The British Newspaper Archive and findmypast (IE) have added another Irish newspaper to their databases: The Belfast Mercantile Register and Weekly Advertiser. So far, just two years of editions – 1848 and 1849 – of the weekly title have been digitised and uploaded.
I don't really see too many genealogists getting overly excited about this particular publication. As its name suggests, it contains anorak-level detail about the movement of commodities and the state of trade. Nonetheless, those with merchant ancestors may enjoy plotting the imports, exports and sales of their mid-19th-century family.
The newspaper was published from 1807 to 1852, when the publishers decided it needed a snappier title and settled on the Mercantile Journal and Statistical Register. It continued in circulation until 1893.
