The Manchester Directories 1772, 1773 & 1781 by Elizabeth Raffald

Book excerpt: In 1772 Manchester was a fast growing town thanks to the rise in industrialisation. Elizabeth Raffald was a busy entrepreneur involving herself in numerous business ventures. She ran a shop, a cookery school, a coaching inn, a servant's employment register, wrote a cookbook and supported the local newspaper financially, wrote a manuscript on midwifery and so much more. She produced her 1769 cookbook, The Experienced English Housekeeper and saw a need for a directory of traders and notable people. Only 3 years after producing her cookbook she had compiled the first ever directory for Manchester, followed by a second a year later as the town grew and addresses were improved. She produced a third directory in 1781. After she died in 1781 it took another 7 years before anyone else attempted another directory. Elizabeth Raffald was truly a pioneer of her time. For more about Elizabeth see 'The Experienced English Housekeeper of Manchester' by Suze Appleton