About the Historical Directories of England and Wales
The Historical Directories of England and Wales collection contains 689 directories, with at least one directory for every English and Welsh county for the 1850s, 1890s and 1910s. Searchable by name, place and occupation they are an essential tool for local, urban and family history. You can find Kelly's and Pigot's directories here, as well as those by regional publishers.
The collection provides access to scanned images and full-text of the trade directories. These are large items, so please be patient if free text searching the whole collection.
How to search
Finding the information you need from the directories can take a few attempts. We have created the below video tutorial to help you get the most out of the resource.