Cope Collection, Special Collections, Hartley Library: Directories

County directories provide a brief history and description of each community, followed by a list of principal private residents, a commercial list and a trade directory.

Town directories contain more detail, providing information on local government and public bodies in addition to lists of residents, in both alphabetical and street order. There are also trade and commercial lists and a local advertisements section.

Directories are often incomplete and may contain inaccurate information, but used in combination with other sources, they provide a valuable picture the life of a community.

Guides include:

• Hampshire Archivists' Group Hampshire and Isle of Wight Directories (1980) Cope quarto 03.3

• Norton, Jane Guide to the National and Provincial Directories of England and Wales, excluding London, published before 1856(1950) DA 20

• Shaw, Gareth British Directories: a Bibliography and Guide to Directories Published in England and Wales 1850-1950 and Scotland 1773-1950 (1989) Z/DA 13

There are Hampshire Directories from 1840 and Southampton Directories from 1803. Older publications are shelved in the Rare Books section, with more recent directories on the open shelves.

County directories are shelved at Cope 03.3, Southampton directories at Cope SOU 03.3 etc.

You can check which directories are available by searching Library Search. 

Access to some collections is restricted to members of the University.

• Historical Directories of England and Wales (University of Leicester) - selected Hampshire Directories 1784-1911 and Winchester Directories 1854-1913

• PortCities Southampton - selected Southampton Directories 1811-1970 (site archived)

• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (Off campus via VPN)  - Hampshire Directory 1784, Universal British Directory 1791-1798

• 19th Century Books from the British Library

Rare Books Cope SOU 03.3 1836

Directories are also available in other local collections:

• Hampshire Archives and Local Studies

• Southampton Archives Service

•  Southampton City Library

•  Portsmouth Record Office

• Isle of Wight Record Office 

Rare Books Cope SOU 03.3 1895