The Public Record of Northern Ireland have released online 29 street directories for Belfast and nearby towns. They can be searched and viewed for free. Great resource for tradesmen, shops, businesses and general background information.

http://streetdirectories.proni.gov.uk/

Based at Victoria University, Wellington this website offers much of interest to the family historian. Includes are a number of 19th century directories, trade encyclopaedias and 50+ of the most important books on NZ published between 1800 – 1860. 

http://www.nzetc.org/

Origins Network has announced that additional Directories of Ireland are now available online on their website.

For Irish history and Irish genealogy researchers directories are a vital tool.
Two new directories have been added to Irish Origins:

•               Slater’s 1894
•               Henderson’s Ulster Directory 1856

http://www.originsnetwork.com/BOWelcome.aspx?boxid=14&AID=7169041&PID=3300142

A wide range of trade directories for England & Wales. Dates range from 1700’s to the early 1900’s. A great way to locate ancestors between the census in the 19th century. Funded by the Lottery Fund and maintained by Leicester University.

http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/

Ancestry.co.uk now have available online …………………………………

Do you have a clergyman in your family tree? Search the Crockford’s Clerical Dictionary which contains around 250,000 names, and find out where they studied, where they worked, and where they lived.

This collection contains biographies of UK Anglican clergy and details of English, Welsh, and Irish beneficiaries and churches, although clergy who qualified in the UK, may have travelled anywhere in the world to practise.

Crockford’s Directories first appeared in 1858 and are still published today. Whilst more recent biographies from 1968 are available, this is the first time that historic collections have been made available online. Ancestry currently has six complete directories dated 1868, 1874, 1885, 1898, 1908 and 1932 available.

 Crockford’s Directories 1868 – 1898

Ancestry.co.uk have just released…………………..

The East India Register & Directory 1844 and Thacker’s Indian Directory 1895

The East India Company started out as a commercial trading venture, but gradually took on governmental and military functions until the British Crown took direct control following the Indian Rebellion of 1857. This register is a fascinating record of the company rules and regulations, as well as a directory of the company’s servants, detailing their appointments and lists of their casualties. Among the material of great interest to the family historian are military lists, and even records of births, marriages and deaths that took place among the European community in India.

Thacker’s Indian Directory of 1895 is an almanac of British and foreign merchants, commercial industry, military, railways, government departments and European and prominent native residents. If you know of an ancestor that may have been in India at this time, this directory can help you find out about their life, where they lived and what they was doing. This is the first time these collections have been made available to search online, so all you need to do is type in a name or keyword.

Start searching The East India Register & Directory 1844 or Thacker’s Indian Directory 1895

The NZ Electronic Text centre have put the Cyclopedia of NZ online for all to see. A great resource for Kiwi researchers. The front page reads as follows………….

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand was published in six volumes between 1897 and 1908 by the Cyclopedia Company Ltd. Each volume deals with a region of New Zealand and includes information on local towns and districts, government departments, individuals, businesses, clubs and societies. Biographical entries frequently include the subject’s date and place of birth, the name of the ship by which immigrants arrived, spouse’s name, and the number and gender of children born to a couple.

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-corpus-cyclopedia.html

The following 1832 Post Office Directory & Calendar is now available on Ancestry.au

NSW Calendar and PO Directory, 1832
This directory was first published in 1966 by The Trustees of The Public Library of New South Wales. It was originally compiled by James Raymond, the Postmaster of NSW, primarily as a reference book for use in his own department. It was the first publication of this nature to include a directory of householders.
The collection contains images of the pages in the original book including a map of Sydney from 1831. There are 291 page images and 2,500 names in the directory which is fully word-searchable.