John Tait published the first Glasgow directory in 1783. This image is taken from a facsimile reprint published in 1871 by Robert Forrester.
In his introduction, Tait makes his excuses for possible errors and omissions. His directory was not a complete list of the citizens of Glasgow, but an attempt to record "every inhabitant, of the least note" in the city. Suspicions he encountered, regarding the use to which the information he gathered might be put, have persisted to the present day as census enumerators would testify.
Of the other towns Tait hoped to include in his directory, only Paisley appeared in the published edition. He did not produce a supplement or further editions.
It appears that Tait did not long outlive his directory, as his will was registered in 1786. But it was sufficiently successful to encourage Nathaniel Jones to compile a new one 1787. This evolved into the Post Office Glasgow directory, which appeared annually until 1978/1979.
Reference: Mitchell Library, GC 914.14351
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
directories, family history, genealogy, John Tait's Directory, Post Office Glasgow directory
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