Kelly's Directory Of Ipswich & Neighbourhood 1970

Kelly's Directory of Ipswich & Neighbourhood 1970 (Digital Download or CD)

Product Description

Unlock the history of your family and your town with this high-quality digital reproduction of the Kelly's Directory of Ipswich & Neighbourhood 1970. An essential resource for genealogists, local historians, and anyone researching the post-war era in Suffolk.

Available as a convenient Digital Download or on a CD, this directory offers a fascinating snapshot of life in Ipswich at the dawn of the 1970s.

Bridging the Census Gap

For family historians, the mid-20th century can be a difficult period to navigate. The 1931 Census was destroyed in the war, the 1941 Census was never taken due to WWII, and the 1961 Census was heavily damaged by fire and only partially survives. With the 1971 Census still sealed, this directory serves as a vital census substitute. It allows you to pinpoint exactly where your ancestors were living and what they were doing for a living in 1970, bridging a significant gap in public records.

About the Format & Navigation

This directory has been scanned from the original book to preserve the look and feel of the historic text. While the pages are scanned images (and therefore not natively searchable text), the directory is compiled alphabetically, making navigation intuitive and straightforward.

• Digital Accessibility: Modern PDF readers (such as Adobe Acrobat) often perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the fly, allowing you to search the text for names and places using your reader's search function.
• Alphabetical Layout: The directory is structured to help you find residents quickly, organized by surname and street.

What's Inside

This comprehensive volume is packed with details that bring the past to life:

• Street Directory: A full listing of the streets of Ipswich, showing the head of households and tradespeople at every address.
• Private Residents Directory: An alphabetical list of the private inhabitants, often including their occupations—perfect for tracing the professional lives of your ancestors.
• Commercial & Trade Directory: Classified listings of businesses and tradesmen. Find out who ran the local grocery, built the furniture, or repaired the watches.
• Official Information: Details on local government officials, the council, emergency services, the judiciary, and clergy.
• Institutions & Societies: Listings for schools, hospitals, churches, and social clubs.

Ipswich in 1970: A Time of Change

This directory captures Ipswich during a fascinating transitional period, moving from the post-war austerity into the modern industrial age.

• Famous Residents: Did you know that in 1970, a young Ralph Fiennes (later to become a Hollywood star) was living in Ipswich? The son of a photographer, he spent his formative years in the town during this era.
• Sporting Glory: This was the golden era of Ipswich Town Football Club under the legendary manager Sir Bobby Robson. The "Tractor Boys" were firmly established in the First Division and competing in Europe, bringing immense pride to the town.
• Industry & Employment: Ipswich was a bustling industrial hub. The directory is replete with employees of Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies, famous for lawnmowers and engineering, as well as the thriving agricultural machinery industry and the famous Cranes of Ipswich. The town was also home to Fison's (fertilizers and pharmaceuticals) and the iconic Tolly Cobbold brewery, a major employer and cultural staple.
• Music & Culture: The 1970s saw the burgeoning of the local music scene that would eventually produce bands like The Darktown Rounders and later, The Stranglers (who formed nearby).

Map Disclaimer

Please Note: Original directory maps were often delicate and were sometimes removed from books by previous owners. While we strive to provide a complete reproduction, we cannot guarantee that the original fold-out maps are present in this scan. However, if the maps were present in the source directory used for this scanning, they have been included as a special bonus.