Interested in finding out more about your family history? How might historical directories help you, and what other sources could you use? Read below for more details.
Historical directories are among the most important sources for research into family history. They often focus upon a particular town, city or county and include the names, addresses and occupations of the local inhabitants.
One of the most effective ways of tracing members of a family, especially men, is through their trade or profession.
Look out for the following in our online directories:
Some directories provide more detailed coverage than others. Many skilled traders will be listed in the earlier directories, but labourers or factory hands may be omitted. However, street coverage in town directories tends to be very detailed from the late nineteenth century onwards.
It is also worth remembering that the agents took some time to compile a directory. Thus, a directory published in 1871 may well have been compiled anything up to a year before that date.
Select one of the Find by options to locate a directory on this web site. You will then receive a results list. The list contains two viewing options.
Find out how to use this site before going any further with your investigations.
Directories were published more frequently than the census, which was taken once every ten years. The most recent census made available to the public dates back to 1901.
Here are some other features you may be able to discover in a directory, thus supplementing your research of the census returns:
One of our users solved a family mystery on the Historical Directories web site. The answers were missing from census returns.
See our links to other genealogy web sites.