Schani Biermann wrote: > do city directories for Aberdeen City and surrounding parishes exist > for the years 185-1855 exist? Only for Aberdeen City, which at those dates consisted of the parish of St Nicholas and a relatively small part of the parish of Old Machar. > does anyone on the list have acess to them and do a lookup for me? There is a complete set held by Aberdeen Public Library, who used to accept email enquiries. However, as a result of financial problems, this service appears meantime to be suspended: http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/Libraries/lib/Lib_LocalStudies.asp But are you aware that these Directories only ever included a minority of Aberdeen's inhabitants? Only heads of household are named, and as you had to pay for inclusion in the Directory only people who were active in trade or commerce (and saw inclusion as a useful advertisement) or people who thought themselves to be in the upper strata of society are liable to be listed. Gavin Bell