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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 can be found at [http://www* ''The East-India register and directory'' (Digitised editions).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]
* ''The East India register & directory 1844''. [CD-Rom] Cinderford: Archive CD Books, 2005
* ''The East-India register and army list''. [Online version] London: W.H. Allen
Scattered editions are available for searching, reading online or downloading at Google Books. See [[Directories_online#East-India_Register|our index to volumes]].==Regional Indian directories==
This contains on one DVD ''The East India register & directory 1806''Can be viewed, ''The East-India register searched and directory 1827'', ''The East India register & directory 1836'', and ''The East India downloaded on [http://books.google.com/books?id=6iQoAAAAYAAJ& Army list 1851'' as searchable PDF facsimilespg=PA11 Google Books].
Each year on this DVD, plus others, are also available from [http://youroldbooksandmaps.co.uk Your Old Books & Maps] as individual CD-Roms or pre-pay downloads.
*''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 Oriental Magazineaccess 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 Calcutta Review''many Universities.Most of the original books are in the British Library. ECCO may also be accessed from the British Library Reading Rooms.
[http://books.google.com/books?id=0hkoAAAAYAAJ Volume 1, Jan-June 1823] [http://books.google.com/books?id=HRooAAAAYAAJ Volume 2, July-December 1823] Available to view or download on Google Books
* ''The Oriental herald and colonial review'' Also available on the website [http:// edited by James Silk Buckinghamwww. [gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/products/ecco/index.htm Eighteenth Century Collections Online version] London: Sandford Arnot(ECCO - a part of Gale Digital Collections) at participating libraries, including the British Library Reading Rooms.
Available to view or download on Google Books. See [[Directories_online#Oriental_Herald_and_Colonial_Review|our index to volumes]].
* ''The Quarterly oriental magazine, review and register''. Full version on [Online version] Calcuttahttp: Thacker Available to view or download on //books.google.com/books?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ Google Books. See [[Directories_online#Quarterly_Oriental_Magazine.2C_Review_and_Register|our index to volumes]], includes Bengal Army list, civil list etc.
General Directories This is available areon 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.
1791 and 1797: ''The East India Kalendar; or, Asiatic register for Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Fort Marlborough, China, and St. Helena''
1795: * ''The Bengal or East-India calendarkalendar and register'' (includes Madras. [Online version] 1795, Bombay etc)1800
* ''Thacker's Indian directory 1895''. [CD-Rom] Cinderford: Archive CD Books, 2002
Thacker* ''The Bengal register, containing lists of the Hon. Company's annual directories are civil and military establishments, under the most comprehensive Presidency of all the Indian directories.Fort William'' [Online version] 1787
===Regional Indian directories===
Can be viewThis provides, searched in what is termed historical sketches, a comparison between British India in 1810 and downloaded 1821, including information on [http://booksthe policies of the Indian states and British India, territorial expansion, finances and trade.googleThere are also government regulations, plus parliamentary and India House proceedings for the year.com/books?id=6iQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 Google Books]. * ''The Bengal Directory There are some articles and Annual Register''an obituary. [Online version] At the end is a section compiled from Calcutta:Samuel Smith & Co.newspapers listing the administrators/executors for the estates of various deceased people, arrivals and departures, 1838 Full version on [http://books.google.com/books?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ Google Books]marriages, includes Bengal Army listdeaths, civil list etcand births. * ''The Calcutta Annual Register 1821'births are arranged by the child's gender with twins at the end of the sequence. [Online version] Calcutta: Government Gazette Press, 1823
* ''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.
* ''Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register''. [Online Version] Calcutta: S. Smith & Co.
Available to view or download on Google Books. See [[Directories_online#Calcutta_Magazine_and_Monthly_Register|our index to volumes]]. Note that page numbers in some of volumes seem not to be consecutive, perhaps due to the way they have been bound or filmed.==Civil Service directories==
Several editions are available on Google Books. See [[Directories_online#Calcutta_Monthly_Journal|our index to volumes]]. *Available on When the website ECCO (see above) 1785: ''The Oriental magazine; or, Calcutta amusement'' 1787: ''The Bengal register, containing lists governing of India was transferred from the Hon. Company's civil and military establishments, under HEIC to the Presidency of Fort William'' (also includes surgeons) 1787British government, 1789: ''The Bengal CalendarEast-India register'' 1790: was superceded by what was initially called ''The Bengal Calendar & RegisterIndian army and civil service list'' 1790: . This later series is collectively referred to as ''The Calcutta Monthly RegisterIndia list''. Vol 1, November 1790 1792: ''The Bengal Kalendar, [[LDS]] (Mormon) Family Search Library has microfilmed editions of this from 1861 through to 1947 and Almanack'' 1795 and 1800these are listed in [http: ''The Bengal Kalendar and Register'' //www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=Civil Service directories=== *Available on 778871 Library Catalogue] under the website ECCO (see above) for 1790 and 1799: 'title 'A list of the Company's civil servants, at their settlements in the An East-Indies, the island St. Helena, India register and Chinadirectory''. This [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=778871 page] from 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(List of senior and junior merchants, factors, writersMormon)Library catalogue has the following [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=578082 entry] for India Office Army Lists 1886-1940 available on fiche.The films can be viewed at a local [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp Family History Center].
→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].
Fully searchable editions covering various years can be found Online. See [[Directories_online#East-India_Register|our index to volumes]].
* ''Thacker's Indian directory 1895''. **This PDF facsimile is out of production in the UK, but directory can now be found searched or browsed online at [http://wwwsearch.archivecdbooksancestry.comco.au Archive CD Books Australia] or [http:uk/search/wwwdb.archivecdbooks.ie Archive CD Books Ireland] or [http://wwwaspx?dbid=31426 Ancestry.archivecdbooksusaco.com Archive CD Books USAuk]
Thacker's annual directories are the most comprehensive of all the Indian directories.
* ''East India registers DVD collectionThe Bengal and Agra annual guide and gazetteer''. [DVDOnline version] DewsburyCalcutta: Your Old Books & MapsW. Rushton and Co., 2007.1841
* ''The Bengal calendar''. [Online version] 1787, 1789
* ''The Bengal calendar & register''. [Online version] 1790
* ''The Bengal directory and annual register''. [Online version] Calcutta:Samuel Smith & Co., 1838
*There are 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://wwwBengal kalendar and almanack''.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 AustraliaOnline version], [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.1792
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.
HEIC employees in Bengal, including surgeons. 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 and Agra Annual Guide and Gazetteer for 1841Calcutta annual register 1821''. [Online version] Calcutta: W. Rushton and Co.Government Gazette Press, 18411823
Available to view or download on [http://books.google.com/books?id=26sEAAAAQAAJ Google Books].
* ''Calcutta Monthly Journal and General RegisterThe India list''. [Online versionMicroform] Calcutta: Samuel Smith & Son1861-1947
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]]
