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Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.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, ...