Manchester City Council

Libraries Archive and Local Collections

Directories and Phone Books

Directories

Street directories can be viewed on microfilm at Manchester Central Library (cabinet 12) covering Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire:

  • Manchester: 1772, 1773, 1781, 1788*, 1794**, 1797**, 1800, 1802, 1804, 1808, 1809, 1811, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1817, 1819, 1820, 1821**, 1822, 1824, 1825, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1832, 1836, 1838, 1841**, 1843, 1845, 1848, 1850**, 1851, 1852*, 1855*, 1856, 1858, 1860, 1861, 1863**, 1865, 1869, 1871, 1872, 1874, 1876**, 1877**, 1878, 1879, 1881, 1882, 1883**, 1884, 1885, 1886**, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895* **, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1903**, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909**, 1910, 1911**, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929*, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1945, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969.
  • Lancashire: 1818, 1820, 1824*, 1828*, 1829, 1834*, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1848*, 1851, 1855*, 1856, 1858, 1864, 1869*, 1872, 1873, 1876, 1879, 1881, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1892, 1909, 1913*, 1918.
  • Cheshire: 1850, 1851, 1860, 1864, 1865, 1874, 1878, 1886, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1896, 1906, 1914, 1923, 1928, 1934, 1939.

  • Derbyshire (some also include Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire & Rutland): 1855, 1863, 1864, 1874, 1884, 1891.

*Available on-line at Ancestry.co.uk (a subscription web site - free access to Ancestry is available at any Manchester City Council library.). 

**Available on-line at Historical Directories.

Phone Books 

British phone books published between 1880, the year after the public telephone service was introduced, and 1984, from the historic phone book collection held by BT Archives are also available on-line at Ancestry.co.uk. Free access to Ancestry Library Edition is available at any Manchester City Council library.

Manchester Central Library holds an almost complete collection of phone books and Yellow Pages from 1984 to recent years. You can make an appointment to view any of these in the Central Library search room.