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'Let Your Fingers Do the Walking'
Using City, Provincial, Telephone and Business Directories in Archival Research
City and Town Directories
If the directory in question is a city, town, county or provincial listing, you can expect to find some or all of the following information included:
business advertisements and an index to advertisers
a separate business directory for advertisers and corporate subscribers, by occupation
historical sketches of the province, county, city or town
an alphabetical listing of residents by surname, followed by their occupation or business, their business address and/or their home address
at the beginning of the surname index, a key to all abbreviations used in the directory (for example: h = house; b = boards at; OAS = On Active Service [First World War]
City directories also contain a street directory--normally but not always at the back of the book. These street listings are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the street; both sides of the street are listed (separated into east side, west side, north or south); and then each structure on the street is entered, by house number and giving its principal occupant or occupants. If read in sequential order over a number of publication years, this street directory will provide significant clues to first appearance of a specific structure, in-fill construction and developmental history of the street. Be warned, however, that there's no consistent pattern, rhyme or reason for individual house numbering!
To use city directories effectively, it's worthwhile to work with both the surname and street listings. Below are examples from the Halifax City Directory for 1875/76 and 1886/87 for the surname Hesslein.
What can you learn from these two sets of entries, a decade apart?
From the earlier one, that Henry Hesslein's sons are adults and partners in the firm and don't live at home; both sons have apartments at the hotel. From the later one, that Henry has died, his widow's name is Elizabeth, and Mary A. Hall, also a widow, lives with her. (With a little more genealogical sleuthing, you will find that Mary is Elizabeth's daughter.)
Major city and/or provincial directories will also carry some or all of the following appendices:
Royal Family
Government, Great Britain and Ireland
Government, Dominion of Canada
Dominion of Canada Government in Nova Scotia, Offices and Officers
Government of the Province of Nova Scotia
Law and Justice Department (including a list of barristers and attorneys in Nova Scotia)
Staff of the Army in Nova Scotia
Staff of the Navy in Nova Scotia
Consuls and Consular Agents
Lloyd's Agents and Veritas International Registry of Shipping Agents
Post Office Department, Canada, and Nova Scotia Postal Division
City of Halifax, Offices and Officers
Merchants' Private Signals (shipping)
Municipality of Dartmouth, Offices and Officers
County of Halifax, Offices and Officers
Educational Institutions (provincial)
Ecclesiastical Establishment (provincial)
Masonic Order, Masonic Templars, Independent Order of Oddfellows (provincial)
Libraries (local)
Banking Companies (provincial)
Charitable Institutions (local)
Societies, Associations and Clubs (local; sometimes with current executive)
Newspapers (provincial)
We are frequently asked when the annual Halifax City Directories were compiled. To the best of our knowledge, the necessary information was collected during the spring and summer of the preceding year; thus information published in, for example, the 1885/86 directory, was probably gathered during the middle of 1884.
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