Mathews Bristol & Clifton Directory 1851

Mathews Bristol & Clifton Directory 1851 - Digital Download or CD-ROM

Product Description:

Step back into the mid-Victorian era with this high-quality reproduction of the Mathews Bristol & Clifton Directory 1851. An essential resource for genealogists and local historians, this directory offers a fascinating snapshot of life in one of England's most important maritime cities just as the Great Exhibition was captivating the nation.

About This Format This directory is available as a digital download or on a CD-ROM. Please note that this is a scanned facsimile of the original book, presented as PDF images. While the pages are not text-searchable in the traditional sense, the directory is meticulously organized alphabetically by surname and trade, making navigation intuitive and straightforward. Furthermore, most modern PDF readers (such as Adobe Acrobat) perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the fly, allowing you to use the "Find" function to locate surnames and keywords with ease.

A Window into 1851 The year 1851 is pivotal in genealogy. It was the year of the 8th UK Census, often considered the first "modern" census due to its level of detail. However, census records only capture a family on a single night. This directory fills the gaps, showing you where your ancestors lived and worked throughout the year. It is particularly useful for tracing individuals who may have been moving between the 1841 and 1861 censuses or those who were unfortunately missed by the census enumerators altogether.

Historical Context: Bristol & Clifton in 1851 In 1851, Bristol was a city in transition, balancing its ancient maritime heritage with new industrial innovation.

• The Great Engineer: The legendary Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a dominant figure in the area. By 1851, his Clifton Suspension Bridge was under construction (work had restarted that year), and the Great Western Railway was transforming the local economy.
• Industry & Trade: The directory captures the bustling industries of the time, including shipbuilding in the docks, the booming glass manufacturing industry, and the early days of what would make Bristol famous—the chocolate and tobacco trade. You will find listings for the ancestors of the Fry’s and W.D. & H.O. Wills families, whose empires were taking root during this period.
• Culture & Society: Clifton was emerging as the premier residential suburb for the wealthy merchants of the city. The directory lists the prominent physicians, lawyers, and gentry residing in the Georgian terraces overlooking the Avon Gorge.

What's Inside This comprehensive directory is divided into clear sections to aid your research:

1. Street Directory: An alphabetical list of streets in Bristol and Clifton, showing the head of household or business at each address. Perfect for tracing house history.
2. Commercial & Trades Directory: A classified list of professions and trades. Find out who the blacksmiths, bakers, and shipwrighters were in your ancestor's neighborhood.
3. Private Residents Directory: An alphabetical list of the private gentry, clergy, and tradespeople living in the area, excluding commercial listings.
4. Official & Civic Information: Listings for the Corporation, Magistrates, Public Institutions, Churches, and Clergy.
5. Advertisements: A fascinating collection of contemporary advertisements for medicines, shipping lines, and local services, providing color and context to the Victorian lifestyle.

Important Note Regarding Maps Please be advised that due to the age and condition of the original source material, the map section was occasionally missing or damaged prior to digitization. We have included a scan of the map if it was present in the specific source copy used. However, please treat the inclusion of a map as a bonus feature rather than a guaranteed part of the product.