Kelly's Directory Of Lowestoft Beccles & Neighbourhood 1932 Census Substitute

Product Description

Unlock the Past in East Suffolk: 1932

Step back into the East Suffolk of 1932 with this high-quality reproduction of Kelly's Directory of Lowestoft, Beccles & Neighbourhood. As genealogists know, the 1931 Census was destroyed by fire during WWII, and the 1921 Census remains relatively recent/restricted. This makes the 1932 Directory an essential "Census Substitute," providing a snapshot of your ancestors' lives between the census years and the start of WWII.

Whether you are tracing family trees, researching house histories, or exploring the social history of Suffolk, this directory is an indispensable tool.

Format & Navigation This directory is available as a Digital Download or on CD.

• Scanned Images: The directory consists of scanned images of the original pages, preserving the authentic typography and layout.
• Searchable: While the file itself is not text-searchable (it is not OCR'd in the document), we have formatted the file to be compatible with modern PDF readers (such as Adobe Acrobat). Many modern readers offer "OCR on the fly," allowing you to search the text visually via your software settings.
• Easy Navigation: Despite being images, the directory benefits from its original alphabetical structure. The Private Resident and Trade sections are organized alphabetically by surname and trade, making it remarkably easy to flip through and find your ancestors without needing a full-text search function.

What’s Inside: A Detailed Breakdown

This comprehensive volume is divided into key sections to aid your research:

1. Topography & History:

   • Detailed descriptions of the geography and history of Lowestoft and Beccles.
   • Information on local government, courts, charities, and public institutions.
   • Descriptions of the churches, schools, and hospitals serving the community in 1932.

2. Private Residents Directory:

   • An alphabetical list of private residents (heads of households) and their addresses. This is the closest you will get to a census headcount for this year.

3. Commercial & Trade Directory:

   • A classified list of trades and professions. From bakers and blacksmiths to shipbuilders and shopkeepers, this section reveals the local economy and what your ancestors did for a living.
   • Includes major advertisements from local businesses of the era, offering a flavour of 1930s commerce.

4. Street Directory:

   • A listing of streets within the towns, helping you identify who lived next door to your ancestors or who occupied a specific house.

5. Neighbourhoods & Villages:

   • Extensive coverage of the surrounding countryside, including villages such as Kessingland, Carlton Colville, Oulton Broad, Pakefield, Corton, Worlingham, and Bungay.

Local Context: Famous Faces & Facts (1932)

Researching in this directory places you in a vibrant era of East Suffolk history. While browsing, you may encounter the contemporaries of local legends or discover the industrial backdrop of their lives:

• The Benjamin Britten Connection: 1932 was a significant year for Lowestoft’s most famous son, composer Benjamin Britten. Born in the town in 1913, Britten was 19 in 1932 and studying at the Royal College of Music. You may still find listings for his father, Robert Victor Britten, a successful dentist who had a practice on High Street (and who himself sang in barbershop quartets).
• Industry: In 1932, Lowestoft was still a major fishing port, bustling with drifters. The directory reflects the dominance of the herring industry alongside engineering firms and the burgeoning holiday trade, as Lowestoft established itself as a seaside resort.
• Sport: The town was sport-mad. Lowestoft Town FC (The Trawlerboys) were already a local institution, and the directory reflects the local sporting clubs and cricket grounds that were the heart of Saturday leisure.
• Beccles: Known for its printing industry and the distinctive St. Michael’s Church bell tower, which stands apart from the church itself. The directory captures the town as a thriving market hub on the River Waveney.

A Note on Maps Please Note: In some original archival copies of this directory, the fold-out maps were removed or damaged over the last 90 years. We have included the maps only if they were present in the source book used for scanning. If the maps are included in your download/CD, consider it a valuable bonus! If they are not, the descriptive text in the topography section remains an excellent guide to the layout of the town.

Why Buy This Directory?

• Fills the gap left by the loss of the 1931 Census.
• Ideal for locating family members between the 1921 and 1939 registers.
• Provides context for the "Great Depression" era in a seaside resort.
• Alphabetical layout ensures ease of use even without keyword search.

Start your journey into the past of Lowestoft and Beccles today!

System Requirements: To read this PDF you will need a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar