The aim of the project was to improve access to local and trade directories for the period 1750-1919 by making a substantial collection of English and Welsh directories available online as a Digital Library of Historical Directories. This digital resource comprises in total some 600 directories, covering every English county together with Wales, and ranging widely over the period 1750-1919 (the latter cut-off point chosen for copyright reasons). There is a particular focus on the 1850s, 1890s and 1910s, with at least one directory provided for each county in each of these decades. The digitisation of the volumes involved a two-stage process, in which (1) the hard-copy source was scanned to produce a graphic image of each page, and then (2) those images were processed using OCR software to generate a machine-readable text file.An online version of this resource can be found on the Website of the University of Leicester. This data collection includes the following directories:- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1903. [Part 1: Topography & Street Directory] (1903)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1903. [Part 2: Alphabetical Directory] (1903)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1903. [Part 3: Trades & Official Directories, etc.] (1903)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1903. [Part 4: Suburban Directory] (1903)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1909. [Part 1: Topography & Street Directory] (1909)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1909. [Part 2: Alphabetical Directory] (1909)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1909. [Part 3: Trades & Official Directories, etc.] (1909)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory for 1909. [Part 4: Suburban Directory] (1909)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory, 1911. [Part 1: Street Directory] (1911)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory, 1911. [Part 2: Alphabetical Directory]  (1911)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory, 1911. [Part 3: Trades, Ecclesiastical, etc.] (1911)- Slater's   Manchester,   Salford   and   Suburban   Directory, 1911. [Part 4: Suburban, Banking, etc.] (1911)- T.  Bulmer  &  Co.'s  History,  Topography,  and  Directory  of  Lancaster  &  District,  comprising  the  history  and  archaeology  of  the  town  of  Lancaster,  with  separate  historical  descriptions  of  each  parish  and  township  within  a  radius  of  about  sixteen miles / ed. by J. Bulmer. (1912)- Kelly's Directory of Cheshire, 1914 (1914)- Slater's  Directory  of  Altrincham,  Bowdon,  Sale,  Brooklands and Dunham Massey and neighbourhood, for 1914. Comprising a register of the principal streets, an alphabetical list of names, and a classified trades list (1914)- General  and  Commercial  Directory  of  Preston,  Longton, Kirkham, Penwortham ... and adjacent villages and townships / by P. Barrett & Co. (1917)