Other than the government's official census this is probably the most exhaustive single source of information on the inhabitants of "The Dominion," and the two closely allied but still independent Provinces of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, in this period. In the Preface to the directory John Lovell, the editor and publisher, sets out the background to the conception and production of this mammoth work and from this it can be seen that his objective was to identify as many individuals as possible in the 6 Provinces. He did, however, appear to limit himself to listing only the "heads" of families and independent residents such as borders and roomers. Unlike so many contemporary directories, it includes people from all "walks" of life so laborers, farmers, tradesmen, merchants, "professionals," military, clergy, politicians, consuls and even representatives of the Crown all get "equal billing."
Also in the alphabetically arranged lists are businesses and stores, usually showing the proprietor or manager as well as the address of the business. Frequently the business proprietors and managers are also listed in their own homes as well. Each listing for individuals gives the full name the occupation(s), the street address and an indication of the type of residence such as "h" for house, or "bds" for boards. The "commercial" listings give the name of the business, the nature of the business, the person to contact and the street address.
This is an essential resource for anyone researching Eastern and Central Canada in the late 1800's.
High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book. This CD has been bookmarked for easy navigation, and pages can be searched, browsed, enlarged and printed out if required.
