First published in 1843 by Alexander Thom & Co., Thom's Irish Almanac & Directory, is still being published and is rightly seen as the pre-eminent directory and almanac for Ireland. Since its initial publication Thom's has undergone a number of slight deviations in its title, such as Post Office Directory, Irish Almanac & Directory and in this case, the Official Directory. When it was first issued in 1843 Thom's contained some 1,000 printed pages; by the time of this 1894 issue the Directory contained more than 2,000 printed pages, which are released here on fully-searchable CD-Rom.
The development of and deviations of the title of Thom's publication was in many respects driven by the changes and additions to its contents. Although primarily and rightly seen as an Irish directory and almanac, more than 600 initial pages are given over to a multitude of separate directories pertaining to the United Kingdom and its dominions and the breadth of these multifarious directories are given on this editions title page, which reads as follows: Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the Year 1894. Comprising British, Foreign and Colonial Directories. Parliamentary Directory. Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage Directory. Naval and Military Directory. Statistics of Great Britain and Ireland. Government Offices' Directory. University, Scientific and Medical Directory. Law Directory. Ecclesiastical Directory. Banking Directory. Postal Directory. County and Borough Directory. Lieutenancy and Magistracy of Ireland. Post Office Dublin City and County Directory. In essence, this edition records the details of all the functionaries of state and government, military, civil and religious, from the Queen down to the clerks in the stationary office.
More than half of the 2,000 printed pages of Thom's Official Directory are given over to Ireland. Beginning with statistics for the country as a whole taken from the 1891 Census of Ireland, the Official Directory also provides county-by-count details on Irish landowners of 1,000 acres and upwards and 10,000 acres and upwards, with a further 300 pages or so detailing the multitude of state functionaries, civil, religious, financial and military. This includes all the incumbents of the various parishes and benefices in Ireland, all army and navy officers, barrister and solicitors, doctors and physicians, all educational and medical institutions and members of their governing bodies and even the clubs and private institutions, such as learned and academic societies and members of their respective councils.
The County Directory of Ireland provides statistical information on each county derived from the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 Censuses of Ireland as well as the names of all the civil functionaries of the counties ranging from the deputy lieutenant down to local magistrates, the places and dates of county fairs, poor law unions, petty sessions and polling stations and this section is complete by the Borough Directory, which provides similar information for the municipal Boroughs and Towns of Ireland.
Some 800 pages of the 1894 edition of Thom's Official Directory is given over to Dublin City and its suburbs and as one would expect the level of detail provided in these sections far exceeds the that given for the rest of Ireland. For the capital itself a comprehensive street directory is provided , which extends to the various townships and suburbs of the city such as Rathmines, Pembroke and Kingstown as well as the residents of many of the larger villages, which at this time had not been incorporated into the city. In addition, Thom's provides a list of the Dublin City and county nobility, gentry, merchants and traders as well as a trades directory and it is to the street and trades directories that most people are drawn to in search of their Dublin ancestors.
Republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom, at least one edition of Thom's Directory and Almanac is a must for every Irish household.
Originally printed and published in Dublin by John Falconer of Upper Sackville Street and republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom, is the Royal Irish Constabulary List & Directory; Containing Lists of the Constabulary Departments, Dublin Metropolitan Police, Resident Magistrates, Coast Guards, Etc. Appearing bi-annually on 31st January and 31st July, this issue is numbered 147 and was published in January 1915 and contains 290 printed pages.
The etcetera component to the RIC Constabulary List & Directory is contained in the main in the advertisements contained therein and also a miscellany of information to the general reader contained in the directory's introductory pages, some of which is extremely useful and some quite strange. For example, we are informed that in the year ending 31st March 1915 general income tax was at the rate of one shilling and three pence in the pound, which amounts to just over six new pence in the pound and the average letter cost one old penny. The introductory section also includes lists of cabinet and non-cabinet misters in Her Majesty's Government.
The RIC Constabulary List & Directory proper begins with a seniority list of the RIC from its then Inspector General, Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain, down. From the rank of County Inspector down the RIC Constabulary List & Directory provides by date of appointment the name of officers, the date of appointment, whether or not they had been awarded good service pay and/or been awarded medals as well as any university or professional qualifications gained. This is followed by alphabetical lists of county and district inspectors together with the dates of their appointments from 3rd through to 1st class. Further lists for this group of RIC officers include the counties, stations and post towns in which they were currently posted, alphabetical lists of RIC Stations, promotions and transfers as well as biographical returns for the half year for officers who had received commendations and the reasons this commendations and citations were given.
The list for county and district inspectors is followed by lists for head constables and sergeants - the RIC Constabulary List & Directory does not include details on members of the RIC and Dublin Metropolitan Police below these ranks - which includes alphabetical lists together with RIC Service numbers and the stations and post towns to which these officers were attached. Part 1 of the RIC Constabulary List & Directory is concluded with the publication of promotions in the half year and a listing of all of the RIC Stations in the country together with the district the station served and the name of the Sergeants in Charge.
Part 2 of the RIC Constabulary List & Directory for January 1915 begins with an alphabetical list of resident magistrates, divisional and county clerks, county coroners, county court judges, chairmen of the various Quarter Sessions as well as the names of Clerks of the Peace, Part 3 treats on members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, the divisions of the force in the City Dublin with the names of the sergeant in charge of each station; this section is concluded with lists of officers in the pay of the Coast Guard Service and lists of Hut Stations and Protection Posts throughout Ireland. RIC Constabulary List & Directory for January 1915 is concluded with some seventy or so pages of advertisements, presumably aimed at the officers and men of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The majority of these advertisements are for watches and other time pieces, bicycles and jewellery.
The RIC Constabulary List & Directory for January 1915 is the complete list and guide to the Royal Irish Constabulary, Dublin Metropolitan Police and other civil authorities in Ireland for the half-year for which it was issued.
First published in Newry and printed by Alexander Wilson in 1819 and republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom is James Stuart's Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh. Containing some 669 printed pages, the full title of Stuart's work provides a clear insight into the scope and aims of Stuart's work: Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh for a Period of 1,373 Years Comprising a Considerable Portion of the General History of Ireland; A Refutation of the Opinions of Dr. Ledwich, Respecting the Non-Existence of St. Patrick; And an Appendix, on the Learning, Antiquities and Religion of the Irish Nation.
Born in Armagh in 1764, James Stuart was educated at the Royal School, Armagh, before attending Trinity College, Dublin, where he qualified B.A., and was called to the Irish Bar, but never practised. Stuart is best-remembered as a journalist and an historian and antiquary of the Newry-Armagh area, although he was also a published poet. As a journalist Stuart contributed to the Hibernian Magazine, was first editor of the Newry Telegraph (1812), editor of the Newry Magazine from 1815 to 1819 and after moving to Belfast after writing his Historical Memoirs of Armagh he became editor of the Belfast News Letter as well as founding and editing the Guardian and Constitutional Advocate (1827). Despite all of these achievements Stuart is still-remembered for his monumental Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh, which in many people's opinions remains unsurpassed
The first eighty pages of the Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh are given over to Stuart's skilful refutation of Dr. Ledwich's claims that St. Patrick never existed as an historical figure and in large part the Historical Memoirs put to rest once and for all Ledwich's claims. The remainder of the Historical Memoirs consist, in Stuart's words, of the following subjects and themes interwoven throughout the publication as a whole: the first, an historical account of Armagh, complete with statistical survey of the City; biographical sketches of various prelates of the See of Armagh from 445 to the Reformation; biographical accounts of Protestant Archbishops of Armagh and all of Ireland from the Reformation to 1818 with similar sketches of the Roman Catholic Archbishops for the same periods; a narrative of the history of Ireland where the Archbishops of Ireland were either directly or indirectly involved; an account of the foundation of the Presbyterian Congregations and other religious establishments together with biographical sketches of the Presbyterian Ministers of Armagh. This monumental publication is concluded with more than twenty appendices contained in almost one-hundred pages and the original work is fully-indexed.
Despite being almost two centuries old, James Stuart's Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh remains one of the most authoritative texts published for the City's history down to the date of its publication in 1819.
First published in 1905 in New York by Murphy and McCarthy and republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom is the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland. A monumental publication, the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland is divided into two distinct parts and as a whole contains more than seven hundred printed pages with many hundreds of maps, photographs and illustrations for all thirty-two counties of Ireland as well as a republication of A. M. Sullivan's Story of Ireland, continued past its original ending in 1867 through to 1900.
Part I of the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland has the wordy title: A Comprehensive Delineation of the Thirty-two Counties, with a Beautifully Colored Map of Each, arranged Alphabetically, showing over 11,000 Cities, Towns, Villages, and Places of Public Interest. Embracing over Two Hundred Illustrations of the Natural Scenery, Public Buildings, Abbeys, Round Towers and other Romantic Places, reproduced by Eminent Artists from Photographs especially taken for this Work.
Part I is written by the eminent Irish historian and antiquary Patrick Weston Joyce (1827-1914), whose most enduring work was his pioneering The Origin and History of Irish Names and Places. Part I begins with the with the coats of arms of most of the leading Irish families, their mottoes as well as coloured plates of their coats of arms. However, the majority of Part I is taken-up with the topographical atlas of Ireland. Arranged alphabetically by county, each county is introduced with a coloured map and is followed by an account of the origin of t he county's name, its size and population as well as descriptions of its main geographical features, such as rivers, mountains, coastline, etc. Also included are brief descriptions of the main towns and cities contained within each county. However, the dominant feature of Part I of the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland are the illustrations and the first part of the this publication contains some 200 black and white photographs of some of the best and most renowned areas of natural beauty in Ireland as well as many castles, houses and civic buildings that are perhaps not so well known.
Part I of the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland is divided from Part II by a comprehensive index of place names that occur throughout and by photographs of the all the incumbent Roman Catholic Bishops of Ireland at the time of the book's initial publication in 1900.
Part II of the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland is entitled The General History of Ireland as Told by A. M. Sullivan. This is in fact a republication of Alexander Martin Sullivan's (1830-1884) The Story of Ireland. An Irish politician, journalist and journalist, his intentions for writing and publishing The Story of Ireland were made manifest in his author's note to the first edition. In this he states that 'this little book is written for young people' 'who deserve more attention than has hitherto been paid them by our Irish book writers' and it was to them and 'the Irish nation of the future' that The Story of Ireland was dedicated. Sullivan does his 'little book' a disservice; packed with fascinating narrative accounts of the major political events in Irish history, from the the then earliest known periods of Irish history down to the failed Rising of 1867, Sullivan's style is both both personal and informative, which make for both an interesting and easy read. Containing eighty-eight chapters of narrative on such events as the arrival of the Danes, the Battle of Clontarf and the death of Brian Boru, the establishment of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland, the Rebellion of Silken Thomas, the Reformation, King James and King William in Ireland, the Battle of the Boyne, the Irish in Exile, 1798, the Union, the Rise of O'Connell, the Famine and 1867 are to name just a few. Sullivan's original publication is continued by P. D Numan to include the events of the Fenian Rising, the Home Rule Campaign, the Land War and the United Irish League. Included in Part II are are reproductions of a number of memorable portraits of the likes of John Mitchel, Daniel O'Connell, Robert Emmet and Wolfe Tone to name but the a few.
Taken as a single publication, Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland is a very desirable and collectable publication and is an excellent acquisition for the illustrations alone.
First published in London by Methuen in 1903 and republished here on full-searchable CD-Rom is the second edition of John Charles Cox's Surrey. Containing more than 200 printed pages, with many sketches and photographs by Edmund New, Surrey recalls the history and descriptions of what was still very much a rural county before the out break of WWI, from a historian who had spent much of his life fighting for the political rights of the rural labouring poor.
The Rev. Dr. John Charles Cox (ca. 1844-1919) was a renowned historian of English rural life and is now best-remembered as a topographer, antiquarian, local historian and publisher of church records. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Cox was editor of the Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist. In his seminal work, How to the Write the History of a Parish, published in 1905, Cox frequently emphasises the need to give the poor of the parish a voice and this need witnessed his prolific collection and publication of parish records, notably vestry minutes, where the poor of the parishes under his gaze often found a voice.
Published towards the end of his career, Cox's concerns over a rapidly changing and industrialising rural landscape and the negative impact these changes had on the rural labouring classes find their way into Surrey, which is essentially a topographical dictionary of the county. Cox believed that Surrey was probably the most beautiful of the home counties, with its still-exceptional ancient market towns, buildings, churches, manor-houses and cottages. However, he believed that outside of the county these superb attractions were little known and in order to make these more widely recognised and to provide means of access to their delights it was decided to publish Surrey in the mode of a 'gazetteer'.
Surrey begins with a general introduction providing statistical details on the county, its population, area and divisions, before embarking on descriptions of the county's flora and fauna, history, industries, antiquities and ecclesiology. The majority of Surrey is given over to an alphabetical descriptive dictionary of notable places in the county. Beginning with Abinger and ending with York Town and Camberley Cox's concerns over a rapidly changing landscape find voice in the pages of Surrey. Of Dulwich, he can still say that 'this is a beautiful urban hamlet'. Detailing the foundation of the famous college, an adjacent picture gallery and the creation of Dulwich Park in 1890 and only the mere hint of Dulwich's rapid growth and absorption into Greater London is given towards the the entry.
All-in-all Surrey is a most satisfactory publication. Replete with contemporary photographs and etchings of a county that has now changes out of all recognition, Cox's sympathetic descriptions of places and people and New's illustrations and photographs make this a highly recommended publication for the county.
Published in London and New York in 1928 by Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., and republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom is the third edition of the first series of John Roby's Traditions of Lancashire. Originally published in 1829, different versions of The Traditions of Lancashire were published in 1906, 1911, 1928 and 1930. This edition, marking the centenary since the Traditions was first published, contains the author's original preface as well as a lengthy biographical sketch of the author.
Born on Wigan in 1793, John Roby began his career as a banker in Rochdale, but by the early 1820s was consumed by his passion for collecting stories. This led to his publication of the first series of The Traditions of Lancashire, which proved to be extremely influential and a huge hut with the British upper classes. Due to the book's popularity it was quickly followed in 1831 with the publication of a second series of Traditions. The popularity and success of the publications led many at the time to question whether or not Roby could have been the real author of the works and some put forward Thomas Crofton Croker as the real authority.
Roby's efforts in The Traditions of Lancashire presaged later work in 'folkloristics' and commonly used the term oral tradition before this came into common academic usage. Calling himself a collector of oral traditions rather than a folklorist or antiquarian, Roby's The Traditions of Lancashire sides with the beliefs of the so-called 'Romaticists', which would lead his corpus of work to come under a large degree of criticism after his death. Roby's view of folklore as a whole was one of faulty utterances of lowly peasants. This led him to weave irreconcilable stories into a coherent whole and rewrite these stories in a more refined style that proved to be acceptable and popular with an upper class readership. Although folklorist continued to use and refer to The Traditions of Lancashire until the 1870s when new works on the legends of Lancashire superseded it. Folklorist, William Axon, writing in 1899, stated that although Roby was a diligent collector of local legends and oral traditions, his main object was purely literary, and for serious folklorists his works had to be approached with a huge amount of caution. Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that Roby's works contained important folklore material whether the author decided to call it this or not.
Containing some 586 printed pages Axon's views of Roby's work are somewhat borne out in The Traditions of Lancashire. With chapters such as Mab's Cross, The Grey Man and the Phantom voice clearly being literary representations of the oral traditions collected by Roby. Others, such as the Siege of Lathom being so clear in popular Lancashire memory and of such recent origin that these could hardly be given the credit of being oral traditions at all. Nevertheless, despite the later criticism afforded to The Traditions of Lancashire, Roby's works did and still have a huge popularity and for this reason alone this publication can be readily recommended.
First published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Bedfordshire. This publication contains 82 printed pages, of which 18 are a directory of Bedfordshire.
Advertised as a Commercial Directory, Pigot's National Commercial Directory provides the names, addresses and occupations of the merchants, bankers, professional gentlemen, manufacturers and traders for the principal towns, cities and villages on which it treats. The National Commercial Directory also acts as a gazetteer and topographical dictionary and for may readers this is the most useful aspect of a National Commercial Directory such as Pigot's.
Starting with a brief historical and topographical sketch of the county, Pigot's Directory then presents in alphabetical order the county Directory, which forms the vast bulk of this publication. Following the topographical description the National Commercial Directory provides details of Post Office and the names of nobility, gentry and clergy. This is followed of the trades section, consisting of Academies and schools, attorneys, bakers, blacksmiths, boot and shoemakers, bricklayers, butchers, coopers, corn dealers, dress makers and a dozen or more trades and professions. This is the minimum amount of detail one can expect in the National Commercial Directory while administrative capitals can expect at least a dozen pages.
This title is a DOWNLOAD title only. Consequently there is no postage charge. Just follow the LINK ON THE RECEIPT after you have completed payment to get the file. You will have 24 hours to download this item.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Berkshire. This publication contains 106 printed pages, of which 42 are a directory of Berkshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Buckinghamshire. This publication contains 94 printed pages, of which 30 are a directory of Buckinghamshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Cambridgeshire. This publication contains 98 printed pages, of which 34 are a directory of Cambridgeshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Cornwall. This publication contains 104 printed pages, of which 40 are a directory of Cornwall.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Devonshire. This publication contains 164 printed pages, of which 100 are a directory of Devonshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Dorsetshire. This publication contains 191 printed pages, of which 127 are a directory of Dorsetshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Gloucestershire. This publication contains 160 printed pages, of which 96 are a directory of Gloucestershire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Hampshire. This publication contains 147 printed pages, of which 83 are a directory of Hampshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Herefordshire. This publication contains 80 printed pages, of which 16 are a directory of Herefordshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Monmouthshire. This publication contains 78 printed pages, of which 14 are a directory of Monmouthshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Norfolk. This publication contains 145 printed pages, of which 81 are a directory of Norfolk.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Oxfordshire. This publication contains 96 printed pages, of which 32 are a directory of Oxfordshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Suffolk. This publication contains 115 printed pages, of which 51 are a directory of Suffolk.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Wiltshire. This publication contains 100 printed pages, of which 36 are a directory of Wiltshire.
As above, published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in South Wales. This publication contains 114 printed pages, of which 50 are a directory of South Wales.
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