Indeed the current North-East daily "Press & Journal", originated from two newspapers, the "Aberdeen Journal", and the "Aberdeen Free Press". The "Aberdeen Journal" started publication very early, on 15 January 1748, and the "Aberdeen Free Press" started on 6th May 1853. The two amalgamated at the end of November 1922 to form today's continuing paper.

There have been other papers in Aberdeen (Aberdeeen Chronicle (1806-1832), Aberdeen Herald (1832-1876), the North of Scotland Gazette (1849-1853), and so on, but most have now been put on microfilm and can be read at the city's Reference Library. Other North-East newspapers can be found on microfilm at a number of major branches of Aberdeenshire Library & Information Service (which covers the old counties of Banffshire, Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire.

Other newspapers throughout Scotland can be consulted in this way - very few remain in the hands of the publishers. In fact, many publishers passed their back runs to the nearest major library service for preservation.

You can check with the main library in the part of Scotland that holds your family interest, and find out what years their local newspaper runs cover. (There is a published book with this information, "Directory of scottish Newspapers", by J.Ferguson (£10), but with local government changes, locations are now inaccurate.)

Newspapers can help fill out the family facts, with background information about what was happening when Great-Grandfather was getting born or married; you can look for obituaries if your ancestor was well known locally; if anyone died in an accident, there should be a story about it; Was there a cholera epidemic at the time, that carried off some of the children of the family?; a story about the family business being opened/ closed/ celebrating its centenary?; what about the factory/ school/ farm / big house connected with your ancestors - is it mentioned here?

One thing everyone expects to find and are disappointed, is birth, death, and marriage anouncements. These are a modern development, and prior to the earlier part of the 20th century, only the well-to-do, nobility, and other prominent persons got any mention. Only if you lived to 100, or had 22 kids, or had a bad accident, did ordinary folks usually get a mention, so hope for plenty of accidents in the family!

With the arrival of the internet, some newspapers can be searched online, but usually only for the last few years. However, the Am Baile website offers a complete search of a group of newspapers in the Far North, back to the mid-1830s.