports of deaths, particularly of sudden deaths, may not always be reported exactly. For example a suspected suicide may be reported as a strange or mysterious fatal accident, or a person reported to have died in an accident after spending the day with friends may have been over-indulging in alcohol.

These newspapers cover all of Renfrewshire, including the Burghs of Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone.

• Indexed extracts concerning Renfrewshire, from the Glasgow Journal between 1755 and 1774 and from the Glasgow Mercury, 1778 to 1796.
• The Paisley Advertiser and the Renfrewshire Advertiser from 1824 to 1850, which has a contemporary handwritten index.
• The Paisley Herald and Renfrewshire Advertiser, from 1853 until 1883, also has an early handwritten index.
• The Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette, from the first issue in 1864 up to the present, is indexed for each year. An edition of this newspaper is available on microfilm and it is usually possible to supply copies of articles, in A4 format.

The following newspapers contain news of each Burgh and may also be useful for the rest of Renfrewshire.

• The Paisley Daily Express, from the first issue in 1874 to the present, is indexed from 1968 although earlier indexes to other local newspaper may be useful. Most years are available on microfiche and copies of articles can be supplied from these in A4 format.
• The Johnstone Advertiser from 1874 to 1950 and from 1957 to 1982. Most years are available on microfiche and the newspaper is indexed from 1968.
• The Renfrew Press, from 1925 to 1928 and from 1970 until April 1983, is followed by the Renfrew Post from May 1983 until 1989.

Please note that the printed edition and the filmed edition of the Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette differ and therefore some articles which appear in one may not be in the other.