Bennett's Business Directory Of Somersetshire 1898

Bennett’s Business Directory of Somersetshire 1898 - Genealogy & Local History Resource (Digital Download or CD)

Product Description:

Unlock the history of your ancestors and the landscape of Victorian Somerset with this high-quality reproduction of Bennett’s Business Directory of Somersetshire 1898.

An essential addition to any genealogist’s toolkit, this directory serves as the perfect "census substitute." Sitting neatly between the 1891 and 1901 census years, it is invaluable for tracing family movements, identifying the occupations of forebears, and understanding the community structure in the twilight of Queen Victoria’s reign.

Navigation & Format

This directory is available as a digital download or on a CD. Please note that this is a scanned facsimile of the original book. The pages are digitized images, meaning the text is not embedded or searchable in the traditional sense. However, Bennett’s has organized the content alphabetically by town and by trade, making manual navigation surprisingly intuitive and straightforward.

Tip: Many modern PDF readers (such as Adobe Acrobat) now perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the fly. This means that depending on your software, you may be able to search the text, though this is not guaranteed by the file structure itself.

What’s Inside the Directory?

Bennett’s provides a comprehensive snapshot of the county in 1898. The directory is structured into key sections to help you locate residents and businesses quickly:

1. County Information:

   • A directory of the Magistrates for the county.
   • Lists of the Principal Public Officials, including Clergy of the Established Church and Roman Catholic dignitaries.
   • Information on the County Police and Banks.

2. Town & Parish Directories:

   • Arranged alphabetically from Abbey Town (Glastonbury) to Yeovil.
   • Each town features a Private Residents Directory, listing heads of households, gentry, and tradesmen.
   • A Commercial & Trades Directory, categorizing businesses by occupation (e.g., Bakers, Blacksmiths, Grocers, Tailors).

3. Court & Parliamentary:

   • Details on the Bath Court of Recovery, the Taunton County Court, and specific listings for Civil and Criminal registries.

Historical Context & Famous Residents (1898)

Somerset in 1898 was a vibrant mix of industrial innovation and rural tradition. While using this directory, you may come across names associated with the county's rich heritage:

• Industrial Giants: Look out for the Clark family associated with C. & J. Clark in Street. By 1898, the shoe manufacturing industry was booming, transforming the village of Street into a hub of industrial philanthropy.
• Sports: Somerset County Cricket Club (founded 1875) was gaining prominence. You might find references to players like ** Sammy Woods**, a legendary cricketer who captained the county around this time, or listings for local athletic grounds.
• Music & Culture: The city of Bath remained a cultural center. While the great Georgian era was past, the directory lists the assembly rooms and theatres that hosted touring musicians and actors, continuing the city's reputation as a place of leisure.
• Local Industry: Beyond shoes, Somerset was famous for manufacturing gloves (particularly in Yeovil), coal mining in the Radstock and Midsomer Norton area, and agriculture. The trades sections are heavy with wheelwrights, thatchers, and dairy farmers, reflecting the county's agrarian roots.

Why Buy This Directory?

• Bridge the Census Gap: Find out who was living in your village between the 1891 and 1901 census returns. If an ancestor disappeared from the records, this may tell you if they simply moved to the next town.
• Discover Occupations: Learn more than just names; discover what your ancestors did for a living.
• House History: Useful for tracing the history of specific properties and the tradespeople who operated there.

Map Disclaimer & Bonus

We have made every effort to reproduce the original directory in its entirety. Please note that in some original archival copies, fold-out maps were prone to damage or removal over the last 125 years. We cannot guarantee that every map is present in this specific edition. However, should the original maps be included in this scan, they serve as a fantastic bonus, offering a glimpse into the Victorian road and railway network of Somerset.