Belfast News Letter editions from 1700s to be digitised
Editions of the Belfast News Letter from the 18th to the 20th centuries are to be digitised as part of a new project.
Contemporary reports of events, such as the Irish Parliament winning legislative independence from Britain in 1782 and the formation of the Orange Order in 1795, will be available.
It's part of a UK government project and will mean copies from three centuries will be available online.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn said the newspaper is "an important part of Northern Ireland's unique cultural heritage".
The News Letter, first published in September 1737, will mark its 288th anniversary this year as the oldest English language daily paper still in circulation.
On a visit to the Linen Hall Library to look at historic copies of the paper, Benn said: "The UK Government is committed to digitising these historical archives to promote the richness of Northern Ireland's traditions around the world, including in nations with historic ties, such as the United States.
"This will also ensure that these precious historical records are preserved and accessible for generations to come."
David Montgomery, executive chairman of the News Letter's owners, National World plc, said the paper has been in "the frontline of local and global news and opinion" for four centuries.
"It was already in its 40th year when it covered the US Declaration of Independence," he added.
"In the 1990s it and other Northern Ireland papers helped pave the pathway to peace."
The Northern Ireland Office is working in partnership with the British Library and FindMyPast for the project.
Sarah Bush, from Findmypast, said the project offers "a fascinating window into centuries of Northern Ireland's history as it happened".
The process will be completed in spring 2025 and will then be available free from some libraries with a subscription to Findmypast.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘He failed in his fiduciary duty': My brother liquidated our mother's 401(k) for her nursing home. He claimed the rest.
My mother recently passed away; she had blood cancer, which was diagnosed 2023. I was to receive half of all her assets. My brother, the executor of her will, coerced her during her illness to give him power of attorney. My mother and brother liquidated her significant 401(k) account into a fund to help with home/nursing care. My brother is now stating that the balance, which was not consumed by nursing-home costs, is lawfully his. I have requested a copy of the power-of-attorney document. I have, in-hand, all wills by my father and mother where it clearly states all assets are to be divided equally, including stocks in her 401(k). I also have texts stating that the funds were liquidated for this purpose. 'He failed in his fiduciary duty': My brother liquidated our mother's 401(k) for her nursing home. He claimed the rest. My daughter's boyfriend, a guest in my home, offered to powerwash part of my house — then demanded money 'It was a contract sabotage': My new husband told me to 'sign here.' I refused — it was the best decision of my life What on Earth is going on with the American consumer? He spotted weight-loss drugs and AI before they became hot. Here's this investor's next big idea. My understanding is that he failed in his fiduciary duty as the POA was void at death. What can I do? The Sister Related: 'My mother-in-law has done some shady stuff': She wants to sell air rights to her home and cheated her grandchildren out of their inheritance It may or may not have been a good idea, at the time, to liquidate your mother's 401(k) to pay for her nursing home, but desperate times sometimes call for creative measures. To do it all at once raises questions about tax implications and your brother's motivations for creating such a pile of cash. Given that he now lays claim to it, the answer seems to paint him in a bad light. The only way he could access this money — as you say, his POA duties were null and void upon your mother's death — is if he deposited this money in a bank account with his name on it. Either that, or he added his name to an existing account in your mother's name. It's an old trick: telling an elderly parent you're a co-signer while making yourself a co-owner. Larceny, the theft of someone's property, is a felony in most states, depending on the amount stolen. She is likely betting on your legal inexperience and good nature to get away with it. There is a statute of limitations on elder financial abuse in most states, and you should treat this as such. The Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association, or Simfa, has a checklist for financial abuse, including 'numerous withdrawals of smaller amounts' and 'changing power of attorney or the beneficiaries on insurance or investment accounts.' Simfa recommends people in your position to contact an Eldercare Locator information specialist toll-free on 800-677-1116 weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. It has both English- and Spanish-speaking specialists. But now you are faced with a dilemma: Can you prove that your brother committed fraud and/or elder financial abuse by helping himself to her substantial 401(k)? If he had, for instance, taken a reverse mortgage on your mother's house to pay for the home, the remaining equity would have remained in your mother's estate and, as such, would have gone through probate. The sooner you consult a lawyer and contact your late mother's bank, the better. Executors and power of attorneys, as you suggest, don't have unfettered power. They have a legal responsibility to act in their client's best interest, and they can face civil and criminal penalties for failing in those duties. Self-dealing is obviously a no-no. Your attorney will likely advise you to file a petition and remove your brother as executor and, hopefully, freeze any bank accounts that he has access to. Executors can be removed for enriching themselves at the expense of the estate through incompetence or financial malfeasance. You're being hoodwinked and gaslighted by your brother. Related: I bought a home with my elderly parents. They reneged on their promise to sell their house and repay me. What now? 'He was recently taken to the hospital': My elderly neighbor gave me power of attorney. Can his estranged daughter object? 'Punishing myself would not help': My credit card was stolen — the thief revealed lots of nasty surprises about my finances 'We've had our ups and downs': My late in-laws left their estate to me, my husband and our son. Do we need to hire an attorney? 'I'm not wildly wealthy, but I've done well': I'm 79 and have $3 million in assets. Should I set up 529 plans for my grandkids? My father-in-law has dementia and is moving in with us. Can we invoice him for a caregiver? 'I am getting very frustrated': My mother's adviser has not returned my calls. He manages $1 million. Is this normal? 20 stocks primed for rapid growth while trading at half of Nvidia's valuation My life partner is 18 years my senior. He wants to leave his $4.5 million fortune to me — not his two kids. Do we tell them? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Opinion: How I Coach All Educators at My Baltimore HS to Be Reading & Writing Teachers
If you've been following education news, you know students' reading and writing skills remain low, especially after the pandemic, with no state having made gains since 2022. School districts need to do more to ensure every student enters adulthood fully literate. One step is to train all educators — not just those in elementary and English classes — to be reading teachers. Many states, including Maryland, where I live and work as a literacy coach, are embracing the science of reading, which uses brain science to teach children how to read. However, these efforts are focused at the elementary level, and older students are going through high school without the benefit of these best practices. My district, Baltimore City Public Schools, is working to address that problem. For the last four years, I have helped all teachers at Reginald F. Lewis High School weave reading and writing into their lessons. This is unusual, because while the district has had literacy coaches in elementary and secondary schools, most work only with English Language Arts teachers. This isn't enough. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Consider this: During a team meeting, teachers and I reviewed Maryland's state English test and found it had just one set of questions related to a literature passage. The rest were based on informational texts, such as historical primary source documents, scientific reports and graphs. Subject-matter teachers are best-suited to help students learn to read and analyze these passages. While all the teachers I work with know that students are coming to them with large literacy gaps, most weren't accustomed to working with a coach, especially a literacy coach. They were skeptical at first. Overcoming that required taking key steps. Related First, my principal had to make it clear that literacy learning was a schoolwide responsibility and that I was there to help. Then, I had to build strong relationships with teachers. I did that by listening, learning about the challenges they faced, observing instruction and providing feedback, and being a consistent and supportive presence in their classrooms. We studied data and set goals together. It was especially important to be patient. Change of this kind takes more than a single school year. Across classrooms, we raised the rigor. Because reading achievement was low, teachers had been using texts designed for elementary or middle schoolers. But what our high schoolers needed was reading material aligned to high school expectations. My job was to give teachers tools that they could use to help students understand what they were reading. These included strategies such as previewing complex vocabulary with students before diving into reading and offering multiple opportunities and ways to access difficult texts, such as through read-alouds or partnered reading. Those approaches improve reading fluency and are particularly appropriate when books or articles are challenging. Yet, even as the teachers helped students to access harder books, they had to pull back on doing too much. I found they were reading aloud texts that students were capable of reading on their own, or oversimplifying assignments and taking away opportunities for students to write answers that showed what they really knew. Related Today, the teachers know that I'm there to help their students learn in their particular content area and are proud that, after a sharp dip in proficiency directly after the pandemic, our students have made significant gains in English language arts proficiency. Overall, our school went from 10% English proficiency in 2023 to 27% in 2024, and we met our literacy progress goals for the first time since the pandemic. Teachers also like the engagement they see in their classrooms when students read aloud to their partners or speak up to answer questions. More recently, after we realized students were skipping written response questions on state assessments, we started weaving writing instruction into the school day. To tackle this, our school made writing instruction the focus of professional development and coaching. We all read 'The Writing Revolution,' by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler, and I provided support to teachers based on the approach in the book and training I received. Many teachers at first lacked confidence around teaching components of good writing, so I provided explicit modeling and coaching. In a math class, I'd have a teacher demonstrate what good writing looks like in that grade and subject — for example, writing a response to a question — and then we'd discuss ways to help students reach that level of proficiency. Today, nearly all teachers in my school are more comfortable providing writing instruction in their content area, and nearly all implement some kind of writing instruction every day. This means that students get multiple chances to practice writing and learn particular skills. I love hearing them saying things like, 'All my teachers are talking about segment fragments!' Or, 'Now we have to use conjunctions everywhere!' In January, teachers had reported that half or more of their students skipped writing tasks on any assignment. Today, nearly every student writes answers to assignments, and basic writing mistakes have dwindled. I've also been working to help encourage students to read independently. NAEP survey data show that a mere 14% of 13-year-olds read for enjoyment daily. It's a shocking figure but it reflects what I see. I often ask students what they like to read, and unfortunately a common answer is, 'I don't know. I don't really like reading.' Related After one of these exchanges, I asked my 10-year-old, who loves curling up with a book, what he would say to that. 'I would say they just haven't found the right book yet!' he replied. High schoolers have tons of interests and opinions; they just need to find a book based on these interests to ignite a love for reading. Sometimes I ask kids what movies they like, and the answer usually helps make a connection to books. I also encourage families to participate in summer library programs that give kids and adults a free book of their choice each month. I believe the successes my school has seen on classroom tests in literacy will also show in the state exams our students recently took. More importantly, I'm confident the skills they've learned will make a lasting difference in their lives, whatever path they choose.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘I always felt like I didn't have enough': Why this American woman moved from California to Mexico 20 years ago
As a single mother of three 'living paycheck to paycheck' in California, Janet Blaser had become resigned to constantly worrying about paying her bills and always 'feeling less than.' However, she began reevaluating her life after a series of events led her to take a 'random vacation' to Mazatlán, Mexico in April 2005. 'I really wanted an adventure,' Janet tells CNN Travel. Less than a year later, she relocated from Santa Cruz, California, to the vibrant city, situated along Mexico's west coast. 'It's home now,' she adds. So what led Janet, originally from Long Island, New York, to pack up her life and move hundreds of miles away? 'My mom was ill and dying,' she says. 'And she really, really encouraged me to follow my dreams.' Janet goes on to explain that her mother was 'full of regrets' about 'things she hadn't done' as she neared the end of her life, and this 'stuck' in her head. Around the same time, Janet, who had worked as a reporter for years, was at a crossroads professionally and felt as though she needed to 'think outside the box.' 'I was 50,' she says. 'So I wasn't the candidate that people wanted.' Her children were all grown up by this point, and she was frustrated that she didn't own her own home after living in California for half of her life, and felt as though she'd never be able to achieve this. 'The prices were unbelievable,' she adds, admitting that she 'kind of felt invisible, or a little useless.' Keen for a change of scenery, Janet decided to travel to Mazatlán, a city she'd never visited previously, after reading about it online. 'I was in California, where there were so many Mexican Americans,' she says, explaining that she'd visited the country once previously, but had mainly vacationed in the Caribbean over the years. 'And I thought, 'Let me go to Mexico and see what it's like.' So I got to Mazatlán, and it sounds so corny, but it just touched my heart.' Janet goes on to explain that after spending several days of sunbathing, she took a walk to the Centro Historico and 'fell head over heels in love' with the area. 'Even now, I'm embarrassed to say that, because it seems so dorky,' she adds, explaining that 'felt like home' while walking through the town's cobblestone streets and taking in its old buildings. 'But I think when you're in the right place, you feel it. You sense it.' Although she'd never considered moving to Mexico before then, after 10 days in Mazatlán, Janet decided that it was exactly where she needed to be. 'I still needed to work,' Janet points out. 'And had the idea of publishing a magazine in English for the many Americans and Canadians living in and visiting Mazatlán… 'So that was my big aha moment.' Once she'd returned to Santa Cruz, Janet started 'fanatically' researching Mazatlán to determine whether it would be possible for her to move to the city and run a business there. Six months later, she returned for a month to get a real feel for the place before making a final decision. 'I wanted to see, could I actually live here and be comfortable,' she explains. 'I think that especially when you're in another country, where there's so many things that are different and unknown. 'To have kind of these little creature comforts to settle you is important. At least it is for me.' After determining that 'everything seemed to be workable,' Janet returned to the US and set about the process of winding down her life there. 'All my kids were really supportive,' she adds. In January 2006, Janet set off on a four-day road trip to Mazatlán, packing her belongings into her 'little car,' and leaving behind everything she knew. However, she admits that she quickly began to question her decision. 'I was caught up in the excitement of it,' Janet explains. 'And then once I started driving, I probably cried the whole four days. 'I cried and cried and cried. I was like, 'What am I doing?' And I kept calling them. And they'd be like, 'No, this is your dream. Go do your dream.'' Although she admits that she considered turning back at one point and struggled to read the Spanish road signs, Janet kept going. By the time she arrived in Mazatlán, everything 'felt familiar.' She moved into a rented property and set about integrating herself into the local community. 'It was really easy to meet people,' she says. 'So I felt really welcomed and like I could do this.' Janet, who had previously taken Spanish classes at a local high school, instantly took to life in Mazatlán, loving how friendly the people were and the fact that there was a 'close community of foreigners.' 'I was just so excited about being here,' she says. 'I had a little bit of savings. I had work online, and it was an adventure.' She loved the tropical climate, along with the 'live-and-let-live mindset' and found that she was continuously 'buoyed' by the excitement of her new adventure. 'Even if I'd get depressed or sad, I missed my kids, and couldn't call anybody,' she says. 'Then I go out the door and it's mango season. And they're literally falling on the sidewalk from a giant tree… I started surfing. There were just so many opportunities to have fun. 'I didn't have those in the States. I don't know why.' The lower living costs also helped immensely — Janet says that her rent was usually under $250 a month in her first few years in the country, while her cell phone and utility bills were also considerably less than she'd been paying in the US. 'That made a huge difference, obviously, in my stress level,' she says. 'I've never paid more than $35 a month for electricity, even with air conditioning running a lot during the summer.' However, while her life was more abundant, Janet stresses that she struggled at times and often felt lonely. 'It was not all easy,' she concedes, noting that getting Wi-Fi connected at home wasn't as simple as it is now, and her cell phone initially didn't work in Mexico, so she was unable to communicate with her family regularly for a while. Janet also discovered that her Spanish wasn't as good as she'd previously thought, and not being able to speak the language confidently meant that it was harder for her to form strong bonds. 'You can't joke with people, because you can't speak the language enough to make a joke,' she says, adding that her Spanish has since improved enough for her to be able to crack jokes comfortably. 'I find that's often a way to kind of break the ice and feel comfortable, to be kind of funny.' Although Janet loved the way of life in Mazatlán, she says that it took her 'about two-three years' to feel really acclimated. She initially found some of the cultural differences, such as the clothing styles, particularly for women, difficult to get used to. 'There's full makeup and stiletto heels in the grocery store at eight in the morning,' she says, stressing that this might not be the case in the rest of the country. 'And coming from hippie Santa Cruz, that was really weird for me.' Dating in Mexico also proved to be 'a whole different thing' for her, as the relationship dynamics were not what she was used to. 'The relationships with their families, that was expected to be part of the relationship with the boyfriend,' she says. 'So that was challenging to say the least.' Janet says she's learned to stop worrying about time so much and no longer panics if she's running late, as 'it's just not a big deal' there. 'The joke is, 'mañana' doesn't mean tomorrow. It's just a suggestion,' she says. Within two years of arriving, Janet had published the first issue of her magazine, aimed at foreigners living in the area, and went on to found the city's first organic farmer's market. Perhaps most importantly, she felt much happier and more valued. 'I don't want to say I've been depressed in Santa Cruz,' she says. 'But I've been stressed about having work and being able to pay the bills. 'And what was I going to do? And I was 50. And I didn't have those worries down here.' Janet was able to attain a permanent resident visa, known as an FM 3 at the time, relatively easily. 'The process and requirements have changed significantly since I got mine 19 years ago,' she notes. 'Now the financial requirements are much, much higher than they used to be.' Reflecting on her final years in California, Janet says that she had felt a lot of pressure due to 'the consumerism that's so much a part of American culture' and worried about things like not having a new car. 'In the States, I always felt like I didn't have enough and I wasn't succeeding,' she says. 'And I feel like I succeeded here, I was able to succeed. I started the business. I started the farmers market, which is still going on, and I've given myself a wonderful life.' Janet returns to the US to see her children and grandchildren regularly, but admits that she feels 'nervous' there now. 'My granddaughters have active shooter drills in their elementary school…' she says. 'I don't even know what to say about that.' The US State Department currently advises against traveling to six of Mexico's 32 states, with crime and kidnapping listed as the cause for advisories for several. While she's certainly aware of the crime issues in the country, Janet says that she's always felt safe there, and takes 'normal precautions for a single woman living in a big state.' 'Do I worry about random violence? No, it just doesn't happen here,' she says, adding that she feels that the issues on the 'border towns' are 'not indicative of the rest of the gigantic country that is Mexico.' 'People don't want to have guns. And that's a very different mindset than in the US… 'I don't worry when I go to Walmart that somebody's going to shoot me. I don't worry when I go to a street festival that someone's going to run a car through the people. 'I worry about that stuff when I'm in the US. And what do you do? I don't know how people live there.' However, Janet admits that she misses her family and would love to be able to spend more time in the US. 'In my perfect world, I would have a base in Mazatlán and be able to visit each of my three kids in the US for a month or so each year,' she adds, pointing out that she's also keen to spend more time in Italy after a recent vacation to the European country. 'I don't feel comfortable or at ease going back and forth to the US anymore,' she adds. Janet, who supports herself mainly through her social security benefits, says that she'd advise anyone considering moving to Mexico, to make sure that they have 'all their ducks in a row' before taking the plunge. 'We have this saying here that people often leave their brains at the border,' she says. 'So don't do that… 'Listen to your heart. As airy fairy as that sounds, Listen to your heart and you can create a life.' She published her first book, 'Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats,' in 2019 and is currently working on a series about Americans living in other countries. When questioned about the impact of the growing number of foreigners who've flocked to Mexico in recent years, Janet notes that real estate prices in the country have likely risen as a result. 'Whether we like it or not, we're kind of glorified tourists, and our presence affects the local lifestyle in both positive and negative ways,' she says. Janet sometimes wonders about where she would have likely ended up if she hadn't taken that vacation to Mazatlán two decades ago, and says she has no idea. 'Where would I be? What would I be doing? I can't even imagine,' she says. 'I don't even know. I mean, would I be living with my son and his wife in Santa Cruz?… Would I have found work I could do?' Around four years ago, Janet decided to leave Mazatlán after becoming frustrated by the huge amount of development taking place in the city, moving to an inland mountain area in San Antonio Tlayacapan on the north shore of Lake Chapala, near Ajijic. 'Now there are 25 and 30 story condo towers with 300 condos just lined along the ocean,' she says. 'And I watched that happening, and it broke my heart.' However, less than a year later she realized that she'd made a mistake, and returned 'home.' 'Each time, I followed my heart. What can I say?' she explains. 'And when I moved, after six months, I was like, 'What am I doing here? What was I thinking? Where is the ocean? Where are my friends?'' Now happily back in Mazatlán, Janet currently lives in a studio apartment with a balcony, and an ocean view, paying around $550 a month in rent, including utilities. 'Nowhere is perfect, but Mazatlán has this heart,' she says. 'They call it the 'Corazón' (Spanish for 'heart.') 'And there is a warmth and a sense of community here. That is what originally attracted me to it… There's a heart here and that is still beating, even in the midst of all this development. 'There's still these really nice people. There's still family-owned restaurants and businesses. 'So I just figure I need to focus on that part of it and try not to look up at those big condos. And if I could afford to, I would buy one too.'
