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A key resource when researching the history of a building or street are the street directories. There were two main publishers, W.P. Spalding and Frederic Kelly, although a few other similar directories were also published by others. Spalding stopped published in 1939 and Kelly in 1975.
Physical copies of the Cambridgeshire directories can be consulted at:
- The Cambridgeshire Collection at the Central Library (a complete set of Spalding’s and a selection of Kelly’s)
- The University Library (a complete set of Spalding’s and Kelly’s from 1948-1975)
They also come up for sale on eBay regularly.
In around 2006 the Historical Directories project digitised 689 directories from across the country and made them available for free download as searchable PDFs from the University of Leicester. These files are more easily searched on Ancestry and Jstor for those with access/subscriptions to those sites.
Beyond that a small number of additional directories are available for free download and for sale on CD/download from online sellers.
In light of this a project was started in 2026 by the Mill Road History Society to digitise as many directories as possible and make them freely available to all. The list below includes links to all known directories, sorted by year, with direct links to the PDF in each case. Note the PDFs are between 50-80MB in size.
Check the Updates list below for new or revised uploads.
Updates
18 May 2026: page created with links to existing scans
19 May 2026: uploaded Spalding’s 1931-32, 1932-33 and Kelly’s 1948, 1967 from Mill Road History Society
20 May 2026: uploaded Kelly’s 1953
21 May 2026: uploaded Kelly’s 1933
27 May 2026: uploaded Kelly’s 1964
6 June 2026: uploaded Spalding’s 1935-36, 1939-40 and Kelly’s 1955, 1960, 1968
1830-1831
Pigot’s Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by Pigot & Co.
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1839
Robson’s Commercial Directory of Beds, Bucks, Cambridgeshire, Hunts, Norfolk and Suffolk
Published by William Robson & Co.
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1851
History, Gazetteer and Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by Robert Gardner
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1869
The Post Office Directory of Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk
Published by E. R. Kelly
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1878
Spalding’s Street and General Directory of Cambridge
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by Google
1879
The Post Office Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by E. R. Kelly
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1881
Spalding’s Street and General Directory of Cambridge
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by Google
Note missing edges on some pages
1883
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk
Published by E. R. Kelly
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1892
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk
Published by E. R. Kelly
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1896
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk
Published by E. R. Kelly
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1901
Eastern Counties of England Directory
Published by Town & County Directories
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1902
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by Unknown
1904
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1913
Street and General Directory of Cambridge
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1916
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Historical Directories project
1931-1932
Cambridge Street and General Directory
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1932-1933
Cambridge Street and General Directory
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1933
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1935-1936
Cambridge Street and General Directory
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1939-1940
Cambridge Street and General Directory
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1948
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1953
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1955
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1960
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1964
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1967
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
1968
Kelly’s Directory of Cambridge
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by the Mill Road History Society
