Trade Directories
- Markfield Local History Group
- Jul 15, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 24, 2024
The earliest directories were established by entrepreneurial publishers in response to the expansion of trade, or evolved from the lists of traders kept by the earliest registry offices.
Large scale directories started to emerge in the late eighteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, methods of compilation had become more organised. In part, this reflected the growing links between directories and the Post Office. Many postal officials, such as Frederick Kelly, turned their hand to directory publishing as a means of both aiding their work and making some extra money.
The heyday of the trade directory was the early twentieth century, peaking in 1936, with around 320 directories. After the end of World War II (1945), trade directories faced growing competition from telephone directories, particularly for business and commercial use. By 1950, large scale production and use declined.
Some well-known directories over the years included:
James Pigot took up production of national directories in 1814, stimulated by the prospect of revived foreign trade. He published directories for groups of counties, including villages as well as towns, arranging the names by trade. His company continued until 1892, when it was taken over by Kelly's Directories Ltd.
William White had taken over several directories in the north in the 1820s. He extended his activities to other counties, attaching great importance to historical and scientific information. This firm was also taken over by Kelly's at the end of the 19th century.
Bennett's Business Directory also features in the early 1900s.
Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town. It was also a general directory of postal addresses of local gentry, landowners, charities, and other facilities. The originator was Frederic Festus Kelly, who in 1835 or 1836 had become chief inspector of letter-carriers for the post office. He began to produce provincial directories in 1845. It is probably the best known of all the directories.
Pages for Markfield from some selected directories and years are available below.
1846 Whites
1876 Kelly's
1901 Bennett's
1912, 1928, 1936 Kelly's
The University of Leicester holds a digital collection, containing 689 trade and local directories for England and Wales from the 1760s to the 1910s. There is at least one directory for every English and Welsh county.
Comments