First published in 1830 and republished here as a fully-searchable DOWNLOAD is Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory. Renowned as one of the earliest and most complete directories and gazetteers, this publication contains the entries for the cities, towns, and principal villages in Bedfordshire. This publication contains 82 printed pages, of which 18 are a directory of Bedfordshire. Advertised as a Commercial Directory, Pigot's National Commercial Directory provides the names, addresses and occupations of the merchants, bankers, professional gentlemen, manufacturers and traders for the principal towns, cities and villages on which it treats. The National Commercial Directory also acts as a gazetteer and topographical dictionary and for may readers this is the most useful aspect of a National Commercial Directory such as Pigot's. Starting with a brief historical and topographical sketch of the county, Pigot's Directory then presents in alphabetical order the county Directory, which forms the vast bulk of this publication. Following the topographical description the National Commercial Directory provides details of Post Office and the names of nobility, gentry and clergy. This is followed of the trades section, consisting of Academies and schools, attorneys, bakers, blacksmiths, boot and shoemakers, bricklayers, butchers, coopers, corn dealers, dress makers and a dozen or more trades and professions. This is the minimum amount of detail one can expect in the National Commercial Directory while administrative capitals can expect at least a dozen pages.
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