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:- The  Hampshire  Directory  ...  to  which  is  added,  abstracts of the Acts of Parliament lately passed (1784)- Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce & Manufacture, 1792-98. Hampshire extracts (1792-98)- Pigot's Directory of Wiltshire (1822)- Pigot's  Directory  of  Hampshire (1828)- Gilmours'  Winchester  Almanac  and  Post-Office  Directory for  1854:  containing  a  chronological  account  of  the  city  ...  council  meetings, list of fairs, carriers, &c; with useful information relating to the city (1854)- Post Office Directory of Dorsetshire (1855)- Post Office Directory of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire (1855)- Post Office Directory of Wiltshire (1855)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register,  and  Family  Almanack  for  the  Year  of  our  Lord  1858.  Containing  information  respecting the various public institutions, societies, offices, &c. of the borough, with a guide to the local trade, in the shape of business advertisements (1858)- History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, comprising general historical surveys of the county &  island,  and  of  the  diocese  of  Winchester;  and  separate  historical,  statistical,  and  topographical  descriptions  of  ...  all  the  towns,  boroughs, ports (1859)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register,  and  Family  Almanack for the Year of our Lord 1859 (1859)- Post Office Directory of Dorsetshire (1859)- Post Office Directory of Wiltshire (1859)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register,  Business  Directory and Family Almanack, for 1861 (1861)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register,  Business  Directory and Family Almanack, for the Year of our Lord 1862 (1862)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register,  Business  Directory and Family Almanack, for the Year of our Lord 1863 (1863)- J.  G.  Harrod  &  Co.'s  Postal  and  Commercial  Directory  of  Hampshire  with  the  Isle  of  Wight,  containing  a  brief  descriptive account of the towns, parishes, and villages, followed by a directory (1865)- Kelly's  Directory  of  Wiltshire (1867)- Post Office Directory of Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire & Dorsetshire (1875)- The  City  of  Winchester  Directory  and  Illustrated  Almanac for 1877 (1877)- Masters's Winchester Directory 1881, containing an alphabetical  street  list,  a  trade  list,  inhabitants  of  the  principal  streets, post office information, carriers, etc. (1881)- Kelly's Directory of Dorsetshire (1889)- Kelly's Directory of Wiltshire (1889)- Kelly's Directory of Dorsetshire (1995)- Kelly's Directory of Wiltshire (1895)- Warren's Winchester & District Directory. 150 neighbouring   places   (corrected   yearly).   ...   Complete   list   of   magistrates for the county, county aldermen and councillors (1895)- Lucy's  Local  Guide,  Marlborough  &  District  Directory, Almanack & Diary, for 1897 (1897)- Gillman's Devizes Public Register and Business Directory, for the Year of our Lord 1898 (1898)- Kelly's  Directory  of  Hampshire  and  the  Isle  of  Wight (1898)- Kelly's Directory of Wiltshire (1898)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register  and  Business  Directory, for the Year of Our Lord 1899 (1899)- Gillman's  Devizes  Public  Register  and  Business  Directory, for the Year of our Lord 1900 (1900)- Warren's  Winchester  &  District  Directory.  150  neighbouring places (corrected yearly) ... Complete list of magistrates for the county, county aldermen and councillors (1900)