Cathy Bryan asked : << Has anyone looked at this or other local papers for family information? Is it worth doing? >> Having been researching among the 19th century local newspapers for a quarter century it sometimes amazes me that genealogists aren't constantly searching this source. Given that for the majority of us our ancestors were working class labourers or small craftsmen who leave little to mark their passing, the provincial press is perhaps the greatest single source for contextualising the lives of people in the past. And within those newspapers, the most rewarding of sections is that which reports on the regional petty sessions. And don't believe for a moment that your ancestors never appeared in magistrates' court. Not all were drunkards and wife beaters (though some were), but outwardly respectable craftsmen and farmers ended up before the Bench, for such offences as allowing their sheep to stray on the highway, or leaving their horse and cart blocking the road. I guess the main reason why family researchers leave this source alone is its hit and miss quality, never knowing if you will turn up anything relevant. Just today, for example, I spent five hours with the 'Abingdon and Reading Herald' for the years 1871-1873. Of the many hundreds of individual cases I examined - in greater or lesser detail - I resurfaced with fewer than thirty relevant examples. But then I'm researching over 800 individuals in Oxfordshire and all adjacent counties. So, important yes, but impossible to hone in on specifics. That said, the example cited by Cathy, 'Forest of Dean Mercury', is hardly of any use at all for genealogical purposes, its subtitle being 'A journal devoted to the interests of labour'. Excellent for labour and union researchers, however. But the Forest is covered by many papers which ARE essential for family history research, including : Chepstow Express Cinderford Journal Coleford Times [identical to Cinderford Journal] Dean Forest Mercury Lydney Journal [identical to Chepstow Express] Lydney Observer Good hunting, Keith Chandler Oxfordshire researching 40 or 50 individuals in the Forest