Scotland Directories

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Scotland

Directories

Introduction

Directories are alphabetical lists of names and addresses. They list information for the year they are published. In Scotland, directories first appeared in the mid-eighteenth century and continue to the present day.

Online Databases

• Scotland, Forfarshire (Angus), Dundee Trade & Postal Directories 1783-1842 - Findmypast ($)
• Scottish Post Office Directories - over 700 directories have been digitized dating between 1773 and 1911. The directories can be searched by place, year, and resident's name or browsed through by image.
  • Directories can also be downloaded as pdfs on the National Library of Scotland website. This site includes directories from 1825 to 1903 and can be downloaded or viewed online.
• Fife, Scotland, The Dunfermline Register, 1829 - 1859 ($) - can be searched by name, year, and keyword or browsed by image.
• FamilyRelatives.com ($) - contains trade and occupational directories that can be searched by name.
• 1877 Directory of North Eastern Scotland. This directory covers the counties of Forfar, Fife, Kinross, Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine.
• Directory of West Coast Scotland. Directories include the years 1883-84 and 1886-87.

Understanding Directories

Directories usually show:

• Name of a person
• Address
• Occupation

They seldom show the entire population, usually including only prominent members of the community such as

• Gentry
  
• Clergy
  
• Merchants
  
• Craftsmen
  

People such as coal miners and crofters do not appear in directories.

Directories may cover all of Scotland, a region of Scotland, or a specific city such as Glasgow. There are also directories for specific segments of Scottish society such as burgesses, gentry, or Scottish advocates (lawyers).

A partial bibliography of directories is found in an appendix to:

Hamilton-Edwards, Gerald. In Search of Scottish Ancestry. 2nd ed. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984. (Family History Library book Ref. 941 D27ham 1984.)

Telephone directories can help you identify all of the people in a place who have the same surname. This information can be very useful for identifying modern descendants of a family. The FamilySearch Library has phone directories for Scotland on microfiche. The directories, however, cannot be circulated to FamilySearch centers.

Accessing Directories

The FamilySearch Library has a small collection of Scottish directories. While many directories are only available on microfilm at the FS Library, some directories have been digitized and can be accessed on the FamilySearch Catalog. The catalog lists directories in the Place Search under:

GREAT BRITAIN - DIRECTORIES

SCOTLAND - DIRECTORIES

SCOTLAND, [COUNTY] - DIRECTORIES

SCOTLAND, [COUNTY], [CITY] - DIRECTORIES

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.