TheGenealogist adds directories from 1935-1940

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist Expands Historical Records with Major Directory Release

Leading family history website TheGenealogist has announced the release of 39 comprehensive directories spanning 1935-1940, covering over 6 million individuals and businesses. This significant addition provides family historians and researchers with access to information about individuals and companies in the run up and early days of World War II.

The newly digitised collection includes:

●    Over 6 million individuals and businesses
●    39 detailed directories covering various regions
●    Searchable information about residences and commercial establishments

"This release represents a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to providing comprehensive historical records to genealogists and family historians," says Mark Bayley, Head of Online Development at TheGenealogist. "These directories offer a unique glimpse into the lives of people and businesses operating during the outbreak of the Second World War, providing invaluable context for family researchers."

Users can access these new records through TheGenealogist's advanced search system, which allows for both broad and detailed searches across the entire collection.

In these records is Agatha Christie, Queen of Mystery - read her story here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2025/agatha-christie-7954/

The Directories covered in this release include the Edinburgh & Leith 1939-1940 Post Office Directory and the Ireland 1935 Thom’s Directory.

Also includes are the following editions from England (and one from Paris):

Bedfordshire, Huntingtonshire & Northamptonshire, 1940 Kelly’s Directory; Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 1935 Kelly’s Directory; Bristol & Suburbs, 1937 Kelly’s Directory; Buckinghamshire 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Cambridge 1937 Kelly’s Trade Directory; Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne Bay & C 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Croydon 1939 Ward’s Directory; Cumberland & Westmorland, 1938 Kelly’s Directory; Cumberland, Westmorland and North Lancashire, July 1940 Telephone Directory; Devon 1935 Kelly’s Directory; Devon and Cornwall 1935 Kelly’s Directory; Devonshire & Cornwall, 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Dorsetshire, 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Essex 1937 Kelly’s Directory; Essex, East Suffolk & East Herts 1939 Telephone Directory ; Gloucestershire 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, 1940 Directory and Almanack; Hampshire & The Isle of Wight, 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Hants & Isle of Wight 1935 Kelly’s Directory; Huntingdonshire 1940 Kelly’s Directory; Lincolnshire 1937 Kelly’s Directory; Liverpool & South West Lancashire, December 1939 Classified Telephone Directory, ; London 1936 Kelly’s Post Office Commericial Directory; London 1937 Post Office Directory; London 1938 Post Office Directory; Paris 1935 Directory; Rutland, 1936 Kelly’s Directory; Somerset 1935 Kelly’s Directory; Somerset 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth Districts March 1940 Telephone Directory; Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, 1940 Kelly’s Directory of ; Sunderland, Newcastle and Gateshead 1937 Ward’s Directory; Watford 1937 Kelly’s Directory; Wembley, Alperton, Sudbury and Kingsbury, 1937 Kelly’s Directory; Weston Super Mare Directory 1935; Wiltshire 1939 Kelly’s Directory; Worcester 1937 Kelly’s Directory. 

(With thanks to Paul Bayley)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry adds Portadown street directories

Just added to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

Portadown, Northern Ireland, Street Directory, 1910 and 1959
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63132/
Source: Portadown, Northern Ireland: Compiled by Jim Lyttle. https://portadownphotos.co.uk/index.htm Accessed: July 2024

About Portadown, Northern Ireland, Street Directory, 1910 and 1959

The records in this collection are a part of a street directory from Portadown, Northern Ireland for the years 1910 and 1959. Most records are in English.

Using this collection

Records in the collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Occupation
• Residence
• Names of local businesses

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

TheGenealogist adds 1930s trade directories for England and the Channel Islands

I normally don't run English-only themed stories on this blog (not its remit!), but this could be a useful census substitute for those with familes who moved south and were there after the 1921 census.

TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk) has added the following searchable directories for the following areas in England from the 1930s and the Channel Islands (bear in mind that unlike Scotland, England's 1931 census has not survived):  

●    Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, 1931
●    Kelly's Directory of Bournemouth, Poole, Parkstone, Christchurch &c., 1932
●    Kelly's Directory of Brighton and Hove, 1932
●    Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire, 1933
●    Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, 1932
●    Kelly's Directory of Devonshire and Cornwall, 1930
●    Kelly's Directory of Dorsetshire, 1931
●    Kelly's Directory of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 1931
●    Kelly's Directory of Hertfordshire, 1933
●    Kelly's Directory of Ipswich and Neighbourhood, 1930
●    Kelly's Directory of Kent, 1930
●    Kelly's Directory of Kent, 1934
●    Kelly's Directory of Kilburn Willesden, 1933
●    Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire & Rutland, 1932
●    Kelly's Directory of Norfolk and Suffolk, 1933
●    Kelly's Directory of Putney & Roehampton, 1930
●    Kelly's Directory of Somersetshire, Gloucestershire & the City of Bristol, 1931
●    Kelly's Directory of Suffolk, 1933
●    Kelly's Directory of Sussex, Chichester, Selsey and Neighbourhood, 1934
●    Kelly's Directory of the Channel Islands, 1931
●    Kelly's Directory of Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford-On-Avon and Kenilworth, 1932
●    Kelly's Directory of Warwickshire, 1932
●    Kelly's Directory of Westmorland, 1934

The directories are searchable in the site's Residential and Trade Directories Collection

(With thanks to Paul at TheGenealogist)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

FindmyPast adds British India directory images

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added further images to its British In India, Directories 1792-1959 collection.

For further details visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/india-directories-school-admission-registers.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Further additions to TheGenealogist's Residential and Trade Directories Collection

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

Over 10 million individuals added to TheGenealogist's Residential and Trade Directories Collection

The latest release from TheGenealogist contains over 10 million new individuals recorded in directories from the first two decades of the 20th Century. This virtual bookshelf stacked with volumes from the early 1900s to 1929 includes publications from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland.

These directories are filled with listings of people, their addresses and details of the places they lived in. Other directories list businesses and offer a fascinating glimpse into ancestors from this time.

You can use these records to discover the street address of your great-grandfather or their shop/business, perhaps learn where your great-grandmother practised her dressmaking trade from, or find the names of your ancestors' neighbours in the street listings. These directories will also reveal any listings of official positions that they may have held in charities, societies, local administration, etc., or even unearth your ancestor's telephone number!

With some books you can read topographical details about the village, town or city in which your ancestor lived. This will give you a better feel for what their area was like at the time that your forebears lived there. 

Read TheGenealogist’s article, "More than just an address" at https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/more-than-just-an-address-7346/

Comment: Whilst the majority of new records are for England, there are some additions for Scotland and Ireland included, as follows:

Scotland
Post Office Directory of Glasgow 1908-1909
Glasgow Post Office Directory 1917-1918
Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1917 - 1918
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1919-1920

Ireland
Dublin Post Office Directory 1921

Northern Ireland
Belfast & Ulster Directory 1926 

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

FindmyPast adds Irish 18th century religious censuses, and enhances Belfast and Ulster directories collection

FindmyPast has added the following 18th century Irish religious censuses, as sourced from transcriptions by Tenison Groves held at PRONI , as well as an update to its Belfast directories collection:

Ireland, 1766 Religious Census

This week's biggest new set consists of 20,505 transcriptions from the 1766 Religious Census. Although the original documents were lost when Ireland's Public Records Office was destroyed in 1922, these extensive transcripts were recorded by antiquarian and genealogist Tenison Groves prior to the fire.

From these records, you may be able to learn the name of the head of the household, the year, their religion, the parish and the county. The information recorded varies widely, because different enumerators recorded different details.

NB: Note that the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland platform provides free access to a substantially greater version of this 1766 census at https://virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams/1766-religious-census

 
Ireland, Census of Protestant Householders 1740

Secondly, we've also added transcriptions of a census that was taken of Protestant householders in 1740. The 15,957 records within this new set are from parishes in the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Down and Tyrone.

Also created by Tenison Groves, these transcriptions contain details like a name, year, barony, parish and county.


Ireland, 1775 Dissenters' Petitions

This week's third and final new set is a collection of historic petition records. It contains approximately 4,000 names, of people who protested the Church of Ireland's sacramental tests in 1775. The petitions consist of dissenters' names categorized by parish, congregation, town, neighbourhood, or, in one case, barony.

Occasionally, members of the Established Church also signed the petitions. The lists typically specify whether signatories were dissenters or Established Church members. In cases where no denomination is indicated, the list contained names of both dissenters and Established Church members without differentiation.

While available for all Northern Ireland counties except Fermanagh, these records are most extensive for areas in Counties Antrim and Down.


Belfast & Ulster Directories

In addition to the three brand new Irish record sets, we've also made a significant update to an existing Irish collection. We added 951,127 Belfast and Ulster directory records, with both transcriptions and original images available for you to explore.

These new additions span 1831 to 1900, and contain over 900,000 names. With almost 70 years of history covered, they offer a detailed glimpse into what the North of Ireland was like in the 19th century.

Comment: There's no source cited for the additional directory records, but the year range suggests that these too may be from PRONI.  

For further details visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/protestant-householders-dissenters-petitions

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry adds third party index for PRONI's Northern Ireland, Street Directories, 1819-1900

As part of its agreement with PRONI (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) to celebrate the archive's centenary, Ancestry has released another third party PRONI index to its collection:

Northern Ireland, Street Directories, 1819-1900
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62710/
Source: Street Directories. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

About the Northern Ireland, Street Directories, 1819-1900

Here you can access over eighty years of street directories in Northern Ireland. While directories were typically maintained for larger cities such as Belfast and Londonderry, this collection also covers towns and even villages in greater Ulster. Some directories are organised alphabetically by resident's surname, while others are organised by street or occupation.

In addition to residential addresses, the directories provide information on local institutions such as banks, schools, churches, and town councils. You may also find histories and descriptions of local societies, businesses, and charitable organisations, which can paint a picture of the community your ancestor lived in.

Using this collection

You may find the following information about your ancestor in this collection:

• Given name and surname
• Occupation
• Address

There are numerous ways street directories can be helpful to family history. Knowing your ancestor's address can help you accurately identify them in vital records, court records, and newspapers. Individuals living at the same address may lead to previously undiscovered relatives. In addition, an ancestor's approximate death year can sometimes be determined through their presence and absence in directories. Street directories also provide lists of local institutions, which can point you to a church or school your ancestor may have attended.

Further details via the link.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Buchanan Society members, Irish memorials, and Jewish directory added to FindmyPast

Added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week:

Scotland, Buchanan Society members 1725-1948
This collection is made up of 1,053 records, documenting members of Scotland's Buchanan Society between 1725 and 1948.

Ireland Memorial Inscriptions
In this new-and-improved set, you'll find 682 images and transcriptions spanning over 300 years, from 1711 to 2019.

Britain, Jewish Commercial Directory 1894
This new set contains 4,171 records from 1894, with both transcriptions and images available. This one-off commercial directory lists the names of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish businessmen in alphabetical order. In addition to each person's occupation, you'll find a residence listed.

For further details visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/commercial-directory-buchanan-society-records 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Scottish and Irish directories included in new TheGenealogist release

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

Look up your ancestors in these newly released Historical Directories

Over 5 million individuals have been added to TheGenealogist’s Residential and Trade Directories Collection, helping you discover your ancestors, their addresses, and their occupations back to 1744.

The new records cover England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands, along with some from as far afield as America, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa, thus adding an international flavour to this release.

Dating from 1744 to 1899, the directories in this addition to TheGenealogist are a useful finding aid for ancestors' names, addresses, and occupations and can offer contemporary details of where your past family had lived.

If a forebear had a business, then the commercial listings in the directory could help find where an ancestor may have worked.

Early Directories can also be useful for finding the addresses of residents before the census, reveal the railways that may have served the area and to find other communications links to nearby towns. With this information, those who may have ‘lost’ an ancestor may make an educated guess of where a person may have moved to live in the past.

These directory publications can also be a great complement to a census record, as the topographical information can flesh out an ancestor’s area for the researcher.

In the case of a head of the household, we may be able to find an address different from that recorded in other records such as the decennial census. This may help fill in the gaps of where a stray ancestor moved to between the census counts.

Complete Access for Under £10 a Month!

To celebrate this latest release, TheGenealogist is offering its four-month Diamond package for just £39.95 – that’s less than £10 a month! To find out more and claim the offer, visit: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBDIR124

This offer expires at the end of 9th February 2024.


Read TheGenealogist’s article: An important resource in tracing ancestors and the man behind the popular Kelly's Directories, available at https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2012/an-introduction-to-directories-43/

Comment: Thanks to Nick Thorne for the above, and also for specifiying the exact Scottish and Irish additions to this collection, which are as follows:

• The Dublin Almanac and General Register of Ireland, 1840
• Thom’s Irish Almanac and Official Directory, 1855
• Thom’s Irish Almanac & Directory, 1863
• Ireland, Thom’s Irish Almanac & Directory 1864

• Jones’s Directory, Glasgow, 1789
• The Aberdeen Bon-Accord Directory 1841-1842
• Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1850 - 1851
• Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1860-1861

• The Royal Kalendar for England, Scotland, Ireland and America, 1803
• The Treble Almanack, 1812
• The Royal Kalendar and Court and City Register for England, Scotland, Ireland and the Colonies 1828
• Thom’s Irish Almac and Official Directory of Great Britain and Ireland 1867 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry adds Asia, Directories and Chronicles Relating to Government Agencies and Foreign Nationals, 1917-1941

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added an interesting collection from records digitised at the National Library of Scotland, which may be of help if your ancestors moved to an Asian country in the mid-20th century:

Asia, Directories and Chronicles Relating to Government Agencies and Foreign Nationals, 1917-1941
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62492/
Source: Asian Directories and Chronicles. Edinburgh, Scotland: National Library of Scotland, 2019 https://doi.org/10.34812/thgt-1y03.

About Asia, Directories and Chronicles Relating to Government Agencies and Foreign Nationals, 1917-1941

General collection information

This collection includes digital images of the Directories and Chronicles Relating to Government Agencies and Foreign Nationals. The books were published annually by the Hong Kong Daily Press between 1863 and 1941, but this collection only has editions published between 1917 and 1941. They were usually published in English, but some of the records may be in French.

The directory section includes the addresses of corporations, institutions, and consulates. Most notably for family research, the directories also have alphabetised lists of the names of all foreign residents living in the Asian countries covered in each book along with their occupations, employers, and addresses. The chronicle section includes articles about important changes in politics, government, and economics during the previous year. They also include information about public holidays, festivals, and traditions of Asian countries.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Occupation
• Employment country
• Employment city

The information in these records can be used to verify that your ancestor lived and worked in an Asian country during a specific year. The directories were published annually, which may provide the opportunity to trace your ancestor's place of residence and occupation over several years.

Collection in context

The directories were published by the Hong Kong Daily Press. The original documents are housed at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The purpose of these publications was to provide an informational resource for Western governments and foreign nationals living in Asia. The first edition of the directory in 1863 was focused on China, Japan, and the Philippines, but other Asian countries were added over time, including Borneo, Indo-China (modern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), Korea, Straits Settlements, Malaya, Siam (modern Thailand), and Netherlands India. Each year, the directories and chronicles expanded their scope as the foreign population of Asian countries became more diverse. The books were published under a variety of titles that changed slightly to reflect the changes in their geographical and informational focuses. The first directory was a small booklet. By 1937, it had grown to more than 2,000 pages.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ancestry adds NLS Scottish Post Office Directories collection

Ancestry has added a new searchable version of the National Library of Scotland's Post Office Directories collection, or at least, some of it. From the site:

Scotland, Postal Directories, 1825-1910
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62491/
Source: Scottish Post Office Directories https://digital.nls.uk/91047488. Edinburgh, Scotland: National Library of Scotland.

General collection information

This collection contains postal directories from Scotland between the years 1825 and 1910. Many types of directories are available, including:

• Street directories
• Trade directories
• County directories
• Outlying district directories

Directories are most often organised alphabetically, although some may be organised by street name and house number. All records are typed in English.

Using this collection

Records in the collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Occupation
• Street Address
• Town
• Year

Records in the collection may also occasionally include the following:

• Employer Name
• Employer Address
• Occupation Title
• Names of Coworkers

Comment: This collection is also available for free at the NLS website, at https://digital.nls.uk/directories/, with more volumes available here covering publications from 1774-1911, about 700 in total. However, the volumes were originally digitised in partnership with the Internet Archive, with the exercise going well beyond 1911, and thus at the Internet Archive NLS site at https://archive.org/details/scottishdirectories you will find over 1000 volumes going up to the 1940s for many Scottish cities. 

It is regrettable that Ancestry has stopped at 1910 for now, but a third party index is certainly very useful for the volumes presented here, as searching on the NLS can be a little awkward. I actually find it easier to browse through directories, rather than rely on keyword searches, and Ancestry does also provide this as an option.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scottish Post Office Directories on the NLS

I had a wee chat with the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) earlier about Scottish Post Office Directories, to ask if directories from 1912-1921 could be added to the main NLS site at https://digital.nls.uk/directories/, with the original 1911 cut-off being in place to respect the 100 years closure period being observed for the 1911 census - click on the image to read the response!

What a lovely National Library we have! Suffice to say I'll blog an update if and when there is further movement on this. 

In the meantime, the post-1911 Scottish directories are available on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/scottishdirectories

UPDATE: Received Inis Byrne, Digital Transition Manager, at the NLS:

Dear Chris,

Many thanks for your enquiry, and for your interest in our digitised Post Office Directories.

You are right, we have digitised many more directories than are currently available on our website. In fact, this reaches beyond 1921 right into the early 1950s in line with the 70-year copyright rule which applies to these publications. However, the way the volumes dated up to 1911 have been made available online was a very complex one and in order for us to be able to integrate the new digitisations a lot of extra work is required which we are still to complete. Once this work is finished, the additional volumes will be available through our website, alongside a set of digitised trade directories.

Many good wishes,

Ines

(With thanks to the NLS, and to Inis)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

New Kilkenny records join RootsIreland

From RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.ie):

New Kilkenny Records added

We are delighted to announce the uploading of 9,504 new Kilkenny records to our database at Roots Ireland. They are as follows:

    Thomastown RC baptisms, 1900-1910   567 records
    Slaters Directory, 1856   982 records
    Bassettâs Directory, 1884   7955 records

The Slater's and Bassett's directories contain the names of county and public officials, clergy, professional and business people, tradesmen and craftworkers.

For an up to date list of sources for Kilkenny and to search these records, go to kilkenny.rootsireland.ie and login or subscribe as required. 

(With thanks to RootsIreland via email)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

 

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast adds Asia, Far East Directories & Chronicles 1833-1941

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added a series of directories this week which may be of interest if your ancestors lived in Asia and the Far East. From the site:

Asia, Far East Directories & Chronicles 1833-1941

If you have ancestors with roots in the Far East, this collection may just detail where they were and when. Within its pages are records that span through China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, The Philippines, Indo-China, Malaysia, Siam, Borneo and The Dutch East Indies. This resource explores the narrative of late-colonialism, documenting Western workers, migrants, corporations and agencies, residing in the Far East temporarily or otherwise.

This collection is as broad by nationality as it is by location - rather than focusing specifically on British residents and workers, its pages hold a much higher number of Americans, Canadians, Australians and other Westerners. The records were compiled annually from multiple sources, including government agencies and Western companies, so will be likely to contain your ancestors' name, occupation and employer, as well as the odd note detailing treaties, conflicts, changes of jurisdiction, and other public affairs. 

For details of the relevant link, and other releases this week, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/far-east-directories

COMMENT: Note that another great directories resource for China in particular can be found from the University of Bristol's China Families website at www.chinafamilies.net/directories/. The main project itself at www.chinafamilies.net has many other wonderful historic resources for the region!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free access to USA city directories from 2-7 December on MyHeritage

From MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com), news about a resource that might help with your emigrant ancestors if they ended up in the United States:

People across the United States celebrated Thanksgiving last week, taking the opportunity to reflect on all they are thankful for as well as the meaning of American heritage. To help our users learn more about their ancestors in the United States, we’re offering free access to our very special U.S. City Directories collection this week, December 2–7, 2021!

This collection contains records from 26,000 public U.S. city directories published between 1860 and 1960. City directories are publications that were distributed by many cities in the United States to help residents find local individuals and businesses, and they typically list names (and names of spouses), addresses, occupations, and workplaces. These records constitute a rich source of information for anyone seeking to learn more about their family in the United States in the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. They can serve as an important alternative to census records where those records are not available — for example, most of the records from the 1890 census, which were destroyed in a fire in 1921. 

For further details visit https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/12/limited-time-offer-free-access-to-u-s-city-directories/. 

To search the directories, visit https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10705/us-city-directories.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

What is Ancestry's largest 'British' records collection?

Just what is the largest 'British' records collection on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk)?

In terms of records specifically drawn from across the UK, it may surprise you to know that the largest collection holds 278,407,890 records, including some records from the Republic of Ireland prior to Partition in 1921 - but it may not be a collection that you have often considered.

So here it is, and the relevant blurb from the site!

British Phone Books, 1880-1984
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1025/
Source: British phone books 1880-1984 from the collection held by BT Archives. Images reproduced by courtesy of BT Archives, London, England.

About British Phone Books, 1880-1984

This collection contains British phone books published between 1880, the year after the public telephone service was introduced to the UK, and 1984, from the historic phone book collection held by BT Archives. The database currently contains 1780 phone books and provides near full county coverage for England as well as containing substantial records for Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

About Phone Books:

The largest section of the phone book, and generally the most significant for family historians, is the alphabetical listings or directory. The alphabetical listings typically contain the following details:

    Surname of person (usually the head of household) or name of business
    Address
    Exchange (up to 1968)
    Telephone Number

Phone books also contain an introduction of useful local and operational information. Located at the front of the book these pages may contain lists of abbreviations used, contact information for important government agencies, instructions on how to make long distance calls, explanations of the exchanges and their coverage, or other necessary information in order to use the phone book and telephone equipment. The introduction is not searchable and can only be seen by using the browse function.

Advertisements for local businesses occasionally appear at the tops and bottoms of the alphabetical listings pages, as well as on full separate pages designated as such. Advertisements cannot be searched independently but can be seen by selecting the image of the phone book following searching for a name in close alphabetical proximity or by using the browse function.

Why use Phone Books?

Phone books are very useful for pinpointing individuals in a particular place and time. While censuses were only conducted once every ten years, phone books were published around every one to two years, creating in essence, an almost year by year record of individuals' geographic locations and movements. This makes it possible to locate many individuals in between census years and especially to find family members during years in which censuses are not currently available to the public. For reference, the latest viewable UK census is 1901, and will remain so until early 2012 when the 1911 census can be released.

Phone books are also very telling of an individual's economic and social status since telephone ownership is a prerequisite to an individual's inclusion within this collection. Early subscribers to the telephone service were typically large businesses or the well-to-do. Telephone ownership gradually increased, reflected by a corresponding growth in the size and number of phone books, and from the second quarter of the twentieth century became more commonly adopted by domestic subscribers.

While the alphabetical listings in the phone book will likely be of most interest to researchers, if your ancestor owned a business the advertisement section might also be of interest. There you may learn the location of and type of goods and services sold or offered by the business. This may lead you to additional research in occupational records.

BT actively supports the preservation of Britain's communications heritage. BT has published its commitment in its Heritage Policy (see www.bt.com/archives) and its Connected Earth initiative enables the exploration of communications past, present and future both online (at www.connected-earth.com) and via a network of partner museums around the UK. 

 

COMMENT: The phone books are perhaps as important a collection as trade directories for research in terms of filling in the gaps between censuses and going beyond them, but they can be seriously hard work to use. The Ancestry search page advises "Please note that in order to search these records you are required to provide a name and country/county." - you can probably add "and say a prayer" to that requirement!

Personally speaking, I rarely bother searching by name using the database, unless it is a very rare surname, as there are often far too many responses. The best bet is to try to navigate the records using the Browse This Collection section to the right of the page, where you can narrow by year range, year, and then individually browse through the titles of individual directories. Coverage varies across the UK, but Scotland and Ireland (Scotland 1896 and Dublin 1880 are the earliest) are well represented, along with England and Wales - especially London.

Well worth a look!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

TheGenealogist adds County Carlow Roman Catholic records

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist expands its Irish coverage

TheGenealogist expands its Irish coverage TheGenealogist has just added more than 327,300 individuals to their Irish Catholic Parish Record Collection, along with a suite of Thom’s Official Directories covering Great Britain and Ireland.

These new Catholic Parish Registers have links to the original images. They cover the County of Carlow in the southeast region of Ireland.

Before civil registration was introduced in two stages into Ireland, first in 1845 for non Roman Catholic marriages and then in 1864 for all births, marriages and deaths, the parish registers of the various denominations were the main records in which Irish ancestors' vital events would have been recorded. The Roman Catholic church was far the largest denomination in Ireland and so it is these records that the majority of Irish forebears will mostly appear within.

Also released at this time are Thom's Official Directories covering the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from Victorian times up to the 20th century. These records are great for discovering more about the towns and areas, finding the names of people who held official municipal or government offices, or were professionals such as doctors, clergy, etc.

You can use these books to find Irish businesses from manufacturers of Ales and Agricultural implements to makers of Woolens and Yarns. Thom’s directories allow you to find business advertisements as well as search for tradespeople from Auctioneers and Blacksmiths to Watchmakers and Wine & Spirit Dealers for all parts of Ireland.

The directories released in this package include:

● Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1859
● Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1898
● Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1913
● These expand the Irish directories already in our collection

This release of Irish records joins those of the Irish Wills, recently made available on TheGenealogist, and so expands the coverage of Irish records on this family history site renowned for its comprehensive search facilities.

Read their article, Alexander Thom – Publisher and The Queen’s Printer for Ireland: www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2021/alexander-thom--publisher-and-the-queens-printer-for-ireland-1426/ 

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

The Genealogist adds Who's Who editions

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

New Who’s Who records added to the occupational records on TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has released New Who’s Who records into its expanding Occupational Records adding nearly a hundred thousand additional individuals. This release includes records covering individuals from all over England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, USA, New Zealand and further afield.

The records can be used to discover more about an ancestor’s achievements and are fantastic for identifying where next to apply your research. Who’s Who records will confirm birth dates and sometimes the place of birth. Often they give a father’s name and occupation and a great deal more useful information that may help to build a better family history.

Use these records to:

● Add details to the lives of your ancestors
● Discover their accomplishments
● Fill in gaps in the information that you already have on an ancestor
● Find other records and places to search for forebears.

These records will often allow us to recount a much more rounded picture of the life of a person and so enrich the telling of their story.

This latest release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Occupational records collection that includes actors, apprentices, clergy, crew lists, directors, flight, freemen, law, railway, sports, teachers and biographies as well as a number of other Who’s Who books.

You can read TheGenealogist’s article: Who, What, Where, When? - Discovering Who's Who at: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2021/who-what-where-when---discovering-whos-who-1371/

The records included in this release are:

Who's Who in 1880
Who's Who 1899
Who's Who in Canada 1927
Cheshire Who's Who, 1910
Cox's County Who's Who Series. Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, 1912
Cricket Who's Who, The Cricket Blue Book 1911
Who's Who in Hampshire 1935
Who's Who and Industrial Directory of the Irish Free State 1935
Who's Who in Kent, Surrey and Sussex 1911
Who's Who in Literature 1931
Masonic Who's Who 1926
The Methodist Who's Who 1913
Who's Who in New Zealand 1925
Who's Who and Record Quarterly 1934 July-September
Who's Who in Science 1914
Who was Who 1916-1928

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris 

Pre-order my next book, Sharing Your Family History Online, at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast adds Belfast and Ulster street directories

As mentioned on this blog a couple of weeks back (http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/12/pronis-decembers-stakeholder-forum.html), FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has digitised street directories held by the North of Ireland Family History Society (www.nifhs.org), which have now gone online:

Ireland, Belfast & Ulster Directories
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/ireland-belfast-and-ulster-directories

Only available online at Findmypast, explore a pivotal era in Northern Ireland’s history with these brand new directories. Year-by-year, they can help you discover names, addresses and occupations from Belfast and beyond.

Covering 1890-1947, these directories chart the transformation of Northern Ireland and the province of Ulster as the Irish Free State was formed. They were published by the Belfast Newsletter to showcase the city's industrial excellence. 

For further releases on FMP this week visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/eastbourne-nottinghamshire-belfast

COMMENT: Two other sources offer an extensive range of additonal directories - PRONI at www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/search-archives-online/street-directories and the Lennon Wylie site at www.lennonwylie.co.uk. Between them all that should be enough to kep you going a while longer!  

Chris

Pre-order my next book, Sharing Your Family History Online, at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Various Australian records added to TheGenealogist

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

New records help find your Australian cousins

TheGenealogist has added to its Australian records a set of new resources which can be used to find ancestors who lived in this country in the past. These name rich resources are sourced from a diverse range of historical books and directories which can be useful for finding out information such as where ancestors lived and what their occupation was.

Use these records to:

• Add details to the lives of your Australian ancestors
• Locate ancestors homes and business addresses in street directories
• Discover lists of Doctors, Chemists, Dentists, Lawyers and Teachers
• Find Municipality officials, Magistrates, Clergy, Secretaries of Clubs and Societies
• Search for Australian Military personnel (Army & Navy)
• See advertisements for traders, hoteliers and ship owners, etc.

This latest release expands TheGenealogist’s International records collection and includes the following useful resources:

• South Australian Directories 1882-3, 1904, 1910, 1920 and 1936; 
• Australasian Handbook 1906; 
• The Victorian Municipal Directory and Gazetteer 1886; 
• Horse Cattle and Sheep Brands Directory for South Australia 1879; 
• Our Early Possessions & Pioneers of Settlement South Australia; 
• Return of the Names of Official Chaplains (Self Governing Dominions); 
• Johns’s Notable Australians and Who is Who in Australasia 1908; 
• Walch’s Tasmanian Almanac 1889; 
• Red Cross and Order of St John Australian Branch Enquiry List August 1 1917 Wounded and Missing; 
• New South Wales Army and Navy Lists 1898; 
• Commonwealth of Australia Navy Lists April 1919, January 1921, July 1922, October 1919 & October 1922.

You can also read TheGenealogist’s article, ‘Learning more about our Australian cousins and their lives down under’:
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2020/australian-records-online-to-find-your-ancestors-1284/

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts August 31st - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.