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 all known directories, sorted by year, with direct links to the download link for each file. Keep checking back as more years are added.

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

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

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 – Available Soon
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by Mill Road History Project

1932-1933

Cambridge Street and General Directory – Available Soon
Published by W. P. Spalding
Scanned by Mill Road History Project

1948

Kelly’s Cambridgeshire – Available Soon
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by Mill Road History Project

1953

Kelly’s Cambridgeshire – Available Soon
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by Mill Road History Project

1964

Kelly’s Cambridgeshire – Available Soon
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by Mill Road History Project

1967

Kelly’s Cambridge – Available Soon
Published by Kelly’s Directories Ltd
Scanned by Mill Road History Project