
The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is April 2026)
Practical solutions for real genealogy research problems. Explore the new Field Guides
Newfoundland/Labrador is one of the Canadian provinces that does have a single central online repository for searching historical newspapers. Also, there are several free publications available on other sites and there are small collections available on subscription sites. Below is a list of where the titles are stored and the link so that you can access them.
So go for it – find your Newfoundland and Labrador ancestors and all the interesting articles that capture the stories of their lives.
Please note that I have not always entered the dates that are included in the collections, as I suspect they will change as more items are digitized. Also, I suspect that some of these links may change over time – so if there is a dead link – please use your favorite search engine to find their new location.
Free Sites:
Provincewide Collections:
Memorial University of Newfoundland – Digital Archives Initiative
- Alex Stacey Newsclippings Collection
- Aurora
- Banner of Temperance
- Barrelman
- Bay News (47 Issues)
- Bay Roberts Guardian 1910-1949 (1,366 Issues)
- Bell Island Examiner (81 Issues)
- Bell Island Reporter 1958-1966 (140 Issues)
- Bell Island Times
- Bell Islander, The
- Burin Peninsula Post
- Carbonear Star And Conception Bay Journal
- Caribou 1980-1987 (50 Issues)
- Carol Link 1965-1969 – Carol News 1970-1971 (267 Issues)
- Churchill Falls Mini Press
- Clarenville Packet (1,008 Issues)
- Colonist 1886-1892 (1,896 Issues)
- Commercial Journal
- Constitution
- Cove
- Daily Mail 1923-1924 (465 Issues)
- Daily News 1894-1980 (25,256 Issues)
- Daily Review
- Daily Unionist
- Diocesan Review
- Echo
- Evening Advocate (Daily Mail, Mail and Advocate) 1914-1924 (3,154 Issues)
- Evening Chronicle 1907-1912 (1,551 Issues)
- Evening Herald (Evening Mercury) 1882-1920 (10,958 Issues)
- Evening Telegram 1879-1975 (27,393 Issues)
- Express Extra
- Fishermen Worker’s Tribune
- Fishermen’s Advocate
- Fishermen’s Advocate 1924-1980 (2,878 Issues)
- Fogo Island Profile
- Free Press 1903-1929 (717 Issues)
- Gander Beacon (1,427 Issues)
- Georgian
- Grand Falls Advertiser
- Green Bay News
- Gulf News
- Harbor Grace and Carbonear Weekly Journal
- Harbor Grace Standard 1859-1934 (3,134 Issues)
- Indicator
- Labour Herald
- Labrador Free Press
- Labrador Informer
- Labrador News
- Labrador Press
- Le Gaboteur 1984-2011 (27 Volumes)
- Lewisporte Pilot (1,143 Issues)
- Liberal Press
- Morning Advertiser and Shipping Gazette
- Morning Chronicle (4,553 Issues)
- Morning Courier 1844-1878 (3,252 Issues)
- Morning Despatch
- Morning Post (1,879 Issues)
- MUN Gazette 1968-2016 (1021 Issues)
- Muse 1950-2017 (1,438 Issues)
- NANL News
- Newfoundland Churchman (452 Issues)
- Newfoundland Express (2772 Issues)
- Newfoundland Gazette 1925-1982 (3,052 Issues)
- Newfoundland Mercantile Journal 1816-1827 (376 Issues)
- Newfoundland Trade Review (929 Issues)
- Newfoundland Weekly
- Newfoundland Weekly 1924-1932; 1940-1941 (424 Issues)
- Newfoundlander
- North Star and St. John’s, Newfoundland News (442 Issues)
- Northern Reporter 1966-1992 (760 Issues)
- Observer’s Weekly 1934-1962 (1,443 Issues)
- Our Country
- Patriot And Terra-Nova Herald 1833-1890 (2,345 Issues)
- Pilot
- Post
- Public Ledger 1827-1869 (4,210 Issues)
- Queue
- Royal Gazette (362 Issues)
- Sentinel and Conception Bay Advertiser
- Southern Shore and St. Mary’s Bay Weekly
- Southern Shore Courier
- Speaker
- Springdale News
- St. John’s Daily News 1860-1870 (2,333 Issues)
- St. John’s Daily Star 1915-1921 (1,738 Issues)
- St. John’s Free Press and Semiweekly Advertiser
- Stephenville News
- Suburban Mirror
- Sunday Herald (659 Issues)
- Temperance Journal 1878-1887 (163 Issues)
- Terra Nova Advocate 1875-1890 (1,260 Issues)
- The Carbonear Herald and Outport Telephone
- The Cartwright Courier
- The Compass (1,357 Issues)
- The Conception-Bay Man
- The Conception-Bay Mercury
- The Confederate
- The Daily Globe
- The Daily Tribune
- The Enterprise
- The Express
- The Mercury And General Advertiser
- The Morning Herald
- The Morning Post
- The Newfoundland Commercial Journal
- The Newfoundland Times (New York)
- The Newfoundland Vindicator
- The Newfoundlander 1934
- The Newfoundlander 1944-1954
- The Plaindealer
- The Record
- The Register
- The Reporter
- The Scope 2006-2013 (147 Issues)
- The Star and Conception Bay Weekly Journal
- The Star and Conception Bay Weekly Reporter
- The Star and Newfoundland Advocate
- The Telegraph 1856-1875 (975 Issues)
- The Vindicator and Brigus Reporter
- The Weekly Express
- The Weekly News
- Times and General Commercial Gazette
- Times And General Commercial Gazette 1832-1895 (5,715 Issues)
- Trepassey Tribune
- Trinity Curate
- Trinity Enterprise 1909-1917, 1934, 1938, 1946 (85 Issues)
- Twillingate Sun 1880-1953 (2,080 Issues)
- Wabana Star
- Weekly Herald And Conception-Bay General Advertiser 1845-1854 (483 Issues)
- Weekly Record
- Western Star 1900-1985 (12,926 Issues)
Google News Archive
- Harbour Grace – The Standard
- St. Johns – Newfoundlander
- St. Johns – The Evening Telegram
- St. Johns – The Newfoundland Express
- St. Johns – The Newfoundlander
- St. Johns – The Public Ledger
- St. Johns – The Public Ledger and Newfoundland General Advertiser
- St. Johns – The Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser
- St. Johns – The Telegram
- Evening Advocate – St. Johns
- Mail and Advocate – St. Johns
- Newfoundland Monthly Messenger – St. Johns
- The Carbonear herald and outport telephone – Carbonear
- The Carbonear herald and railroad journal – Carbonear
- The Carbonear star and Conception-Bay journal – Carbonear
- The Collegian – St. Johns
- The Conception-Bay man – Harbour Grace
- The Daily Mail – St. Johns
- The Evening Telegram – St. Johns
- The Guardian – Bay Roberts
- The Mail and Advocate – St. Johns
- The Morning Advocate – St. Johns
- The Newfoundland Magazine – St. Johns
- The Star, and Conception Bay journal
- The Star and Conception Bay semi-weekly advertiser – Harbour Grace
- The Star And Conception Bay Weekly Reporter – Harbour Grace
- The Star and Newfoundland Advocate – St. Johns
Newfoundland Newspaper Transcriptions
- Bay of Islands Transcriptions
- Bell Island Submarine Miner
- Bonavista North area
- Burin Funeral Home Obits
- Downhome
- Government Publications
- Grand Falls Advertiser
- Gulf News
- Newfoundland Express
- Old News of Newfoundland
- Ph-Goulds & Cape Broyle
- Royal Gazette
- St. John’s Daily News
- The Advocate
- The Aurora
- The Beacon
- The Carbonear Herald and Outport Telephone
- The Coaster
- The Compass
- The Evening Telegram
- The Evening Telegram
- The Free Press
- The Georgian
- The Guardian
- The Harbour Grace Standard
- The Humber Log
- The Lewisporte Pilot
- The Newfoundlander
- The Northern Pen
- The Nor’Wester
- The Packet
- The Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser
- The Shoreline
- The Southern Gazette
- The Star and Conception Bay Journal
- The Telegram
- The Twillingate Sun
- Various Papers
- Various Papers 1979-1998
- Weekly Express
- West Coast Transcriptions
- Western Star
Student Collections:
Memorial University – St. Johns
For Obituary Indexes, transcriptions, and other death/obituary information from historical newspapers, please check out the Obituaries page.
Other Free Sites:
Subscription or Pay Sites:
Ancestry.com:
There is currently 3 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Ancestry – Newfoundland and Labrador Newspapers
Newspaper Archive:
There are currently 62 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Newspaper Archive – Newfoundland and Labrador
OldNews:
There are currently 8publications available on this site. See all the titles at OldNews – Newfoundland and Labrador
Paper of Record:
There are currently 2 publications available on this site. See all the titles at Paper of Record – Newfoundland and Labrador
And Finally:
You might want to check out Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative site from time to time to see what is available online or otherwise.
Please note – even more may be available via a local or provincial library where a library card is required. And of course, there is always microfilm for those that have not been made available online as yet.
For more links for different states, provinces, and countries – please see the Newspaper Links page on this website.
For all Free Newfoundland and Labrador Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Obituaries
BMD Records
Photos
Yearbooks
Directories
Online Newspaper Research FAQs
It’s challenging due to imperfect Optical Character Recognition (OCR), inconsistent indexing, variations in spelling and nicknames, differing journalistic styles over time, and the sheer volume of fragmented, often paywalled, collections. Finding what you need truly feels like a treasure hunt!
Many researchers utilizing online newspaper archives may not be aware that word searches are performed against a database generated by analyzing whether minute sections of the newspaper are black or white. It is the shape of the collected dots that may (or may not) look like a letter.
To improve search accuracy when encountering OCR errors, it is advisable to intentionally alter your search terms by substituting letters with similar shapes. For example, replacing a lowercase ‘b’ with an ‘h’, or a lowercase ‘e’ with a ‘c’.
In your search criteria, try entering abbreviations, nicknames, and portions of hyphenated words. Numerous other techniques can be found in The Ancestor Hunt’s “Newspaper Research Academy”, which can be accessed at https://theancestorhunt.com/academy.html
Yes. Although some of the largest databases require a subscription, there are many that are free. The Ancestor Hunt has curated links to over 80,000 titles that can be searched for free in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. To use these links, go to its Newspaper Links Page,
5 replies on “Newfoundland and Labrador Online Historical Newspapers Summary”
I appreciate this page! Right now, I’m building a site called CanadianObits.com and will make it interactive.
Hope to collaborate!
Bill – Just checked it out. It looks like only recent obits are included. Do you have any plans to include older obits? Please email me at kenmarksology@gmail.com I would like to keep in touch. I will be focusing on obit links for the next 3 months so want to include what you are doing.
looking for info about a 3yr old boy that was dragged by a truck. kingspoint/ springdale area between 1974-1976. he was seriously injured and survived. any info would be appreciated!
Looking for any information on my ggfather John Albert William Sellenger married to Catherine Sampson
looking for grandfather James Shute born 1893 from Blaketown Conception Bay married to Eliza Elsie Dyke 1895-1966 born Salvage Bay