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:- Directory  for  the  year  1801,  of  the  town  and  county  of  Newcastle  upon  Tyne,  Gateshead,  and  places  adjacent,  containing  an  alphabetical  list  of  merchants,  bankers,  brokers,  wharfingers,  and  coal  fitters;  likewise  of  the  manufacturers,  traders  ...  To  which  is  prefixed,  an  account  of  Newcastle,  its  commerce,  curiosities, and public buildings (1801)- History, Directory, and Gazetteer, of the Counties of Durham and Northumberland, and the towns and counties of Newcastle-upon-Tyne  and  Berwick-upon-Tweed (1827)- Ward's  Northumberland  and  Durham  Directory;  containing  Alnwick,  Bambrough,  Belford,  Berwick,  Gateshead,  Newcastle,  North Shields, South Shields, Sunderland, and their localities (1850)- Hagar and Co.'s Directory of the County of Durham. Containing   an   alphabetical   list   of   the   gentry,   merchants,   manufacturers,  professions,  trades,  &c.,  and  separate  historical,  statistical, and topographical descriptions of the towns, parishes (1851)- The Durham Directory and Almanack (1854)- History,   Topography,   and   Directory   of   Northumberland,  comprising  a  general  survey  of  the  county,  and  a  history   of   ...   Newcastle-upon-Tyne,   with   separate   historical,   statistical, and descriptive sketches of the boroughs of Gateshead and Berwick-upon-Tweed (1855)- The Durham Directory and Almanack (1857)- Post  Office  Directory  of  Northumberland  and  Durham (1858)- Kelly's  Directory  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  and  Suburbs (1886)- Kelly's Directory of Durham (1890)- Ward's  Directory  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  and  the  adjacent villages; together with an almanac, a town and county guide, and a commercial advertiser (1890)- Kelly's Directory of Northumberland (1894)- Ward's  Directory  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  and  the  adjacent villages; together with an almanac, a town and county guide, and a commercial advertiser (1898)- Ward's  Directory  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  with  its  extended boundary, which now includes: Benwell Village, South, West and New  Benwell,  Fenham,  Scotswood,  Walker  and  Walker  Gate,  Wallsend,  and  the adjacent villages (1910)- Kelly's  Directory  of  Durham  and  Northumberland,  1914. [Durham only] (1914)- Kelly's Directory of Northumberland (1914)- Ward's  Directory  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  with  its  extended boundary, which now includes Benwell Village, South, West and New  Benwell,  Fenham,  Scotswood,  Walker  and  Walker  Gate.  Wallsend  and  the adjacent villages (1916)