Post 1950 family history resources

In my last post I mentioned that we would be showcasing library and archive material of potential interest to family historians. So I thought I’d share with you this useful and rather underused resource – the Transport Directory (later to become the British Rail Directory)

These Directories which span years between 1953-1986 would be useful to you if you wanted to find what section of the railways your family member worked in and, what’s more, each volume contains a handy index so you don’t even need to know which company they worked for. In addition to the engineering departments, it covers office staff, catering, hotels, road services and docks and waterways. Basically anything under the remit of the British Transport Commission (or the later British Railways Board). Once you know what section they worked in, it will make finding more employment records (held at the National Archives) easier.

You would be welcome to consult these publications in Search Engine at any time.


Assorted Transport Directories from the Library Collection which you can consult in Search Engine (shelf-mark references 1.0054-55)


Transport Directory 1962


Filed under: Library and archive collections, Research Tagged: employees, family history, research, Search Engine

Continue reading...