Kelly's Directory

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The origins of Kelly's Directory can be traced to 1799 when Frederic Festus Kelly – His Majesty’s Inspector of Inland Letter Carriers – created the Post Office London Directory. In 1802, Kelly & Co Ltd was launched and throughout the 19th century Frederic Kelly gradually built upon his original publication, producing directories for an increasing number of UK counties.

In the United Kingdom, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory (almost always known as Kelly's) was in effect a Victorian version of today's Yellow Pages. The directories contained a list of all:

• businesses
• tradespeople
• local gentry
• landowners
• charities and
• other facilities located in a particular village or town etc.

Many reference libraries still keep their copies of these directories, which are now an important source for historical research.

An example of a quote from the Kelly's directory can be seen in the Farndish article.

Today, the Kelly's exists online as Kellysearch, a directory similar to the online Yellow Pages.