The Post Office Directory Of Edinburgh & Leith 1940-1941

The Post Office Directory of Edinburgh & Leith 1940-1941

Step into Wartime Edinburgh: Unlock Your Family's Story on the Home Front.

Imagine the cobbled streets of Edinburgh and the bustling port of Leith in 1940. The shadow of war looms, the sound of the one o'clock gun is mingled with the distant hum of preparedness, and the resilient spirit of its people is being tested. This is not just a scene from a history book—it's the world your ancestors inhabited. Now, you can hold a piece of that world in your hands. The Post Office Directory of Edinburgh & Leith for 1940-1941 is more than a simple directory; it is a time capsule, a detailed snapshot of a great city and its people during one of the most pivotal moments in history.

What You'll Discover Inside:

This essential genealogical resource is a treasure trove of information, meticulously organised to help you piece together your family's past. Within its pages, you will find:

Comprehensive Residential Listings: Locate your ancestors by name. Discover their exact address, and often, their primary occupation. Was your great-grandfather a stonemason, a clerk, or a shipwright in Leith? Was your great-grandmother listed as the head of the household?
Commercial & Trade Directories: Explore the city's wartime economy. Find the businesses where your family members worked, from the corner grocer on Princes Street to the major engineering firms adapting for the war effort. These listings provide rich context for your ancestors' daily lives.
Official & Court Directory: A complete who's who of the city's establishment. Find listings for civic officials, members of the church, medical practitioners, lawyers, and professors, placing your family within the broader social fabric of Edinburgh.
Full Street Directory: An invaluable tool for house historians! Trace a specific street to see who lived there, building a picture of the community and neighbourhood your family belonged to. Find out who their neighbours were!
Vivid Contemporary Advertisements: Journey back in time through the ads of the day. See the products they bought, the medicines they trusted, and the local services they used. These advertisements offer a fascinating and often charming glimpse into the culture and consumerism of the 1940s.
Why the 1940-1941 Edition is a Genealogical Treasure:

This specific edition holds a unique and profound significance. It captures Edinburgh on the very cusp of and during the early years of the Second World War.

A Snapshot Before the Storm: For many, this may be the last record of a family at a specific address before wartime service, evacuation, or relocation changed their lives forever.
The Home Front in Focus: See the names of men who would soon be called up for service and the women who were beginning to step into new and vital roles in the workforce and in society.
Trace Wartime Service: An address from 1940-1941 can be the critical starting point for locating military records, understanding a family's war story, and piecing together their experiences during the Blitz and beyond.
Who Is This For?

Family Historians with roots in Edinburgh and Leith.
Local and Social Historians researching life in Scotland during WWII.
House History Enthusiasts tracing the story of a specific property.
Genealogical Researchers needing to bridge the gap between the 1939 Register and the 1951 Census.
Writers and Novelists seeking authentic details for stories set in wartime Scotland.