Jill Morris reveals how useful old phone directories are
Jill Morris
is a regular writer for Discover Your Ancestors Periodical.
Telephone exchange c1900.Early telephone calls were connected manually
A 'candlestick’ telephone from c1910
For family historians, the records contained in telephone books can be vital for research.
As well as the alphabetical-by-surname listings for the general public, including a person’s or family’s address at a certain time – phone books were printed every two years, so can offer more information about a family’s movements than the census – you can often find information about local businesses, perhaps owned or worked for by your ancestor. Finding an ancestor or a business with which you have connections listed in a directory can open up many more avenues of research.
The earlier the phone book, the more likely the prosperity of a family or company. Having a telephone was a sign of wealth or comparative prosperity until after World War One, when the cost of telephones decreased and people began to appreciate their usefulness. In 1899, when parliament approved local councils setting up their own telephone systems, just six of 1,300 councils did so, but by the 1920s and early 1930s having a home telephone was affordable to many more due to cuts in line rental and call charges.
At www.thegenealogist.co.uk, within the Trade, Residential and Telephone search function, there is access to early telephone directories for 1899 to 1900, covering the whole of the UK, and Yorkshire in 1900 and 1901. Certain areas of the country in the 1930s and 1940s are also available.
Should your forebears have headed down under, international phone books for some areas of Australia dated 1924 to 1934 can also be searched.
The British and UK records, listed by surname, include the head of household, address and often occupation.
Other sources in the trade, residential and telephone section are well worth a look – for example, the Leeds 1923 Street Directory gives a great deal of detail about the various areas of the city and what they were like at the time and historically. An ‘Official Directory’ for each area is also included, which for Leeds details parliamentary representation, town councils, poor law unions, public establishments, the Chamber of Commerce and an ecclesiastical directory.
Telephone timeline
1876
Scottish scientist Alexander Graham Bell makes the first phone call
1878
In Britain, the Telephone Company is established
1880
First British telephone book published
1891
The first telephone link connecting London and Paris is established
1912
The Telephone Company is taken over by the General Post Office
1937
999 is introduced as an emergency number in London; in use nationwide 1946
1981
British Telecommunications Act separates postal and phone services
Other useful resources
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The BT Archive: Contains British phone books from 1880 to 1984; the books in the collection provide almost full county coverage for England plus many records for Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Connected Earth: This website explores communications history and future.
