The first edition of any directory detailing the tradespeople of Manchester was published as the Manchester Directory in 1772 by Mrs Elizabeth Raffald and second edition quickly followed in 1773. This CD-Rom republication of the Manchester Directory is taken from an 1889 republication of the original second edition of 1773. The 1889 edition is noteworthy in its own right as being number 4 of a limited edition of only 100 copies printed and includes as its preface a biographical sketch of Elizabeth Raffald.
Born at Doncaster, Elizabeth Raffald née Whitaker began life as a housekeeper whose last known position in 1763 was to the Honourable Elizabeth Warburton of Arley Hall, Cheshire. In the same year Elizabeth was married to John Raffald a gardener at Arley. Soon after her marriage Elizabeth established a confectioners shop at Market Place, Manchester. Elizabeth Raffald gained fame as an authoress, notably on works of cookery. The most famous issued from her shop at Market Place in 1769. Entitled The Experienced English Housekeeper, for the Use and Ease of Ladies, Housekeepers, Cooks &c., wrote purely from Practice went through thirteen editions. Elizabeth sold her copyright of the book after the second edition for the princely sum of £1,400.
Shortly after her 1769 Elizabeth Raffald published from the same address her first edition of the Manchester Directory the first of its kind for the City. Apart from these accomplishments, Elizabeth Raffald ran the King's Head in Salford, kept a 'ladies stand' at Kersal Moor during the strawberry season and during her eighteen years of marriage gave birth to sixteen children.
Of the Directory itself, it is prefaced with 'An Exact Account of the Streets, Lanes, Courts & Alleys' found in the City in 1773. There follows a fifty-four page alphabetical listing of the merchants and traders of the city, which in almost every instance provides and address and business. This is followed by a much shorter, but very useful 'Alphabetical List of the Country Tradesmen, with their Places of Abode and Warehouses, in Manchester'. The Manchester Directory for 1773 also contains a number of miscellaneous sections providing an account of the stage coaches and carries arriving and leaving Manchester as well as vessels plying their trade from the various quays in the City. Of these, the largest ship owner by far was noted as the Duke of Bridgewater, who operated no less than fifteen ships between Liverpool and Warrington.
As a genealogical aid and a piece of social history, the Manchester Directory, unique for its day, must remain a unique resource and is republished here on fully-searchable CD-Rom.
Five huge volumes comprising the earliest directory for Great Britain, and one which is probably the most important directory for genealogists and historians that we have released on CD. For towns and villages the descriptions of the places are excellent, with details of their facilities, etc, and includes those residents with trades (even those such as farmers, hay-binders, labourers, bakers, shop keepers, etc.) and their addresses.
Although titled "Great Britain", this directory covers places in England and Wales. Volume 1 of the five is devoted to London, volumes 2 to 4 cover the places in the England and Wales in alphabetical order, and vol. 5 contains a number of the subsequent amendments and additions published in the next few years.
"The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture, comprehending Lists of the Inhabitants of London, Westminster, and Borough of Southwark; and of all the Cities, Towns, and principal Villages, in England and Wales; with the Mails, and other Coaches, stage-wagons, Hoys, Packets, and Trading Vessels. To which is added, a genuine Account of the Drawbacks and Duties chargeable at the Custom-House on all Goods and Mechandize, imported, exported, or carried coastwise, with a particular of the Public Offices of every denomination; His Majesty's Court, and Ministers of State; The Peers of the Realm, and Parliament of Great Britain; The Court of Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, and Common-Council, of London; together with an Historical Detail of the Antiquities, Curiosities, Trade, Polity, and Manufacturers, of each City, Town, and Village. The whole comprising a Fund of useful and important Information, equally interesting to the Nobleman, the Gentleman, and Man of Business."
An unusual Pigot's classified trade directory, that covers 6 major manufacturing towns in England.
Note: this INCLUDES ref 0534 and 0536 above (Lancashire & Manchester 1855 Directories) plus county directories of Cheshire, Cumberland and Westmoreland, all of the advertisements and some absolutely beautiful county maps.
An absolute gem for those researching the northern counties of England.
This incredibly early directory was created by Shaw in 1766. As well as having a list of names and addresses of inhabitants, it also has a professional and street directory so you can easily locate ancestors and even see which street they were living in by using the pull out map. It lists who else lived in the street so you know who their neighbours were and how far apart they lived from other relatives. A fantastic little book, essential for those with Liverpool ancestors.
This book was kindly loaned to the Project by the Institute of Heraldic & Genealogical Studies.
A very early alphabetical list of the tradesmen, merchants and principal inhabitants of Liverpool. This doesn't mean it just lists the well to do folk, it has Cow Keepers, Weavers and a great variety of other trades people too. It also contains lots of local information that will you can use to build up an image of what life would have been like for your ancestors in Liverpool in 1796.
One of Manchester's very earliest directories, with a comprehensive alphabetical listing of tradesmen, merchants and manufacturers, lists of the country tradesmen (those visiting Manchester to sell wares), lists of Justices of the Peace, Attorneys, list of all streets, squares, etc., list of The Whitsters; an account of the stage coaches coming in and going out of Manchester, infirmaries, lunatic asylums, etc.
Add to that a street map, a description of Manchester with an historical account and a history of its manufacturing industries. Finally, extracts from a letter from Mr. Ike Halky (of Boston, Mass.) to his friend Mr. Hugh Bett of New York.
Another very early directory listing the merchants, trades people and principal inhabitants of the town in 1821. As the 1796 directory above, this has a great deal of information to put the meat on the bones of your family history research.
Although there were earlier local directories for Manchester, this is the very first county-wide directory for Lancashire. An extremely rare directory.
Includes the towns of: Ashton under Line, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Clitheroe, Colne, Garstang, Haslingden, Kirkham and Lytham, Lancaster, Liverpool (plus alphabetical listings of people with cross references to the trades directory), Manchester (plus alphabetical listings of people with cross references to the trades directory), Newton in the Willows, Oldham, Ormskirk, Poulton and Blackpool, Prescot and St. Helens, Preston, Rochdale, Ulverston, Warrington, Wigan. (Note that smaller villages are not included in this directory).
For an early county directory, this one is very comprehensive indeed. Not only a trade directory, but lots of really useful history information, and extensive descriptions of each town and village and their facilities. Thousands of names of people included. A real gem for historians and genealogists, and a "must" for those with Lancashire ancestors.
An excellent early directory of Lancashire, complete with its original map of 1828 that you can zoom in and in to the finest detail. Compared with other county directories by Pigot & Co. this one is very thick, and comprehensive.
An early directory containing descriptions of the larger towns and villages in the county. It contains the names and trades of residents, listing everyone from Bricklayers to Bankers. Set out in alphabetical order and fully searchable this is an easy way to find ancestors and to discover more about their lives.
One of the very rare directories specifically for one town. This Liverpool & District Directory is absolutely superb.
It is a thick and very comprehensive directory. The original book, loaned from the Family Records Centre in London, is in poor condition with some pages damaged and torn. It is in urgent need of repair and preservation, and funds from the sale of this CD are being donated to have that work done.
This very large early directory contains an alphabetical list of all trades people, their names, trades and addresses. Also has a description of each town and village in the county.
Places in this directory include;
Manchester & Salford, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge and Dukinfield, Oldham, Rochdale, Middleton, Stockport, Altrincham, Cheadle, Hyde, Eccles, Radcliffe, Prestich, Glossop, Mottram, Saddleworh and Todmorden.
From the above list it appears that the book covers parts of Cheshire and Derbyshire as well as Manchester and its environs.
It includes an alphabetical general directory of people with their occupations and addresses, a classified trades directory, lists of country manufacturers and merchants at the Exchange plus separate classified trades directories for the places named above.
This directory might prove very useful to those researching the 1851 census as it acts as an excellent partial index.
A particularly comprehensive and detailed directory for the period, with excellent descriptions and history of each place, and lists of its residents. (779 pages).
The book covers a large area of Lancashire, including Blackburn, Bolton-le-Moors, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Haslingden, Prescot, Preston, Wigan, and all surrounding villages and townships.
A superb and very comprehensive directory of Lancashire.
Please note that this includes Liverpool but NOT Manchester (see below).
The Manchester section of the Slater's Directory is very special indeed as it runs to nearly 950 pages with the names of people listed alphabetically, which makes your ancestors incredibly easy to find.
The original Directory consisted of several other counties, these being Cheshire, Cumberland, Lancashire (including Liverpool) and Westmoreland. In order to keep the cost of the CD's to a minimum we decided to release it by county and with Manchester as another section (that's how it is arranged in the actual book).
The whole directory, including the advertisements, can also be purchased on one CD, see below
Bound into three huge volumes, this is a fabulously comprehensive directory of the whole of the county including Liverpool and Manchester.
Each place in the county has a superb description of its history and facilties such as schools, churches, hospitals etc. plus directories of private residents and commercial tradespeople.
Liverpool, Manchester and Preston have superb street by street directories which will prove immensley useful, especially to those trying to find ancestors in censuses for which an address is almost essential.
Kindly loaned to the Project by The Family Record Centre (the PRO) in London.
An absolutely superb directory of the City of Liverpool and its suburbs. The information includes a huge alphabetical list of people with their addresses and occupations plus a wonderfully comprehensive street by street, house by house directory.
At the beginning of the street directory we find: ' When the numbers are omitted, it is owing either to the House being uninhabited, or to the intermission of Courts, Warehouses, Vacant Ground, or back Doors numbered'. So if your Liverpool ancestor is not in here, then when Mr Gore called for him, he was out!
This is without doubt one of the best directories from this period.
A huge directory which covers the whole of the county, including Manchester and Liverpool.
Contains the names and addresses of tradespeople and private residents in each place as well as lots of wonderful topographical and historical information about the local institutions such as the churches, schools and hospitals that our ancestors would have used.
Fully searchable in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
With nearly 750 pages this is an extremely comprehensive directory of Manchester and its suburbs. It contains a street by street list of people and their trades, plus an excellent alphabetical list of private residents in each place. This is an important resource for all family historians with links to the Manchester area as it could very well help to pinpoint an address for an ancestor. This information would then make searching the 1871 census that little bit easier.
This book was kindly lent to The Archive CD Books Project by The Family Records Centre (the PRO) in London
Lists every person in the county who owned 1 acre of land or more, with name, place, extent of land and its value.
Mannex & Co. Directory. Bacup, Burnley, Bury, Clitheroe, Colne, Haslingden, Heywood, Padiham, Pendleton, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, etc.
A superb and incredibly comprehesive directory of this famous Lancashire town.
At the beginning is an alphabetical index of streets which lists every road in the area, followed by a general directory of peoples names, occupations and addresses.
There then follows a superb street by street directory and an extremely comprehensive classified trades directory. An absolute must for those with Bolton ancestors
This book was kindly loaned to The Archive CD Books Project by The Family Record Centre (the PRO) in London.
The directory is excellently indexed making it easy to find relatives and details about their trade. The directory contains a street and suburb directory, which lists the head of every household living in that street, as well as alphabetical lists of residents and their trades. Typically of Kelly's Directories it also has an interesting description of the town in 1881.
This directory covers Lancaster, Morecambe, Carnforth, Milnthorpe, Kirkby Lonsdale, Bentham, Ingleton and adjacent villages and townships. Well indexed this directory gives historical descriptions of each place and alphabetically lists it's residents along with their trade and address. Incredibly useful for family historians
No date of publication is stated but the publisher's 'address' is dated 1882.
This is an excellent and very comprehensive history and directory and contains the following places;
Barrow-in-Furness, Furness Abbey, Dalton-in-Furness, Ulverston parish (Blawith, Church Coniston, Egton-with-Newland, Lowick, Osmotherley, Subberthwaite, Torver), Aldingham parish (Upper & Lower Aldingham, Gleeston & Leece), Pennington parish, Urswick parish (Much & Little Urswick, Adgarley-with-Stainton & Bardsea), Kirkby Ireleth parish (Low Quarter, Broughton, Dunnerdale-with-Seathwaite, Middle Quarter, Woodland and heatwaite), Hawkshead parish (Hawkshead, Claife, Monk Coniston, Satherthwaite), Coulton parish (East & West Colton, Haverthwaite, Finsthwaite and Rusland, Nibthwaite), Cartmel parish (Cartmel, Lower & Upper Allithwaite, East Broughton, Grange-over-Sands, Cartmel Fell, Lower & Upper Holker, Staveley).
A huge volume! This extremely comprehensive county directory is a tremendous reference source for historians and genealogists with Lancashire interests.
(Note that this book excludes Liverpool and Manchester).
The book, loaned to the Archive CD Books Project by the Family Records Centre in London, is in poor condition with some pages damaged and torn, and in urgent need of repair and restoration. Funds from the sale of this CD will enable that to happen.
This is a superb resource for those with Manchester ancestors. In addition to the normal type of directory sections of trades, etc, this one has a huge house by house, street by street listing of all households. Not just traders.... labourers, railway workers, you name it.
A more localised directory, for a period which is particularly hard to research. Very comprehensive, and with lots of detail.
A huge directory of the entire county, with the exception of Liverpool and Manchester which by this time had their own dedicated publications.
Some of the large towns have detailed street by street listings of virtually every head of household with a trade. There are also comprehensive directories of private residents and traders.
It should be remembered that a trade directory is not just a list of names. Each place has a detailed description of its history and public resources, such as churches, schools hospitals and local government, so by reading these we learn more about the places our ancestors lived in.
An enormous and incredibly detailed directory with nearly 2,300 pages.
The first section is a street by street directory. Each street is listed in alphabetical order with the names and addresses of virtually every head of household, this section alone has 721 pages
The next part contains an alphabetical list of the city's inhabitants, with their addresses and occupations. Opening the book at random we find people with jobs such as 'gardener' or 'engine driver' or 'railway fireman', so these are ordinary people, not just the rich and powerful. This alphabetical directory of people has nearly 1,000 pages.
The last part is an incredibly comprehensive classified trades directory with each occupation listed in alphabetical order and showing the names and address of people with those trades
A comprehensive classified directory of people with trades, listing names and addresses. A wonderful snapshot in time just before the First World War.
Includes:
Preston, Ashton on Ribble, Bamber Bridge, Deepdale, Farington, Fishwick, Frenchwood, Fulwood, Goosnargh, Grimsargh, Higher Walton, Longridge, Longton, Lostock Hall, Pentwortham, Ribbleton, Salmesbury, Walton le Dale, Whitestakes.
Barrow in Furness, Barrow Island, Hawcoats, Hindpool, Newbarns, Ormsgill, Peil Island, Rampside, Salthouse, Vickerstown, Walney Island.
Blackpool, Broughton in Furness, Carnforth, Coniston, Dalton in Furness, Fleetwood, Garstang, Grange over Sands, Kirkham, Lancaster, Leyland, Lytham, Morecambe, Poulton le Fylde, St. Anne's on the Sea, Ulverston, etc.
One of only two directories for Lancaster and District published by Bulmer's, this edition contains some 608 printed pages and is subtitled The History and Archaeology of the Town of Lancaster, with Separate Historical Descriptions of Each Parish and Township within a Radius of about Sixteen Miles.
Beginning with a history of the Lancaster from the Roman Invasion and continuing with a historical and topographical description of the town of Lancaster in 1912, the Directory then provides details on the towns civic, religious and municipal institutions and officers beginning with the Corporation of Lancaster its Council and Councillors and ending with a list of the carriers to and from Lancaster. The Directory then provides an alphabetical list of of the main residents and traders of the town followed by an alphabetical classification of trades and professions.
The majority of Bulmer's Lancaster Directory, some four hundred pages, treats on the parishes and townships within sixteen miles of the town, providing for each historical and topographical descriptions as well as listings of the chief residents, services, statistics, etc. The parish or township of Over Wyresdale, is treated upon in eighteen pages. Formerly part of the ancient forest of Lancaster it then existed in the Lancaster country court district and the union, petty sessional and electoral division of South Lonsdale. With a long association with the Molyneux family, the largest landowner for the parish was the Molyneux successor, the Earl of Sefton. Lengthy descriptions are provided for the notable edifices of Over Wyresdale, notably the Friend's Meeting House, Cawthorne's Endowed School, Abbeystead House, Lentworth Hall and Catshaw Farm, before a full-page biographical note on the Molyneux family is provided. The Directory then provides alphabetical notices of the principal residents and farmers of the villages within the parish, which included Aldcliffe, Cockersand Abbey, Ashton-with-Stodday, Bleasdale, Gressingham-with-Eskrigg, Heaton-with-Oxcliffe, Middleton, Myerscough, Overton, Preesall-with-Hackensall, Quernmore, Stalmine-with-Staynal, Thurnham and Over Wyresdale.
While the level of detail provided by Bulmer's Lancaster Directory on the parish of Over Clydesdale and its villages is the norm throughout, entries for some of the larger urban settlements such as Morecambe, Carnforth and Cartmel carry much greater detail and include trades and professions directories as well as the usual list of principal inhabitants. As Bulmer's Lancaster Directory is restricted to a relatively small geographical area the amount of detail provided on the places and people it does treat on is necessarily that much greater than a complete country directory.
As with all historical directories the uses for the local historian and genealogist alike are almost limitless and this is undoubtedly the case with Bulmer's History, Topography, and Directory of Lancaster & District, one of only a handful of directories that cover this part of Britain.
The last directory for the whole of the county, but excluding Liverpool and Manchester which had their own directories by this time.
Each place has its own description and directories of tradespeople and private residents, while the largest towns, such as Blackburn, have street by street directories. Also included are a county wide directory of private residents, a classified trades directory and an excellent county map.
This particular directory was purchased at auction by Archive CD Books (for a not inconsiderable sum) and will be donated to a Record Office who contacted us as they had been trying to find a copy for many years without success.
Now that Record Office will have a copy of the book plus a CD for their readers to use on a daily basis and family historians all over the world can own a copy on CD too.
That is what the Archive CD Books Project is all about, everybody gains something.
An incredibly detailed local directory which covers the whole borough of Southport including Ainsdale, Birkdale, Blowick, Churchtown, Crossens and Formby with street by street, alphabetical by name and classified trades directories.
The publishers' notes proudly claim to have 'visited every house, shop, works, office &c has been personally visited by our representatives and not a single name has been knowingly omitted'.
Hint for family history research: Look up every address where members of your family have ever been known to live, even in earlier periods - it is amazing how often someone in the family still lives there. Or..... look up members of your family in this 1929 directory, and then use the address to search in the earlier censuses. This directory will also fill in lots of useful background information about the places where your ancestors lived.
This book was purchased fron a bookdealer by The Archive CD Books Project and is in urgent need of rebinding. You can't tell from the picture, but the front cover has become completely detached. Funds from sales of the CD will be put toward the cost of the book's restoration
A huge directory with more than 2,300 pages covering Liverpool, Bootle, Birkenhead, Wallasey and environs.
There is an excellent street by street directory which gives the names of the heads of households and very often their occupation.. These are ordinary people, as well as the more well-heeled. Taking a random example, here are the a few listings for Canon Road;
1a. McConnell.Thos, caretaker; 1. Roberts Albt. Edwd, GPO servant; 3. Cummings Arth. Chas. Fredk. mechanic & Mrs Gladys Cummings, teacher of music; 5. Cranby Hy.,butcher; 7. Williams Fredk., tobacco cutter.
In fact, in the house numbers from 1a to 52 there are 6 men listed as 'labourer'.
Also included is an alphabetical directory,which makes searching for people very much easier, and a classified trades directory as well.
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