The forerunners of Britain's edition of the Yellow Pages are to go online tonight.
The city and county directories, dating back to 1677, guided generations of shoppers down our high streets.
They provide a fascinating insight into our history of consumers.
The genealogy website Ancestry.co.uk has digitised the directories from 1677 to 1946.
Some of the directories show Britain's obsession with class. In 1891 Wye House Asylum in Buxton, Derbyshire, advertised for residents – but only those from the ‘Higher and Middle Classes’.
And in 1796 the Institution for Recovering Drowned Persons advertised that a guinea (21 shillings) would be paid to anyone who assisted in recovering a body, and half a guinea if the attempt was unsuccessful!
Ye Yellowe Payges: High Street directories that date back to 1677 go online
By Emily Andrews
07th January 2009
Daily Mail
They were essential reading, in a time when there was just one Boots store, and leeches were still on our shopping lists.
The city and county directories, the forerunners of our Yellow Pages, guided shoppers down our high streets for 250 years.
They provide a fascinating insight into our history as consumers – what we shopped for and where – and document the rise and fall of our retail giants.
And from tonight, they are available online.
Centuries of shopping: Directories that date back to 1677 go online tonight
The genealogy website Ancestry.co.uk has digitised the directories from 1677 to 1946.
If you click through the pages, you will find that Sainsbury’s, Harrods and WH Smith were all first listed in their birthplaces of London’s East End, and John Lewis appeared as he started his empire selling ribbons in 1864.
The first shops of Charles Henry Harrod (Harrods), John Boot (Boots Chemists), William Henry Smith (WH Smiths) and John Cadbury (Cadburys) are all included as are the first outlets of Marks & Spencer, Dixons and Woolworths.
The records reveal that although John Cadbury may now be famous for chocolate, he made his name as a tea dealer in Birmingham.
Bizarre: The city and county directories included Victorian adverts like this one from 1839 (click on picture for a larger and clearer view)
Despite the name, electrical retailer Dixons was in fact set up by Charles Kalm as a photographic studio in Essex – the name was selected because ‘Kalms & Co’ would not fit across the tiny shop front.
Individual listings vary from the standard occupations of the day such as chimney sweeps, dress makers and furriers to more bizarre roles such as leech importers, weapons dealers and beast preservers.
There are also the slop sellers, who took human and animal waste and leftover food to be sold as fertiliser, and the reed makers whose wares were used for the thatching of houses and baskets.
The directories also contained adverts. In the 1839 edition for Middlesex, readers were enticed to buy Pott’s improved artificial legs, Gall’s nipple liniment (for sore nipples) and Grimstone’s eye snuff.
In 1796 the Institution for Recovering Drowned Persons advertised that a guinea would be paid to anyone who assisted in recovering a body, and half a guinea if the attempt was unsuccessful.
Strange: Another 19th Century advert (click on picture for a larger and clearer view)
And in 1891 Wye House Asylum in Buxton, Derbyshire, advertised for residents – but only those from the ‘Higher and Middle Classes’.
The directories were compiled by surveyors who would knock on doors to gather information.
It didn’t cost anything to be listed – publishers made their money by selling the books to travelling salesmen.
The directories were initially compiled for London, with the first UK-wide directories published in 1820.
The English County Directories contain particularly detailed information, listing amenities such as churches, hospitals and schools as well as information on local history, industry, transport and agriculture.
Some information is so detailed that even the geology and soil of a particular area is described.
There is also the prestigious London Royal Blue Book of 1860, which served as a Who’s Who of the 19th Century.
Historic: Website Ancestry.co.uk has digitised the directories
It contained a street-bystreet directory of the fashionable areas of Central London and an alphabetical list of the clergy, gentry and ‘people of note’ who lived there.
Those featured include socialites, celebrities and aristocrats of the day, such as Charles Dickens, the father of modern day electricity Michael Faraday and politicians Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone.
The UK City and County directories were eventually replaced by other media such as the BT Phone Books.
Olivier Van Calster, Managing Director of Ancestry.co.uk said: ‘This collection of directories is unique in that they cover 250 years of the UK’s social and commercial history and include many famous names that can still be found on the High Street today.
‘Because the collection spans most of the UK and just about everyone will be able to discover something of relevance – whether it’s what their ancestors were doing hundreds of years ago or how their hometown has changed across the centuries.’
Humble beginnings of Britain's biggest names
British company Cadbury, founded in 1825, is the world's largest confectionery manufacturer
Boots: Founded in 1849. John Boot opened his shop in Goose Gate, Nottingham, and is listed in the 1853 Directory of Nottinghamshire as a medical botanist. His son Jesse transformed the name into a national chain.
Cadburys: Founded in 1825. John Cadbury first began selling tea, coffee and later chocolate in Birmingham’s Bull Street. He was listed in the 1828-29 Directory of Warwickshire as a tea dealer.
Harrods: Founded in 1834. Charles Henry Harrod set up a wholesale grocery in Stepney, East London. He is listed in the 1851 London directory at 38 Eastcheap City.
Marks & Spencer: Founded in 1894. Michael Marks opened his ironmongers’ stall in Leeds market in 1884. By 1894 he became partners with cashier Thomas Spencer. Michael Marks is listed as a wholesale hardware & co dealer at 20 Cheetham Hill Road, in the Kelly’s Directory for Manchester 1895.
WH Smith: Founded in 1792. Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established a news vendor business in London in 1792. After their deaths the business was taken over by their son William Henry Smith. HW Smith is listed as a news vendor in 1822 Pigots Directory of London.
John Lewis/Waitrose: Founded in 1864. At 28 John Lewis opened his first shop on Oxford Street in 1864 selling ribbons and haberdashery. He is listed as a silk merchant in the Post Office Directory for London 1874.
dailymail.co.uk
The city and county directories, dating back to 1677, guided generations of shoppers down our high streets.
They provide a fascinating insight into our history of consumers.
The genealogy website Ancestry.co.uk has digitised the directories from 1677 to 1946.
Some of the directories show Britain's obsession with class. In 1891 Wye House Asylum in Buxton, Derbyshire, advertised for residents – but only those from the ‘Higher and Middle Classes’.
And in 1796 the Institution for Recovering Drowned Persons advertised that a guinea (21 shillings) would be paid to anyone who assisted in recovering a body, and half a guinea if the attempt was unsuccessful!
Ye Yellowe Payges: High Street directories that date back to 1677 go online
By Emily Andrews
07th January 2009
Daily Mail
They were essential reading, in a time when there was just one Boots store, and leeches were still on our shopping lists.
The city and county directories, the forerunners of our Yellow Pages, guided shoppers down our high streets for 250 years.
They provide a fascinating insight into our history as consumers – what we shopped for and where – and document the rise and fall of our retail giants.
And from tonight, they are available online.
Centuries of shopping: Directories that date back to 1677 go online tonight
The genealogy website Ancestry.co.uk has digitised the directories from 1677 to 1946.
If you click through the pages, you will find that Sainsbury’s, Harrods and WH Smith were all first listed in their birthplaces of London’s East End, and John Lewis appeared as he started his empire selling ribbons in 1864.
The first shops of Charles Henry Harrod (Harrods), John Boot (Boots Chemists), William Henry Smith (WH Smiths) and John Cadbury (Cadburys) are all included as are the first outlets of Marks & Spencer, Dixons and Woolworths.
The records reveal that although John Cadbury may now be famous for chocolate, he made his name as a tea dealer in Birmingham.
Bizarre: The city and county directories included Victorian adverts like this one from 1839 (click on picture for a larger and clearer view)
Despite the name, electrical retailer Dixons was in fact set up by Charles Kalm as a photographic studio in Essex – the name was selected because ‘Kalms & Co’ would not fit across the tiny shop front.
Individual listings vary from the standard occupations of the day such as chimney sweeps, dress makers and furriers to more bizarre roles such as leech importers, weapons dealers and beast preservers.
There are also the slop sellers, who took human and animal waste and leftover food to be sold as fertiliser, and the reed makers whose wares were used for the thatching of houses and baskets.
The directories also contained adverts. In the 1839 edition for Middlesex, readers were enticed to buy Pott’s improved artificial legs, Gall’s nipple liniment (for sore nipples) and Grimstone’s eye snuff.
In 1796 the Institution for Recovering Drowned Persons advertised that a guinea would be paid to anyone who assisted in recovering a body, and half a guinea if the attempt was unsuccessful.
Strange: Another 19th Century advert (click on picture for a larger and clearer view)
And in 1891 Wye House Asylum in Buxton, Derbyshire, advertised for residents – but only those from the ‘Higher and Middle Classes’.
The directories were compiled by surveyors who would knock on doors to gather information.
It didn’t cost anything to be listed – publishers made their money by selling the books to travelling salesmen.
The directories were initially compiled for London, with the first UK-wide directories published in 1820.
The English County Directories contain particularly detailed information, listing amenities such as churches, hospitals and schools as well as information on local history, industry, transport and agriculture.
Some information is so detailed that even the geology and soil of a particular area is described.
There is also the prestigious London Royal Blue Book of 1860, which served as a Who’s Who of the 19th Century.
Historic: Website Ancestry.co.uk has digitised the directories
It contained a street-bystreet directory of the fashionable areas of Central London and an alphabetical list of the clergy, gentry and ‘people of note’ who lived there.
Those featured include socialites, celebrities and aristocrats of the day, such as Charles Dickens, the father of modern day electricity Michael Faraday and politicians Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone.
The UK City and County directories were eventually replaced by other media such as the BT Phone Books.
Olivier Van Calster, Managing Director of Ancestry.co.uk said: ‘This collection of directories is unique in that they cover 250 years of the UK’s social and commercial history and include many famous names that can still be found on the High Street today.
‘Because the collection spans most of the UK and just about everyone will be able to discover something of relevance – whether it’s what their ancestors were doing hundreds of years ago or how their hometown has changed across the centuries.’
Humble beginnings of Britain's biggest names
British company Cadbury, founded in 1825, is the world's largest confectionery manufacturer
Boots: Founded in 1849. John Boot opened his shop in Goose Gate, Nottingham, and is listed in the 1853 Directory of Nottinghamshire as a medical botanist. His son Jesse transformed the name into a national chain.
Cadburys: Founded in 1825. John Cadbury first began selling tea, coffee and later chocolate in Birmingham’s Bull Street. He was listed in the 1828-29 Directory of Warwickshire as a tea dealer.
Harrods: Founded in 1834. Charles Henry Harrod set up a wholesale grocery in Stepney, East London. He is listed in the 1851 London directory at 38 Eastcheap City.
Marks & Spencer: Founded in 1894. Michael Marks opened his ironmongers’ stall in Leeds market in 1884. By 1894 he became partners with cashier Thomas Spencer. Michael Marks is listed as a wholesale hardware & co dealer at 20 Cheetham Hill Road, in the Kelly’s Directory for Manchester 1895.
WH Smith: Founded in 1792. Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established a news vendor business in London in 1792. After their deaths the business was taken over by their son William Henry Smith. HW Smith is listed as a news vendor in 1822 Pigots Directory of London.
John Lewis/Waitrose: Founded in 1864. At 28 John Lewis opened his first shop on Oxford Street in 1864 selling ribbons and haberdashery. He is listed as a silk merchant in the Post Office Directory for London 1874.
dailymail.co.uk
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