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Trade directories are a useful source of information, but must be treated with caution. For dating, remember that for practical reasons they are compiled months in advance of publication, and that it is in the Publishers interests to make their directories appear as modern as possible, so that it will be saleable for longer - Holden's Triennial Directories dated 1805-07 and 1809 - 11 are examples. Comprehensiveness is dependent on the collector of information. Through carelessness or oversight he may omit traders altogether, or additional names may appear in an addendum. Some directories include histories and/or descriptions of the area covered. |
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National and local directories were issued from the 18th Century onward. (See J.E. Norton's "Guide to the National and Provincial Directories of England and Wales, excluding London published before 1856" (London 1950, rep. 1984); G. Shaw and A. Tipper " British Directories ~ England and Wales (1850 to 1950), and Scotland (1773 to 1950) (Leicester, 1988); and N. Emery and D.R. Beard "Staffordshire Directories ~ (1966). For the Potteries (Stoke on Trent), no library has a complete set of directories, but Hanley Reference Library (HRL) has the largest holding. Keele University Library (KUL) (which is open to the general public), Newcastle under Lyme Library (NUL), and the William Salt Library (WSL) at Stafford each have a selection. |
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