What’s in a Directory? This is a question we are often asked. These books are very much undervalued as, to most people today, the word ‘directory’ means the phone book - a list of names and numbers. The historical directories are so much more! More frequent than the census, a directory can help to fill in the gaps.
For both local and family history, directories are an invaluable source of information. Each city, town, village and hamlet is described, and many of these with brief notes about the local history, with some geological and geographical notes. They give details of local communities, the landowners, magistrates, councillors, police, the private residents, the professional and trades people, their schools, churches, institutions, clubs, societies, public services, advertisements and much, much more.
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