A NEWSPAPER index covering almost six decades of archived copies of The Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette has been published online.

Over the past eight months, staff at Paisley’s Heritage Centre have been busy transcribing the indexes from the paper’s first edition in 1864 up until 1923.

It is hoped that the online index of the newspaper archive, which is currently based in the town’s Abbey Mill Business Centre, will help make the collection more accessible to those with a keen interest in Renfrewshire’s history.

David Weir, coordinator at the Heritage Centre, told The Gazette: “During lockdown, we had the idea to make our earlier newspapers, the Paisley Advertiser and the Renfrewshire Advertiser, into an online index.

“It saves the original, which is an important document in itself, and also makes it easier for people to access the newspapers because they can search for a particular reference.

“Once we had done that, we thought we could increase access to later newspapers as well if we transcribed and published an index to our website again.

“It has meant that people are able to still look at information when they aren’t able to come into the Heritage Centre, and that has also helped us reply to people’s enquiries.”

Staff at the Heritage Centre are continuing to transcribe the remaining newspaper indexes with a view to making them also available online.

David said: “Our most common enquiries are on family history by far.

“Looking at the earlier newspapers is a really interesting way to examine the history of important events and buildings, and you really do get a flavour of what was important at that time.

“It’s interesting to see the extent to which some very influential people, like members of the Coats and Clark families, were knitted into the fabric of everyday life in a way you probably wouldn’t find now.

“Archive newspaper collections will always be one of the mainstays of local history and although a lot of people know that, I think they often underestimate what they can find in local newspapers.

“What you’re looking at is a contemporary account and I think that’s really important. It’s how people saw events happening at the time and retrospective histories don’t give you that.”

To view the The Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette 1864-1923 index, visit bit.ly/34R7AIR.

The archive collection of newspapers available at the Heritage Centre can also be viewed by contacting heritage@renfrewshire.gov.uk and requesting to book an appointment.