City of Bath - early directories?

[ainslie]

Can anyone with local knowledge tell me if any directories of residents were published in or before 1786? 
I am trying to track a Richard Peirce, 'late of the city of Bath, gentleman' but when he made a will in 1786 was living near Taunton.
He had been a member of the Bathonian Society.  One of the witnesses was John Peirce.

Many thanks
Ainslie

[DRH123]

Directories in the usual sense seem to have only started in the 1830s but there are lists of rate-payers going back earlier, how far varies with parish. There's a list of what the Bath RO has on this page

http://www.batharchives.co.uk/sites/bath_record_office/files/heritage/House%20History.pdf

Some of those lists are incorporated in their Bath Ancestors database. There's a Richard Pierce who lived at Gay Street in the 1770s.

David

[ainslie]

David

Thanks for that.  The 1770s man might be the one I am interested in, as spelling varied, even in the same document.
I'll have a look through the online source, too.

Ainslie

[philheeks]

Hi Ainslie

Ive been doing family history for 22 years & have never seen a post office directory that old, have you thought of getting in touch with the local library for the area you want to find him in

All the very best

Phil
Weston-super-Mare

[ShaunJ]

Have you seen the account of the loss of his nephew's ship the Halsewell in the Reading Mercury of 16 January 1786? (Page 1).  A very sad tale. EDIT: I now see there are lots of online accounts of this shipwreck !

[ainslie]

Phil: Liverpool had directories from 1766, published locally, not by the Post Office. I hoped something similar might have happened at Bath.

Shaun:  Yes, thanks.  I have been researching that part of my family for years.  There is a new book out, under the title 'The Unfortunate Captain Peirce'.

A

[DRH123]

Bath did have earlier directories. The city library has copies although the Record Office doesn't. The earliest seem to be from 1792, still to late for the original query.

http://www.librarieswest.org.uk/02_Catalogue/02_003_BrowseResults.aspx?page=1&searchTerm=Bath+Directory&searchType=1&searchTerm2=&media=&branch=24&authority=&language=&junior=&referrer=02_001_Search.aspx

David

[philheeks]

Hi Gang

Sorry about my error as I was just thinking of the predecessor to Kellys & forgot the likes of Billings & other private companies - it just goes to show how easy it is for any of us to make a mistake when our mind is on something else at the time - I don't half feel a prat now for saying what I did & wish I could turn the clock back so I had time to think before making my stupid error

All the very best

Phil