Hampshire, Portsmouth Trade Directories 1863-1927

Each record includes an original image of the trade directory. The amount of information will vary depending on each directory, you maybe able to find a combination of the following:

• First Name

• Last Name

• Company name

• Occupation

• Address

Explore dozens of trade directories which record the businesses and trades people in the port city of Portsmouth.

Trade directories are an excellent resource for anyone researching their family history and want to understand more about their ancestor’s life. They provide insights into local business owners, trades people, civil servants, church leaders, school teachers and much more.

A large part of this collection comprises of Kelly’s directories, one of the most well-known publishers of directories. The founder was Frederic Festus Kelly, once the chief inspector of letter-carriers for the general post office. While chief inspector, he took over the publication of the London post office directory. He founded Kelly & Co and expanded the company over the decades that followed. They produced directories for many counties around the United Kingdom and continued to buy other publishers of directories. In 1897, Kelly & Co. became Kelly Inc. and continued to create directories until the 1970s.

• If you are unable to find your relative on your first search you can try different name variations. A number of the trade directories only use abbreviations for first names. For example, if your search is unsuccessful for William Smith, try W Smith or Wm Smith.

• If you wish to read through the whole document you are searching, then order the results by page number. You can start from the beginning of the document and read through to the end using the next button above the image.

• Page numbers often correlate with the individual images of the documents rather than the page numbers used within the publication. Therefore page 1 starts with the cover page.