The Post Office Directory of Glasgow 1916-1917 – A Fascinating Snapshot of the Second City of the Empire

Product Description

Step back into the heart of Glasgow during the First World War with this exact digital reproduction of the Post Office Directory of Glasgow 1916-1917. Essential for genealogists, local historians, and anyone researching family trees in the West of Scotland, this directory offers a unique window into the lives of your ancestors during a pivotal moment in history.

Navigating the Past with Ease This directory is a high-quality scan of the original pages, preserved in PDF format. Please note that because these are scanned images, the text is not internally embedded or searchable within the file itself. However, the directory was meticulously organized alphabetically by the original publishers, making manual navigation of names and streets intuitive and straightforward. Furthermore, most modern PDF readers (such as Adobe Acrobat or browser-based viewers) now feature OCR (Optical Character Recognition) "on the fly," allowing you to search the text for names and places using your reader’s search function.

Filling the Genealogy Gaps For family historians, this volume is invaluable for bridging the gap between the 1911 Census and the 1921 Census. While the 1921 Census is the next official government survey, directories like this allow you to track year-by-year movements, changes in occupation, and deaths in the family, offering a granular level of detail that census records simply cannot provide.

What’s Inside? This comprehensive volume is divided into easy-to-use sections to help you pinpoint exactly who you are looking for:

1. Street Directory: An alphabetical list of streets in Glasgow (and often suburbs), with the head of the household and their occupation listed at each address. Perfect for tracing the exact house your ancestors lived in.
2. Commercial & Professional Directory: An alphabetical list of private residents (excluding the working class) and business owners, often including their trade and business address.
3. Trades Directory: A classified list of professions and businesses. Want to know who the local bakers, joiners, or shipbuilders were in 1916? This is where you look.
4. Official Information: Details on civic officials, churches, schools, public institutions, and transport links (trains and tramways) operating at the time.

Glasgow in 1916-1917: The Context This directory captures Glasgow while the Great War was raging. The city was the "Workshop of the World," and its heavy industry was pivoted toward the war effort. You will find adverts for munitions, engineering, and shipbuilding. The famous Rangers and Celtic football clubs were both active, with Rangers winning the league title during this period, providing a distraction from the grim news from the front lines.

Famous Residents While searching for your own family, keep an eye out for notable figures who were active in the city during this era:

• Sir Thomas Dunlop: The Lord Provost of Glasgow during this critical period.
• John Maclean: The famous revolutionary socialist and "Red Clydesider" who was actively organizing protests and classes in the city at this time.
• Mary Barbour: A housing activist who would soon lead the famous 1915 rent strikes; her influence in the community was growing strong during 1916.

Important Disclaimer Please be aware that, in the original publication, certain maps were bound into the directory. In some surviving archival copies, these maps have been removed or were missing prior to digitization. While every effort has been made to preserve the content, this specific download may be missing the fold-out map section typically found at the rear of the book.

Product Format

• Format: PDF Digital Download (or CD-ROM)
• Compatibility: Readable on any computer, tablet, or mobile device with a PDF reader.
• Searchability: Alphabetical layout + OCR capable via modern PDF readers.

Unlock the secrets of your Glasgow ancestry today! Whether you are tracing a lineage of Clydeside shipbuilders or tenement dwellers, this directory brings the streets of 1916 Glasgow back to life.