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Searching Yearbooks and directories that are available as online books is not as accurate as it could be, probably due to the quality of the print, with letters misshapen etc. As an example, a search led one researcher tend to an item overlap in the 1838 ''Bengal Directory''. However, when the volume was read more widely several other items of interest were found, none of which had been picked up by using the search facility. If you information they offer and for this reason both are looking for something specific and you do not find it included in this way, it pays reading list. The historical summaries offered in a yearbook can provide excellent background information on a particular year to look in the index, say for the births, marriages and deaths, and then go through the whole sectionfamily historian.
===Guide to Note that army and naval directories===are listed in the [[Military reading list]].
This booklet provides an invaluable guide to the printed directories available on people who lived or served in British India, with examples of the kind of information useful to family historians to be found in them. Written by Richard Morgan, whom many will know from his articles in family history journals on genealogical research relating to India, it is in his characteristically brisk and down-to-earth style, and full of practical advice on how to get the best out of these important sources. In particular he draws attention to the sometimes underestimated Thacker's Indian Directory which so often comes to the rescue when your ancestor was a 'non-official' and therefore omitted from almost all the official records. All the directories discussed are readily available at the British Library and directions are given on locating them elsewhere. (reviewed by David Blake, FIBIS Trustee)
* ''Allen's Indian Mail''. [Online version] London: WH Allen
Scattered editions are fully available on Google Books. See [[Directories_online#AllenImage:FFF3.27s_Indian_Mailjpg|our index to volumesright]]* Morgan, Richard''Indian Directories''. London: Families in British India Society, 2009 (FIBIS fact files; 3)
* ''The Asiatic annual register, or, A view of Available from the history of Hindustan, and of the politics, commerce and literature of Asia''[https://www.fibis. [Online versionorg/store/ FIBIS Bookshop] London: Cadell & Davies, 1799-1811
In addition to standard information, these include many items about shipping, including ships hired for the season, and loss of ships.==General Indian directories==
A number of editions are fully available at Google Books. See [[Directories_online#Asiatic_Annual_Register|our index to volumes]].
* ''The Asiatic journal This early directory includes details for Madras, Bombay etc. and monthly miscellanyis part of a number of directories from the late 1700’s available on the website [http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/register''products/ecco/index. [htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online version] London(ECCO- A part of Gale Digital Collections). The access is restricted to library card holders (usually residents) of participating Libraries, including the National Libraries of [http: W//www.Hnls.uk/catalogues/online/er/index. Allenhtml Scotland], 1816[http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=otherresourcesa-1845z Wales], [http://www.nli.ie/en/eresources.aspx Ireland], [http://www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources/list/licenced/e Australia], [http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/databases/athome.cfm State Library of NSW], and many Universities. ECCO may also be accessed from the British Library Reading Rooms.
In addition to standard information, these include many items about shipping, including ships hired for the season, and loss of ships.
Google Books many editions (two per year until 1829* ''The East India kalendar; or, Asiatic register for Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Fort Marlborough, China, then three) to view online or downloadand St. Helena''. FIBIwiki has an [[Asiatic Journal|index to available editionsOnline version]].1791, 1797
* ''The East-India register and directory for 1819''. [Online version] London: Cox and Bayliss, 1819
The EIRs provide complete lists of the servants (employees) of the * ''An East -India Company both at home register and abroad including civilians, military and marine personnel, also Europeans and mariners with interests in India, but not in the service of the Company, for a particular yeardirectory''.[Microform] 1803-1860
Available The EIRs provide complete lists of the servants (employees) of the East India Company both at home and abroad including civilians, military and marine personnel, also Europeans and mariners with interests in India, but not in the service of the Company, for searching or reading online at [http://books.googlea particular year.com/books?id=x_8nAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22east+india+register%22 Google Books]. May also be downloaded The EIRs were superceded by ''The India list''.
* ''The East India register & directory 1830''. [CD-Rom] Cinderford: Archive CD Books, 2003
This PDF facsimile is out of production in the UK, but * ''The East-India register and directory'' (Digitised editions). Fully searchable editions covering various years can be found at Online. See [[http://www.archivecdbooks.com.au Archive CD Books AustraliaDirectories_online#East-India_Register|our index to volumes] or [http://www.archivecdbooks.ie Archive CD Books Ireland] or [http://www.archivecdbooksusa.com Archive CD Books USA]
This PDF facsimile is out Thacker's annual directories are the most comprehensive of production in all the UK, but can be found at [http://www.archivecdbooks.com.au Archive CD Books Australia] or [http://www.archivecdbooks.ie Archive CD Books Ireland] or [http://www.archivecdbooksusaIndian directories.com Archive CD Books USA]
* ''The East-India register and army list''. [Online version] London: W.H. Allen==Regional Indian directories==
Scattered editions are available for searching, reading online or downloading at Google Books. See [[Directories_online#East-India_Register|our index to volumes]].
* ''East India registers DVD collection''. Can be viewed, searched and downloaded on [DVD] Dewsburyhttp: Your Old //books.google.com/books?id=6iQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 Google Books & Maps, 2007].
This contains on one DVD ''The East India register & directory 1806'', ''The East-India register and directory 1827'', ''The East India register & directory 1836'', and ''The East India & Army list 1851'' as searchable PDF facsimiles.
Each year on this DVD, plus others, are also available from * ''The Bengal calendar''. [http://youroldbooksandmaps.co.uk Your Old Books & MapsOnline version] as individual CD-Roms or pre-pay downloads.1787, 1789
* ''The Oriental herald and colonial review'' / edited by James Silk Buckingham. [Online version] London: Sandford Arnot
Available to view or download on Google Books* ''The Bengal calendar & register''. See [[Directories_online#Oriental_Herald_and_Colonial_Review|our index to volumesOnline version]]. 1790
* ''The Quarterly oriental magazine, review and register''. [Online version] Calcutta: Thacker
Available to view or download on Google Books* ''The Bengal directory and annual register''. See [[Directories_online#Quarterly_Oriental_Magazine.2C_Review_and_Register|our index to volumes]Online version]Calcutta:Samuel Smith & Co., 1838
* ''Thacker's Indian directory 1895''. [CD-Rom] Cinderford: Archive CD Books, 2002
Thacker* ''The Bengal kalendar and almanack''s annual directories are the most comprehensive of all the Indian directories. [Online version] 1792
===Regional Indian directories===* ''The Bengal kalendar and register''. [Online version] 1795, 1800
* ''The Bengal and Agra Annual Guide and Gazetteer for 1841''. Also available on the website [Online version] Calcuttahttp: W//www.gale.cengage. Rushton and Cocom/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online] (ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections) at participating libraries, 1841including the British Library Reading Rooms.
Can be view, searched and downloaded on [http://books.google.com/books?id=6iQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 Google Books].
* ''The HEIC employees in Bengal Directory and Annual Register'', including surgeons. This is available on the website [http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online version] Calcutta:Samuel Smith & Co(ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections) at participating libraries, including the British Library Reading Rooms., 1838
Full version on [http://books.google.com/books?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ Google Books], includes Bengal Army list, civil list etc.
* ''The Calcutta Annual Register This provides, in what is termed historical sketches, a comparison between British India in 1810 and 1821'', including information on the policies of the Indian states and British India, territorial expansion, finances and trade. There are also government regulations, plus parliamentary and India House proceedings for the year. There are some articles and an obituary. [Online version] At the end is a section compiled from Calcutta: Government Gazette Pressnewspapers listing the administrators/executors for the estates of various deceased people, arrivals and departures, marriages, deaths, 1823and births. The births are arranged by the child's gender with twins at the end of the sequence.
* ''The Calcutta Christian Observer''. [Online version] Calcutta: Thacker & Co.
Available to view or download on Google Books. See [[Directories_online#Calcutta_Christian_Observer|our index to volumes]]. Volumes 1-5 include listings of births, marriages, deaths, however the later volumes seem to be limited to missionaries etc.==Civil Service directories==
Available When the governing of India was transferred from the HEIC to the British government, ''The East-India register'' was superceded by what was initially called ''The Indian army and civil service list''. This later series is collectively referred to view or download on Google Booksas ''The India list''. See The [[Directories_online#Calcutta_Magazine_and_Monthly_Register|our index to volumesLDS]]. Note that page numbers in some (Mormon) Family Search Library has microfilmed editions of volumes seem not this from 1861 through to be consecutive, perhaps due to the way they have been bound or filmed1947 and these are listed in [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset. asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=* %2C0%2C0&titleno=778871 Library Catalogue] under the title ''Calcutta Monthly Journal An East-India register and General Registerdirectory''. This [Online versionhttp://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=778871 page] Calcuttafrom the catalogue shows the various titles which form the series. Note that some of the volumes do not contain an Army List eg the 1905 volume mentioned below. The LDS(Mormon) Library catalogue has the following [http: Samuel Smith //www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails& Son Several editions are titleno=578082 entry] for India Office Army Lists 1886-1940 available on Google Booksfiche. See The films can be viewed at a local [[Directories_online#Calcutta_Monthly_Journal|our index to volumes]http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp Family History Center]. ===Civil Service directories===
→Guide to directories
Old directories may be thought of as the early equivalent of the telephone book with both white and yellow page information. They can yield invaluable snippets of information about such things as an ancestor's job, place of work, promotion, or even home address, in addition to more general information such as postage rates, distances between various localities, various government regulations, and who was in charge of what in a particular year. Many of them also list births, marriages and deaths, and ships’ passengers.
Ian Poyntz's [[Mailing lists|Roots Mailing List]] website has more [http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poyntz/India/directories.html information on Directories] and the holdings in many libraries around the world, including the British Library.
Searching directories that are available as online books is not as accurate as it could be, usually due to the quality of the print. As an example, a search led one researcher to an item in the 1838 ''Bengal Directory''. However, when the volume was read more widely several other items of interest were found, none of which had been picked up by using the search facility. If you are looking for something specific and you do not find it this way, it pays to look in the index, say for the births, marriages and deaths, and then go through the whole section.
See also:* Morgan, Richard[[Newspapers & magazines reading list]]''Indian *[[Directories''. London: Families in British India Society, 2009 (FIBIS fact files; 3)online]]
===General Indian Guide to directories===
This booklet provides an invaluable guide to the printed directories available on people who lived or served in British India, with examples of the kind of information useful to family historians to be found in them. Written by Richard Morgan, whom many will know from his articles in family history journals on genealogical research relating to India, it is in his characteristically brisk and down-to-earth style, and full of practical advice on how to get the best out of these important sources. In particular he draws attention to the sometimes underestimated Thacker's ''Indian Directory'' which so often comes to the rescue when your ancestor was a 'non-official' and therefore omitted from almost all the official records. All the directories discussed are readily available at the British Library and directions are given on locating them elsewhere. (reviewed by David Blake, FIBIS Trustee)
* ''The Bengal or East-India calendar''. [Online version] 1795
These very early editions of the ''East-India register'' are part of a number of directories from the late 1700’s available on the website [http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online] (ECCO- A part of Gale Digital Collections - see note above under ''The Bengal or East-India calendar'').
The [[LDS]] (Mormon) Family Search Library has many editions from 1803 to 1860 in microfilm format listed in its [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=778871 Library Catalogue]. This [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=778871 page] from the Catalogue shows the various titles which are included in the series and will be available to view at a local [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp Family History Center].
* ''The East India register & Thacker's Indian directory 18441895''. **This directory can now be searched or browsed online at [CD-Romhttp://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=31426 Ancestry.co.uk] Cinderford: Archive CD Books, 2005
* ''The Bengal and Agra annual guide and gazetteer''. [Online version] Calcutta: W. Rushton and Co., 1841
These are part of a number of directories from the late 1700’s available on the website [http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online] (ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections).The access is restricted to library card holders (usually residents) of participating libraries, including the National Libraries of [http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/er/index.html Scotland], [http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=otherresourcesa-z Wales], [http://www.nli.ie/en/eresources.aspx Ireland], [http://www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources/list/licenced/e Australia], [http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/databases/athome.cfm State Library of NSW], and many Universities.
Most of the original books are in the British Library. ECCO may also be accessed from the British Library Reading Rooms.
Also available on the website [http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online] (ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections) at participating libraries, including the British Library Reading Rooms.
Full version on [http://books.google.com/books?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ Google Books], includes Bengal Army list, civil list etc.
This PDF facsimile is out of production in available on the UK, but can be found at website [http://www.archivecdbooksgale.cengage.com.au Archive CD Books Australia] or [http:/DigitalCollections/www.archivecdbooks.ie Archive CD Books Ireland] or [http:products/ecco/wwwindex.archivecdbooksusahtm Eighteenth Century Collections Online] (ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections) at participating libraries, including the British Library Reading Rooms.com Archive CD Books USA]
* ''The Bengal register, containing lists of the Hon. Company's civil and military establishments, under the Presidency of Fort William'' [Online version] 1787
* ''The Calcutta annual register 1821''. [Online version] Calcutta: Government Gazette Press, 1823
Available to view or download on [http://books.google.com/books?id=26sEAAAAQAAJ Google Books].
* ''Calcutta Magazine and Monthly RegisterThe India list''. [Online VersionMicroform] Calcutta: S. Smith & Co. 1861-1947
This PDF facsimile is out of production in the UK, but can be found at [http://www.archivecdbooks.com.au Archive CD Books Australia] or [http://www.archivecdbooks.ie Archive CD Books Ireland] or [http://www.archivecdbooksusa.com Archive CD Books USA]
* ''A List of the Company's civil servants, at their settlements in the East-Indies, the island St. Helena, and China''. [Online version] 1790, 1799
These HEIC lists of senior and junior merchants, factors, and writers are part of a number of directories from the late 1700’s available on the website [http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online] (ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections).The access is restricted to library card holders (usually residents) of participating libraries, including the National Libraries of [http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/er/index.html Scotland], [http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=otherresourcesa-z Wales], [http://www.nli.ie/en/eresources.aspx Ireland], [http://www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources/list/licenced/e Australia], [http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/databases/athome.cfm State Library of NSW], and many universities.
Most of the original books are in the British Library. ECCO may also be accessed from the British Library Reading Rooms.
See also the [[Newspapers_&_magazines_reading_list | Newspapers & Magazines reading list]]
[[Category:Recommended reading]]
