Slater's Directory Of Leicestershire 1862

Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Leicestershire 1862 (Digital Download or CD)

Product Description:

Step back into the Leicestershire of the mid-Victorian era with this high-quality reproduction of Slater’s Directory of Leicestershire 1862. An essential resource for genealogists, local historians, and anyone researching family trees in the East Midlands, this directory offers a fascinating snapshot of life just after the death of Prince Albert and during the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Whether your ancestors were hosiery manufacturers in Leicester, framework knitters in the villages, or landowning gentry in the Vale of Belvoir, this book puts their names and occupations at your fingertips.

Navigating the Directory

This directory is a digitized scan of the original book, preserving the authentic look and feel of the 19th-century text. Please note that this is not a text-searchable PDF in the traditional sense (it is not an eBook), as it consists of high-resolution scanned images. However, navigation is straightforward because the directories are laid out alphabetically by town and by surname. Furthermore, many 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 or specific words with ease.

Bridging the Census Gap

This directory is the perfect tool to bridge the gap between the 1861 and 1871 Census records. If you have "lost" an ancestor between these two census years, this directory can help pinpoint exactly where they were living and their trade in 1862, helping you track movements across the county or confirm identities in specific parishes.

What’s Inside?

Slater’s Directories are renowned for their comprehensive detail. This publication includes:

• Court Directory (Private Residents): An alphabetical list of the gentry, clergy, and prominent citizens (e.g., The Rev. John Smith, Rector of...).
• Commercial Directory: A classified list of trades and professions. Looking for a butcher in Loughborough or a solicitor in Melton Mowbray? This section groups them together.
• Town and Village Histories: Detailed descriptions of the topography, local government, and notable buildings of major towns and villages.
• Postal Information: Times of mail deliveries and key transport routes.

Famous Leicestershire Figures & Facts of 1862

This directory captures a county in flux, filled with interesting characters and thriving industries. While browsing, you may come across names associated with:

• Thomas Cook: The pioneer of tourism began his business in Leicester. By 1862, his "Cook’s Tours" were beginning to take the world by storm, and you may find references to his office or contemporaries in the Leicester trade section.
• Industry & Hosiery: Leicestershire was the heart of the hosiery trade. The directory is packed with framework knitters, hosiers, and warp manufacturers, illustrating why Leicester was known as the workshop of the world.
• John Taylor & Co (Bell Founders): Based in Loughborough, this famous foundry was casting bells for churches across the globe (and would later cast Great Paul, the largest bell in Britain, for St. Paul's Cathedral).
• Sport & Leisure: Leicestershire has long been associated with Fox Hunting. The entries for Melton Mowbray will be rich with the names of Masters of Hounds and figures from the famous "Melton Mowbray" hunting set.
• Stilton Cheese & Pork Pies: The entries for Melton Mowbray also highlight the distinct local food industries that were already gaining national renown.

Important Disclaimer Regarding Maps

Please be advised that original directories often varied in their inclusion of maps. While we have included every page from the original source book, some editions of Slater’s 1862 did not contain a county map, or maps were torn out in original archived copies. We cannot guarantee a physical map is present in this specific scan. However, if the map is included in the original we digitized, it will be present—consider it a bonus if found!

Available as a Digital Download (Immediate delivery) or a CD-ROM.