Advanced Genealogy
Directories
Tracing Relatives Through Trade and Street Directories
Trade and street directories are a rich source of genealogical and historical information. You can find them at county record office or your local library, or if you are searching within a London borough, you can visit the Guildhall Library, which has directories that date back to the middle of the eighteenth century. The Society of Genealogists also possesses a large collection in its library.
Most areas published directories and it is possible to trace families and businesses through many years by using them. Following the fortunes of your ancestors over several generations is a distinct possibility. In many working-class families the head of the household might have held a series of different jobs during his life; trade directories will help you to keep track of these. Likewise street directories. Between census returns, they can help you to pinpoint where your ancestors lived and exactly when they moved. Tracing them through directories can be less daunting than tracking them down on a census, and will save wading through acres of microfilm. With a specific address from a directory you can return to the relevant census and conduct a more targeted search. Trade directories also gave those with their own businesses a chance to provide more details of their services than they could give to census enumerators, while some might even have paid to advertise their wares.
Even better, searchable directories exist post-1901, the last census available to the public, which allows you to carry on your search into the twentieth century.
Be aware that directories may have been a year or two out of date when they were published, and that the amount of detail they contain varies between publications. Directories published from the mid – to late nineteenth century generally feature more information than the earlier ones.
Directories for specific trades, the professions in particular; also exist. The most famous is ‘Crockford’s Clerical Directory’, published since 1858, which lists Church of England clergy; other well know directories include the Law List and Medical List, which, as their names suggest, give details of barristers and doctors. Resources like these often have biographical information about each entrant.
Online Directories
Though it is not exhaustive by any means, a visit to www.historicaldirectories.org can rep rich rewards. This project, run by the University of Leicester, aims to digitise selected trade and street directories and make them searchable for the general public. The site has excellent national coverage – nearly every county and major town is represented – for the 1850s, 1890s and 1910-20. The last can be very useful for tracing ancestors found in the 1901 census. Searching is easy: simply type in a name or address and see what comes up.