I can help with all resources marked , copyright permitting.

This is a selection of the trade directories of Cornwall particularly as they relate to West Penwith.

See also Bibliography, Maps and Gazetteers.

I do not sell books! The small prices at the end of some listings are there as a guide only.

• Bailey’s Western and Midland Directory: Or Merchants and Tradesman’s Useful Companion; Birmingham:1783. The earliest directory that I know of that includes Cornwall. There is a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
• Bailey’s British Directory: 1784 (volume 2) probably has the same content as above.
• Coulson, Charles. Directory of Penzance; W. Cornish, Penzance: 1864. £185 Street directory online. Also published in facsimile on CD-ROM by Cornish Roots, Redruth: 2000. £8
• Harrods Trade Directory, 1878; I have not seen this one
• Kelly [pub.]. Post Office directory; Published every 5 years or so from 1856 to at least 1939. from £40–£150
  • The first (1856) edition is available PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2002. Transcripts online. Also published on CD-ROM by Generations Gone By.
  • The 1862 edition is known to exist.
  • 1873 was republished by the Cornish Studies Library, Redruth. Some transcripts online. There is a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
  • 1883 has also been published in HTML format on CD-ROM by Cornish Roots, Redruth: 1999. £32 The CORNISH-L Library can help with this volume. Transcripts online. There is a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
  • The 1889 edition has a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories.
  • The 1893 edition is published in PDF format on CD-ROM by S & N Genealogy, Salisbury: 1999. It is also available in searchable PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2001. Transcripts online. There is a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
  • The 1897 edition has a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories.
  • The 1902 edition has a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories It is NOT available from S & N Genealogy, their web catalogue was wrong.
  • The 1906 edition has a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories.
  • The 1910 edition is available on microfiche from MM Publications, Lidgate, Suffolk: 1995. It is also available in searchable PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2003.
  • The 1914 edition is online in index & facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
  • The 1919 edition is available in BMP format on CD-ROM by Stepping Stones, York: 1998?. Later editions are in PDF format.
  • The 1935 edition is published in PDF format on CD-ROM by Genealogy Junction but is generally only available on eBay.
  • The 1939 edition is available in searchable PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2003. Described as the 21st. Edition.
• Pigot [pub.] Directory of Cornwall; Various editions exist.
  • The 1823 edition is available on microfiche from MM Publications of Suffolk. Transcripts online.
  • The 1830 edition (which also includes Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire) has been published in facsimile by Michael Winton, King’s Lynn: 1993.ISBN 0 9504069 7 X. Cornwall and Devon are available in HTML format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2000. There is an index to the Cornwall part of this edition by Rick Parsons; CFHS, Truro: 1995. ISBN 1-85869-303-9. There is a simpler online index mainly for the CD-ROM version. Another facsimilie on CDROM has been published by Back To Roots, Stonehouse: 2003. There is a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
  • The 1844 edition is available in searchable PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2000. The 1823 and 1844 editions are published together in PDF format on a CD-ROM from S & N Genealogy, Salisbury: 2000. The directory is online in index & facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories. Transcripts for St. Ives, Penzance and Mines are online.

  After this date, Pigot’s was taken over by Slater’s (see below).

• The Postal Directory and Gazetteer of Devon and Cornwall, 1862. I presume that this is different and separate to Kelly's of the same date, I have not seen it.
• Robson’s Commercial Directory of London and the Western Counties: 1839/40. Available in searchable PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2004.
• Slaters Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography; 1852. There is a facsimile at the University of Leicester Digital Library of Historical Directories
• The Universal British Directory; 1791–98. It has been transcribed and republished in county parts by B. & H. Preston, Dorset: 1998. It is also available, in its entirety, in PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2001. Transcripts online for St. Ives and Penzance.
• Wallis. Cornwall Register; 1847. Available in searchable PDF format on CDROM from the Archive CD Books Project, Cinderford: 2003.
• Williams’ Commercial Directory of the Principal Market Towns of Cornwall: 1847.