Local directories are very useful for family historians because they were produced every year, unlike censuses which were only published every ten years. However, they only list the head of the household for each address; they do not list every inhabitant.
County directories began to be published in the mid 18th century. The early directories contain an alphabetical list of inhabitants for each town and village within the county. Some of the later ones also contain street listings for the larger towns and cities. Southampton Central Library holds a number of Hampshire directories from the late 18th century and 19th century.
Directories for major towns and cities were published yearly from the mid 19th century. They contain a street by street listing of inhabitants, an alphabetical list of people, a commercial directory and a municipal directory. The library has an almost complete run of Southampton directories from 1840. There are a few earlier directories, including the Cunningham Directory of 1811 (the earliest Southampton directory), the Pigott directories of 1824 and 1826 and the Fletcher Directory of 1836.
A selection of Southampton directories is available online via the Portcities - Plimsoll web site. Use the image link called 'Port Cities' in the left hand panel.
Southampton City Council
