Companion Guide to the Street Directories Application

Street directories in context

Street directories are printed volumes listing names of individuals and/or businesses, which begin to appear in Ulster in the early 19th century. They were published in response to the growth in trade and business at home and internationally, and had an emphasis on listing locsl manufacturers, traders and merchants. 

The work of compiling the directories was complex and time consuming due to regular changes of address and the re-numbering/re-naming of streets in Belfast, which was one of the fastest growing cities in Europe in the late 19th Century. The information was often out of date by the time the directory was published, though efforts were made to include additions and removals in the directory even if received right before publishing.

Contents and layout

Most directories have details for Belfast and for the principal towns and villages in Ulster.  Some only feature Belfast but will also generally include 'village directories' that list the gentry living on the outskirts of Belfast e.g. in Dunmurry, Jordanstown or Newtownbreda. These directories will also typically have an alphabetical listing of 'Country Residents'. Occasionally the directory is only for some provincial towns.

Belfast directories

Belfast features at the start of each Belfast and Ulster directory with a historical description and statistics of the borough. This is followed by a comprehensive listing of public boards and government offices, charitable and benevolent institutions, educational establishments, literary and scientific societies and religious missions, societies and churches.

This is then followed by three listings:

  • an alphabetical listing of the principal inhabitants (such as merchants or shopkeepers) and their addresses
  • another listing of the principal inhabitants organised by street
  • a listing of people organised by profession and trade.

Provincial sections

The provincial section of the directories usually have a section giving a description of the local county, including:

  • trades
  • population
  • administrative divisions
  • principal institutions and office holders

This is followed by the provincial towns section, with provides similar introductions for local towns.

Frequently featured institutions include:

  • 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.

Advertisements

As a means of covering the cost of production, almost all the directories include advertisements for goods, services and commercial activities. They often appear at the beginning, end and throughout the volumes. 

About the Street Directories Application

The Street Directories Application is a database of scanned copies of those original volumes held by the PRONI, dating from 1819 to 1900. Please be aware that PRONI does not have copies of all street directories published before 1852 and there are some gaps in the run of the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory up until 1900.  

Thee volumes are on open access in the PRONI Search Room but have been very heavily used and the paper in some of the volumes is very fragile. Their condition was a risk to the contents and long-term preservation of the records. As such, it was decided to scan the directories and to provide a search facility to find keywords in a section, particular directory of a directory, or the full collection of directories.

Below is a list of all the directories available to view in the application:

  • Bradshaw's General and Commercial Directory for 1819
  • Belfast Directory 1831-32
  • Matier's Belfast Directory 1835-36
  • Martin's Belfast Directory 1839
  • Martin's Belfast Directory 1841-42
  • New Directory of the City of Londonderry and Coleraine, including Strabane with Lifford, Newtownlimavady, Portstewart and Portrush
  • The New Commercial Directory of Armagh, Newry, Londonderry, Drogheda, Dundalk, Monaghan, Omagh, Strabane, Dungannon, Lisburn, Lurgan, Portadown and neighbouring towns
  • Martin's Belfast Directory 1842-43
  • Henderson's New Belfast and Northern Repository 1843-44
  • Henderson's Belfast Directory and Northern Repository 1846-47
  • Henderson's Belfast Directory and Northern Repository 1850
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1852
  • Henderson's Belfast Directory and Northern Repository 1852
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1858-59 Volume 4
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1863-64 Volume 6
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1865
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1866
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1870
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1877
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1880
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1884
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1887
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1890 Volume 13
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1892
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1895 Volume 16
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1896
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1897
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1899 Volume 20
  • The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory 1900

For more guidance on how to search the database, visit our webpage on the Street Directory Application.