STREET DIRECTORIES
History and content of street directories
History
Street directories for Ulster begin to appear in the early 19th century. They were published for trade and business purposes largely as a result of the growth in trade at home and with the wider world, hence the emphasis on the listing of manufacturers, traders and merchants. This is illustrated by the title of Thomas Bradshaw's 1820 Directory (the earliest of the directories to feature on this website) - "...General and Commercial Directory" - which includes a list of English, Scottish and Irish bankers. The work of compiling the directories was complex and time consuming. This was a consequence of, for example, people moving and changing addresses and the re-numbering and/or re-naming of streets in Belfast due to it's huge growth (Belfast was one of the fastest growing cities in Europe in the late 19th century). Often the information was out of date by the time the directory was published, although the publishers did make an effort to include additions and removals in the directory even if received at a late stage in the publication.
Content
Most directories have details for Belfast and for the principal towns and villages in Ulster.  |
Some (for example the 1831-2 Directory and Matier's 1835-6 Directory) feature only Belfast, but will also generally include a list of the gentry in the neighbourhood. These 'village directories' include a list of the principal inhabitants living on the outskirts of Belfast, for example in Dunmurry, Jordanstown and Newtownbreda, as well as an alphabetical listing referred to as "Country Residents". Occasionally the directory is only for some provincial towns, for example the 1840 New Commercial Directory of Armagh, Newry, Londonderry etc. |
Layout
Directories generally follow a similar layout (the database enables you to limit your search to particular sections of a directory): BelfastBelfast features at the start of each Belfast and Ulster directory with an historical description and statistics of the borough. This is followed by a very comprehensive listing of public boards and government offices, charitable and benevolent institutions, educational establishments, literary and scientific societies and religious missions, societies and churches. |
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Next is an alphabetical listing of the principal inhabitants, merchants, shopkeepers etc. and their addresses; a listing of same by street and a listing of persons by profession and trade. |
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Provincial section
The provincial section of the directories usually has a section giving a description of the county - trade, population, administrative divisions, and principal institutions and office holders. This is followed by the provincial towns section, with each town having an introduction giving a history and description of the town and listing the institutions and office holders. Institutions that feature regularly are churches, schools, courts, the constabulary, post offices, infirmaries and asylums, prisons and workhouses. For each town there is a list of the nobility and gentry, clergy, professional people, traders and merchants, along with their addresses. There is no street listing for the provincial towns and not everyone who lived in the town or village will be listed. |
Almost all the directories include advertisements for goods, services and commercial activities, either at the beginning or end of the directories and also throughout the volumes. Advertisements were one way of paying for the costs of producing the directories. |
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