Trade Directories - data sheet

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Trade Directories set out to record the “principal inhabitants” of a community, particularly those in a trade or profession. Directories were put together by individuals and publishers for commercial purposes during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Historical trade directories are useful for finding out where people lived and worked, especially for the years between censuses. If someone owned even a small business or shop, there is a reasonable chance that they are listed in the historical trade directories for their city, town, or village. There are plenty of collections of trade directories now freely available. Earlier directories also listed notable people and professionals. Gradually over time more ordinary people were listed.
Historical trade directories were originally compiled to aid businesses and merchants. The earliest known trade directory is a list of London merchants published by Samuel Lee in 1677.
One of the most famous historical trade directories, the Post Office London Directory, was taken over in 1836 by Frederic Festus Kelly, government inspector-general of letter-carriers. He used postmen to update the directory listings, and made it so profitable that he bought it from the Post Office. He sent people to visit each street to ensure that names and addresses were up to date. Kelly began publishing county titles in the 1840s, and a Manufacturers and Merchants Directory from the late 1880s.
Specialist directories limited to one trade were also published, eg: brewers, builders, etc. Publishers updated their directories every few years.
Many directories give an account of each place it lists; information about schools, places of worship, local administrative areas, and transport and carrier details, as well as other pieces of local historical interest.
After the WW2, telephone directories gradually superseded trade directories, but until the 1950s telephones were a luxury so only businesses and better-off residents were listed.
Further information:

Records found = 22 from 128125
ID	Name	Year	Home Parish	Trade	View
ID	Qualification
23428	BEAN John	1904	-	Farmer	-
23428	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23429	BERRY Herbert	1904	-	Farmer	-
23429	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23430	BRASNETT Waiter Thomas	1904	-	Farmer	-
23430	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23431	BULLOCK Charles	1904	-	Farmer	-
23431	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23432	DISNEY William	1904	-	Farmer	-
23432	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23433	EATON Frederick	1904	-	Farmer	-
23433	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23434	GRAY Ernest	1904	-	Farmer	-
23434	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23435	HALL George W	1904	-	Farmer	-
23435	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23436	HARDY Robert	1904	-	Farmer	-
23436	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23437	HOSKINS Harry	1904	-	Shopkeeper	-
23437	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23438	LAMBERT James McDonald	1904	-	Farmer	-
23438	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23439	NEWSTEAD Frederick	1904	-	Farmer	-
23439	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23440	OAKLEY William	1904	-	Farmer	-
23440	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23441	RIVETT Leonard	1904	-	Farmer	-
23441	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23442	ROBINSON Caleb	1904	-	Farmer and beer retailer	-
23442	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23443	SOAR William	1904	-	Farmer	-
23443	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23444	SPURDENS William	1904	-	Assistant overseer	-
23444	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23445	SPURLING Robert	1904	-	Farmer	-
23445	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23446	WEBSDALE Clement	1904	-	Farmer	-
23446	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23426	WHINEREY Rev. Robert M.A.	1904	-	Rector	-
23426	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23447	WOMACK Harry	1904	-	Beer retailer and wheelwright	-
23447	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
23427	WOODCOCK Mrs.	1904	-	-	-
23427	Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904
SQL: " SELECT * FROM Complete WHERE ParishCode='FERS' AND EventType='Directory' AND EventYear=1904 ORDER BY FullName, EventYear, ID"