Australian Directories Sale

During February we have a sale on all Australian State and City Directories.

Sometimes called trade directories, sometimes city directories, some know them as "Sands and Mac's", others know them as the 'red books', or just simply directories. Whatever you know them as, they're still a valuable source of historical and genealogical information.

What information will I find in a directory? 
State and City Directories are an extremely useful and in very general terms are like an early 'white pages and yellow pages' directory, as they are a listing of people, with addresses and their occupations. However, this is just a starting point. Look further in the directory, and you'll find out more information about the society in which they lived at the time.

Using city directories can be like a mini-census, as you will usually find the names of the head-of-the-household listed, house-by-house, street-by-street, for city suburbs. And when consulting multiple years, this often allows you to track a person through time.

Was your ancestor a doctor or pharmacist? Owner of a pub or a blacksmith? A minister of religion or a bank manager? Or maybe a pastoralist or Member of Parliament? Directories can help you find them.

The Alphabetical section in a directory lists all householders alphabetically by surname, together with their occupations and residences, while the Towns section contains the same information, but is arranged alphabetically by town making it a great way to see who was living in the town at that time together with what businesses were there.

You will also find the trade section of directories useful, and that lists everyone alphabetically by occupation, together with their address.

But apart from that, directories are useful for finding out what schools, banks, hospitals, orphanages, asylums or even the Masonic and Friendly Societies existed at that time.

The adverts included are fascinating to look at, and take you back into the world that your ancestors lived in.

From single year directories, to compendium CD sets, to large directory collections on USB, they're all on sale at 25%-50%. Remember these prices are only available during February.