Delving in a Directory

For this week's post we delved into the Magazines and Newsletters  category on Trove. 

The Newcastle city and country almanac & directory : with farm and garden calendar for 1889 contains much valuable information for researchers about early residents in settlements and towns in what is now the Lake Macquarie Local Government area. 

N.S.W. :, The Newcastle city and country almanac & directory : with farm and garden calendar R.C. Knaggs & Co, Newcastle viewed 18 August 2021 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2977812080

The index page of this directory gives an indication of the breadth of information it contains. 

In this post we are highlighting just a few descriptions of local towns and villages but, as this work is digitised and available on Trove, it can be searched to find other local information.

Trove Tuesday - Who's who in Wangi Wangi in 1937?

 A search in the Magazines & Newsletters Category on Trove can yield some surprises. One would not expect to find a digitised book in this category.

One serendipitous discovery when searching for references to Wangi Wangi in this category was finding that the 1937 edition of  'WISE'S NEW SOUTH WALES POST OFFICE COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY",  which the man in the street would class as a  book, had been digitised and was available there in Trove.  This publication is classed by the cataloguers as a Journal because it was an annual publication so perhaps that was why it was placed in the Magazines & Newsletters Category.  

There are 39 issues from 1909 of this publication, that was digitised from the collection of The State Library in NSW, available here on Trove : https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-522689844. This is a valuable contemporary resource for researchers to track down their ancestors' movements over time. 

1909, 'WISE'S NEW SOUTH WALES POST OFFICE COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY 1937', Wise's New South Wales post office directory Wise's Directories, Sydney viewed 27 July 2021 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-653883586

This publication contains some lists of the residents in our State. Included in the pages of Newcastle suburbs was this list of residents from Wangi Wangi and Arcadia. Some of the entries show the profession or trade of those listed. (Follow link in citation to access and enlarge image on Trove).

1909, 'WISE'S NEW SOUTH WALES POST OFFICE COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY 1937', Wise's New South Wales post office directory Wise's Directories, Sydney viewed 27 July 2021 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-653883586