Irish Times, Dublin Daily Express, The Freeman's Journal, April 1886

James Naughtie finds the heartbeat of history in the front page small ads of old UK newspapers.

One the eve of Gladstone's first Home Rule Bill, three Irish newspapers appeal to their respective readerships for support for the Protestant poor of Dublin or the destitute inhabitants of the west of Ireland.

The Dublin Ladies Sanitary Association is tackling poverty in Dublin while the million and a half residents of Glasnevin cemetery tell their own stories.

Front page news is a relatively late addition to the newspaper business. For most of their first couple of centuries, British newspapers carried classified ads rather than news on their front page. They transformed the hustle and bustle of the marketplace into newsprint, so you could take it home or to the inn to pore over at your leisure.

James Naughtie travels the country discovering how these front page ads give us a snapshot of time and place, exploring how they weave national and local life together - the heartbeat of history rolling daily or weekly off the presses.

Producer: John Forsyth

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2019.