Hi Kelly It is mainly only the Greater London area ones at the moment so keep trying at intervals it will be a while until the whole lot are on. So you will not find Shropshire/Lancs etc yet but worth trying periodically as they update. Also it was a while in England before many houses had a telephone - we never had one the whole time I was living at home, my parents only got a phone when my brother had it installed late 1970s so you may not find your relatives this way either but by 1984 many houses did have phones. Quote from Ancestry site: 'This collection contains British phone books published between 1880, the year after the public telephone service was introduced to the UK, and 1984, from the historic phone book collection held by BT Archives. Currently the database contains 430 phone books covering London and large parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, and Surrey. This collection does not currently contain full county coverage. After 1954 the format of the phone book was substantially changed and separate phone books were produced for those regions outside of the London postal area. Additional years and counties will be added to this collection over the course of future releases.' Hope this helps to clarify position. Pam -----Original Message----- From: eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of impulsion Sent: 23 September 2006 06:25 To: eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online Hi Graham I had a look at these the day that they were released.. It is good but a long search.. don't think it will be worthwhile for some families etc as it gives many many results.. For example I put in Richard Pollard in Burnley 1940 (+ or - 20) and I couldn't see a Lancs option so I chose Metro Midland Southern Western? All available counties (as again no Lancs option). It still give me many many London results?? My Richard was no where near London! I scanned through 400 results (mostly London/Kent) and then gave up. It doesn't tell you how many results in total that there are... Surely the people in Lancs had telephones back then? Maybe I have not used the search engine properly - open to any suggestions? I wonder if they will fine tune the search engine a bit eventually! Or maybe give more information on their coverage.. I wont be trying to search for my SMITH family on this one :) Cheers Kelly -----Original Message----- From: eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Graham Price Sent: Saturday, 23 September 2006 12:39 PM To: clwyd@rootsweb.com; eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com Subject: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online Hi all According to the Melbourne "Age" newspaper, as relayed by the Telegraph, yesterday Saturday 22nd, telephone directories 1880-1984 for the UK are released for online viewing. As you do, I accidently threw the paper out early this morning into the rubbish, but I think the gist of it was that most of the counties around London have already been uploaded and the rest are expected to be online by early next year. The url was obviously www.ancestry.co.uk so I imagine that anyone with payable access to Ancestry.com, whether it be UK or not, will be able to download these indexes, etc. Which means that you can also go to any LDS library centre, genealogy library, or major town library and do the same, free. Happy hunting. I can hardly wait. Cheers Graham Melbourne ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

----- Original Message ----- From: "Pam Craven" Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 4:00 AM Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online > Also it was a while in England before many houses had a telephone - we > never > had one the whole time I was living at home, my parents only got a phone > when my brother had it installed late 1970s so you may not find your > relatives this way either but by 1984 many houses did have phones. When I lived in the UK (1966-1970), it was unusual to have a telephone and very dear to have one installed - believe my sister-in-law said they had paid £75. Plus, there was up to a 3 year waiting period. As the average wage was roughly £70 per month (based this on my own husband who was 9+y in the RN) or less. Not only was there a monthly fee, but each time one picked up the phone, to ring a local number, it cost 3d, plus more depending on the duration of the conversation. It could add up quickly. In the UK, during my time there, we spent on average £5-£6 per week for groceries, including gas/electric metres, a pint or two in the pub, as well as petrol for the car. We also had a baby in '68. We didn't skint ourselves, but were still able to save half my husband's wage per month. The buying power of the £ was much greater than that of the $, back then. In 1970, when I bought $s to come home, the £ = $2.35 CDN. It was £1 per minute to ring Canada, if I recall rightly. Never did, as it was far too dear! My S-i-L's husband owned a business, so he was able to have a telephone installed in their home a little quicker than the average householder. He was on the waiting list for over 2 years. We, living in married quarters, weren't allowed to even apply to have one, as it was believed we were too transient, so may do a flit, leaving a large bill behind. There were call boxes everywhere, including out in the middle of nowhere (it seemed to me at times), so having a telephone in one's home wasn't truly a necessity. The UK also had toll-free 999 (= 911) so very long before we (North America) even considered such a service. If you cannot find any of your folk listed in the pre-1970's telephone directories, the chances are they didn't have a phone, especially if they were shop or mill workers, ag. labourers and/or the like. Toni ~ Ontario

I would agree that up to at least 1970,it was about the same percentage now that are not on the phone,who owned one in those days. Regards William Russell Jones Cefn Mawr Wrexham. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Trena" <amheater@cogeco.ca> To: <eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 3:51 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pam Craven" Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 4:00 AM Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online > Also it was a while in England before many houses had a telephone - we > never > had one the whole time I was living at home, my parents only got a phone > when my brother had it installed late 1970s so you may not find your > relatives this way either but by 1984 many houses did have phones. When I lived in the UK (1966-1970), it was unusual to have a telephone and very dear to have one installed - believe my sister-in-law said they had paid £75. Plus, there was up to a 3 year waiting period. As the average wage was roughly £70 per month (based this on my own husband who was 9+y in the RN) or less. Not only was there a monthly fee, but each time one picked up the phone, to ring a local number, it cost 3d, plus more depending on the duration of the conversation. It could add up quickly. In the UK, during my time there, we spent on average £5-£6 per week for groceries, including gas/electric metres, a pint or two in the pub, as well as petrol for the car. We also had a baby in '68. We didn't skint ourselves, but were still able to save half my husband's wage per month. The buying power of the £ was much greater than that of the $, back then. In 1970, when I bought $s to come home, the £ = $2.35 CDN. It was £1 per minute to ring Canada, if I recall rightly. Never did, as it was far too dear! My S-i-L's husband owned a business, so he was able to have a telephone installed in their home a little quicker than the average householder. He was on the waiting list for over 2 years. We, living in married quarters, weren't allowed to even apply to have one, as it was believed we were too transient, so may do a flit, leaving a large bill behind. There were call boxes everywhere, including out in the middle of nowhere (it seemed to me at times), so having a telephone in one's home wasn't truly a necessity. The UK also had toll-free 999 (= 911) so very long before we (North America) even considered such a service. If you cannot find any of your folk listed in the pre-1970's telephone directories, the chances are they didn't have a phone, especially if they were shop or mill workers, ag. labourers and/or the like. Toni ~ Ontario ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Pam That makes sense. I guess myself and others with Shropshire and Lancashire rellies might have to wait a while! Cheers Kelly -----Original Message----- From: eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Pam Craven Sent: Saturday, 23 September 2006 4:01 PM To: eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online Hi Kelly It is mainly only the Greater London area ones at the moment so keep trying at intervals it will be a while until the whole lot are on. So you will not find Shropshire/Lancs etc yet but worth trying periodically as they update. Also it was a while in England before many houses had a telephone - we never had one the whole time I was living at home, my parents only got a phone when my brother had it installed late 1970s so you may not find your relatives this way either but by 1984 many houses did have phones. Quote from Ancestry site: 'This collection contains British phone books published between 1880, the year after the public telephone service was introduced to the UK, and 1984, from the historic phone book collection held by BT Archives. Currently the database contains 430 phone books covering London and large parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, and Surrey. This collection does not currently contain full county coverage. After 1954 the format of the phone book was substantially changed and separate phone books were produced for those regions outside of the London postal area. Additional years and counties will be added to this collection over the course of future releases.' Hope this helps to clarify position. Pam -----Original Message----- From: eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of impulsion Sent: 23 September 2006 06:25 To: eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online Hi Graham I had a look at these the day that they were released.. It is good but a long search.. don't think it will be worthwhile for some families etc as it gives many many results.. For example I put in Richard Pollard in Burnley 1940 (+ or - 20) and I couldn't see a Lancs option so I chose Metro Midland Southern Western? All available counties (as again no Lancs option). It still give me many many London results?? My Richard was no where near London! I scanned through 400 results (mostly London/Kent) and then gave up. It doesn't tell you how many results in total that there are... Surely the people in Lancs had telephones back then? Maybe I have not used the search engine properly - open to any suggestions? I wonder if they will fine tune the search engine a bit eventually! Or maybe give more information on their coverage.. I wont be trying to search for my SMITH family on this one :) Cheers Kelly -----Original Message----- From: eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:eng-shropshire-plus-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Graham Price Sent: Saturday, 23 September 2006 12:39 PM To: clwyd@rootsweb.com; eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com Subject: [ENG-SHROP] 1880-1984 Telephone Directories online Hi all According to the Melbourne "Age" newspaper, as relayed by the Telegraph, yesterday Saturday 22nd, telephone directories 1880-1984 for the UK are released for online viewing. As you do, I accidently threw the paper out early this morning into the rubbish, but I think the gist of it was that most of the counties around London have already been uploaded and the rest are expected to be online by early next year. The url was obviously www.ancestry.co.uk so I imagine that anyone with payable access to Ancestry.com, whether it be UK or not, will be able to download these indexes, etc. Which means that you can also go to any LDS library centre, genealogy library, or major town library and do the same, free. Happy hunting. I can hardly wait. Cheers Graham Melbourne ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message