Its not always necessary to think only of handwritten records. Perhaps the most obvious source of information on local life in the modern era is the newspaper. Local and provincial newspapers, which from the 18th century onwards could appear daily or weekly, reported on events in great depth. In fact, some towns could support more than one daily paper.

Another important local published source which also saw its heyday in the 19th century is the trade directory. These provide a wealth of information about local people, occupations, businesses and institutions, and can be found in local reference libraries.

Digital reproductions of 18th, 19th and early 20th century local and trade directories from England and Wales are available on the Historical Directories website which is published by the University of Leicester Library.

The 19th century was also a time of a great many enquiries and reports by Parliament into major social and economic issues of the day. These investigations often gathered vast amounts of oral and written evidence which was printed and form part of the Parliamentary Papers series. It could be worth finding out if the area of interest was included in an enquiry, perhaps on the state of a particular industry or sanitary conditions. University and reference libraries usually have sets of these reports that can be consulted.

For more information on primary printed sources see our research guide on Sources for the history of the press.