Did your ancestor own a pub in Shetland, or was your ancestor the local magistrate in Aberdeen? Explore thousands of pages of directories and discover your Scottish ancestry. The directories will reveal your ancestor’s occupation and residence.
Did your ancestor own a pub in Shetland, or was your ancestor the local magistrate in Aberdeen? Explore thousands of pages of directories and discover your Scottish ancestry. The directories will reveal your ancestor’s occupation and residence.
The records are presented as images and do not have transcripts. We have digitised these records through a method called OCR, which allows you to search through the whole document. We have provided search tips below.
The detail you will find on each page will depend on the type of directory, but most will give you the following facts about your ancestor:
Name
Occupation
Residence
The post directories in this collection may focus on a particular town or district or you can find national postal directories. The majority of post directories comprise a description of the place, along with lists of people by occupation. For example, you will find lists of magistrates, councillors, sheriffs, police officers, and merchants.
It is important to remember that post directories are not complete lists of all the residents in the town or county. Also, many directories fail to include women in their lists.
Use the previous and next arrows on either side of the images to explore the directory. Viewing previous pages will help you understand why your ancestor has appeared in the directory. You can use the image counter at the bottom centre of the image to skip to an exact image number.
Post directories are an excellent source for family historians wanting to trace ancestors on a yearly basis. Directories allow you to fill in the gaps between the census records. They can also provide vital information about your ancestor’s residence, which can lead to the discovery of more records. They are a great source for local historians. Directories can add historical context to your ancestor’s story. Directories will give you a better understanding of where your ancestor lived, such as how many businesses were in the town, how many schools, what day was the market day, and how big was the town.
Aberdeen & Vicinity Directory 1824-1826, 1828-1830, 1832-1840
Aberdeen Post Office Directory 1848-1854, 1856-1912, 1914-1916, 1918-1942
Aitchison's Edinburgh & Leith Directory 1797-1800
Alloa Almanac & Directory for the County of Clackmannan 1887
Angus & Mearns Directory 1846-1847
Arbroath Year Book & Directory 1891, 1894, 1899, 1901, 1923
Arbroath Yearbook & Eastern Forfarshire Directory 1915, 1925-1926
Ayr & District Directory 1914-1915, 1920-1921, 1926-1927, 1928-1929, 1930-1931, 1934-1935
Ayr, Newton & Wallacetown Directory 1845-1846
Ayr, Newton & Wallacetown Post Office Directory 1849-1850, 1858-1859, 1861-1862, 1864-1865, 1867-1868, 1870-1870, 1873-1874, 1876-1912
Ayrshire Directory 1851-1852
Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire, Wigtownshire & Kirkcudbrightshire Business Directory 1893
Banffshire County Directory 1898
Black's Morayshire & Upper Banffshire Directory 1863
Bon Accord Directory 1841-1846
Bon Accord Post Office Directory 1846-1848
Border Counties Business Directory 1897
Brechin Almanac & Directory 1892, 1894, 1896, 1900, 1907, 1914
British Medical Directory 1853
Brown's Hamilton Directory 1855-1856
Bute County Directory 1889-1890, 1893-1916, 1922-1928
Carment's Dalkeith & District Directory 1887-1889, 1891, 1894, 1899
Clarke's Airdrie Directory 1896
Clarke's Barrhead & Neilston Directory 1895
Clarke's Business Directory of Scotland 1895
Clarke's Motherwell Directory 1896
Commercial Directory of Scotland, Ireland & Northern Counties of England 1820-1822
Cook & Wylie's Stirling Directory 1897, 1904, 1906, 1909
Cornwall's New Aberdeen Directory 1853-1854
County Directory of Scotland 1862, 1868, 1872, 1875, 1878, 1882-1889, 1893-1896, 1901-1904
County Directory of Scotland 1882-1889, 1893-1896, 1901-1904
Court & City Register 1781
Dalkeith District Directory 1890
Denovan's Edinburgh & Leith Directory 1804-1805
Directory to Gentlemen's Seats in Scotland 1843, 1852, 1857
Dumfries & District Post Office Directory 1911-1912
Duncan & Jamieson's Stirling & District Directory 1868-1869
Dundee Directory 1809, 1818, 1837-1838, 1842-1843, 1850, 1853-1854, 1854, 1856-1857, 1874-1875, 1878- 1916, 1918-1923, 1925-1942
Dundee General Directory 1822
Dundee Post Office Directory 1844-1847, 1861-1862, 1864-1865, 1867-1872
Dundee Register & Directory 1824-1825, 1829-1830, 1834
Dundee Register 1783
Dunfermline Almanack & Register 1835
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Annual Directory 1807-1810, 1825-1832, 1835-1836
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1846-1879, 1882-1891, 1896-1899, 1906-1909, 1912-1942
Edinburgh & South of Scotland Trades Directory 1900
Edinburgh County Directory 1870-1871
Edinburgh Post Office Annual Directory 1806-1817, 1819-1827, 1832-1833, 1836-1846
Forfar Directory & Year Book 1885-1895, 1897-1911, 1939
Forfarshire Directory, 1887-1888 1887-1888
Fowler's Paisley & Johnstone Commercial Directory 1845-1846, 1848-1849, 1851-1854
Fowler's Paisley Commercial Directory 1838-1839
Fowler's Upper Renfrewshire Commercial Directory 1829-1832, 1834-1835
Galashiels & Selkirk Almanac and Directory 1890, 1894, 1897-1898, 1901-1903
General Almanack of Scotland and British Register 1809
Glasgow Directory 1799, 1801, 1803-1828
Glasgow Post Office Annual Directory 1828-1836, 1838-1856, 1910-1911, 1918-1919, 1922-1926, 1928-1929
Glasgow Post Office Directory 1838-1839, 1856-1912, 1931-1938, 1940-1942
Gray's Annual Directory & Edinburgh Almanac 1837-1838
Gray's Edinburgh & Leith Annual Directory 1832-1835
Greenock & District Directory 1930-1931, 1938-1940
Greenock & Port Glasgow Directory 1805
Greenock Directory 1815-1816
Greenock Directory 1923-1924
Greenock Post Office Directory 1841-1842, 1847-1911
Helensburgh Directory 1899
Hutchison's Greenock Directory
Hutchison's Greenock Directory 1841-1842, 1845-1846
Inverness Burgh Directory 1899-1942
Inverness County Directory 1887, 1889, 1899, 1901-1902, 1920
Inverness Directory 1873-1874
Irvine Post Office Directory 1896-1897
John Tait's Glasgow & District Directory 1783-1784
Jones's Glasgow Directory (re-print) 1787
Jones's Glasgow Directory 1789
Kelly's Directory of Scotland 1928
Kilmarnock & Riccarton Post Office Directory 1846-1847
Kilmarnock Post Office Directory 1868, 1872
Leslie's Directory for Perth & Perthshire 1885, 1887, 1889-1900, 1903-1908, 1911-1912
London & Provincial Medical Directory inclusive of Scotland 1861
Lothian's Annual Register for the County of Clackmannan 1877
MacDonald's Scottish Directory & Gazetteer 1884-1885
MacDonald's Scottish Directory & Gazetteer 1891-182, 1897-1902, 1904-1908, 1910-1914, 1926-1928, 1939- 1940
MacNeur & Bryden's Helensburgh Directory 1875
MacPherson's Hamilton Handbook 1862
Mansons' Shetland Almanac & County Directory 1892, 1898, 1906
Motherwell Directory 1899-1900
Musselburgh Directory 1903
Naismith's Hamilton Directory 1878-1879
New and Improved Edinburgh & Leith Directory 1824-1825
New Edinburgh, Leith & County Business Directory 1867-1970
New Edinburgh, Leith & County Household Directory 1868-1869
North Ayrshire Directory 1935-1937
Paisley Directory & General Advertiser 1852-1912
Perth Directory 1837-1838
Perth Post Office Directory 1845-1846, 1848-1851, 1854-1859, 1862-1863, 1865-1867, 1872, 1874, 1878, 1880, 1882, 1884-1885
Perthshire Directory 1889-1890
Peterhead Almanac & Directory 1853
Pigot's National Commercial Directory of Scotland 1837
Pigot's New Commercial Directory of Scotland 1825-1826
Pomphrey's Wishaw Directory 1893
Portobello & District Directory 1889-1890, 1892-1895
Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Peeblesshire & Berwickshire Business Directory 1893
Royal Kalendar or Annual Register, 1797 1797
Russell's Morayshire Register and Elgin & Forres Directory 1844, 1847, 1850, 1852
Rutherfurd's Southern Counties Directory 1866
Scottish Law List 1904
Slater's Glasgow Directory 1855
Slater's Royal National Directory of Scotland 1852, 1867, 1882, 1889, 1893, 1896, 1903, 1907, 1911, 1915, 1921
Stirling Directory 1865-1866, 1870-1871, 1881-1882
Stirling District Directory 1913-1914
Stirling Threepenny Guide & Directory 1866
Stirlingshire Burgh & County Directory 1886-1887
Stirlingshire, Dumbartonshire & Linlithgowshire Business Directory 1893-1894
Watson's Paisley & District Directory 1862-1863, 1865-1866, 1868-1871, 1873-1884
West Coast Almanac & Business Directory 1886
West Coast Directory 1883-1887
Westwood's Parochial Directory for Fife & Kinross 1862
Westwood's Parochial Directory for Fife & Kinross 1866
Williamson's Edinburgh Directory (re-print) 1773-1774
Williamson's Edinburgh Directory 1774-1776, 1784-1785, 1790-1792
Worrall's Directory of North-Eastern Counties of Scotland 1877
Zetland Directory & Guide 1861
OCR search only allows an exact search. Therefore, if you are searching for Will, the system will only search for Will and not name variants such as William.
Surnames beginning with Mc, such as McIntyre, they may appear in the directory as M'Intyre. We recommend that you try to search for the name without the c and with an apostrophe in its place.