Kelly's Directory Of Leicestershire & Rutland 1908

Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire & Rutland 1908 - Digital Download or CD-ROM

Product Description:

Step back into the Edwardian era with this high-quality reproduction of Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire & Rutland 1908. An essential resource for genealogists, local historians, and house researchers, this directory offers a fascinating snapshot of life in the East Midlands just before the First World War.

Available as a convenient Digital Download or a physical CD-ROM, this volume contains hundreds of pages of historical data. While this is a scanned facsimile of the original book (meaning it is not an indexed database), the alphabetical arrangement of the sections makes navigation intuitive. Furthermore, modern PDF readers (such as Adobe Acrobat or Edge) perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the fly, allowing you to search for specific surnames or street names using the "Find" function.

Navigating the 1908 Gap: Bridging the Census Years

For family historians, this directory is the perfect tool to bridge the gap between the 1901 and 1911 Censuses. If you have lost track of an ancestor between these two dates, this directory allows you to confirm their residence, occupation, and social standing, providing crucial clues to tracing movements during the early Edwardian boom.

What’s Inside?

This comprehensive directory is divided into several detailed sections:

• General Information & Statistics: A detailed look at the county’s topography, geology, and climate. It includes official statistics on agriculture, population, and county administration details.
• Court Directory (Private Residents): An alphabetical list of the private residents of the county. This is invaluable for tracing the gentry, clergy, and professionals who did not run a business but were significant figures in their communities.
• Commercial & Trades Directory: An exhaustive alphabetical list of trades and professions. From Blacksmiths in Oakham to Hosiery Manufacturers in Leicester, this section allows you to visualize the local economy and find where your ancestors worked.
• Town & Village Histories: Detailed descriptions of the major towns (Leicester, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray) and smaller villages, including local landmarks, churches, and municipal facilities.

Local History, Fame & Industry

The 1908 directory captures Leicestershire and Rutland at a time of great industrial strength and rural tradition.

• The Industrial Powerhouse: Discover the booming industries of Leicester, famous for its hosiery, boot and shoe manufacturing, and engineering. The directory lists the major factory owners and the skilled workforce who powered the city.
• Rutland’s Rural Charm: Contrast this with the rolling pastures of Rutland (then the smallest county in England), focusing on agriculture and hunting.
• Sport & Leisure: This was the golden age of Leicester Fosse (the precursor to Leicester City FC), who were playing at their Victoria Park ground in 1908. Look for mentions of local sporting clubs and cricket grounds in the town descriptions.
• The Famous & Notable:
  • Thomas Cook: The founder of the travel agency empire was born in Melbourne, Leicestershire. His legacy remained strong in the county during this time.
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Though he died in 1892, the great poet was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, on the Leicestershire border, and the area is steeped in his family history.
  • The Bellfounders: Look for entries in Loughborough, home to the famous John Taylor & Co bell foundry, which has cast bells for some of the most famous cathedrals in the world.
  • Melton Mowbray: The directory highlights the town’s fame as the "Rural Capital of England" for fox hunting and its culinary exports—Stilton Cheese and the Pork Pie.

A Note on Maps

Disclaimer: Please be aware that due to the age of the original source material and the removal of plates by previous owners, some map pages may be missing from this scan. However, we are pleased to offer a bonus: if the original fold-out County Map is present in this specific edition, it will be included as a high-resolution supplement, offering a rare and beautiful glimpse into the Edwardian road network.

Technical Details

• Format: PDF (Digital Download) or CD-ROM.
• Compatibility: Compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Requires a PDF reader.
• Searchability: While the text is scanned image-based, most modern PDF readers allow for text searching (OCR) and copying.