Version: 1.0.0 | Published: 7 Oct 2025 | Updated: 276 days ago
BT Historical Subscribers Lists
Dataset
Summary
Description:
This dataset provides a historical record of telephone subscribers for three cities in Great Britain, digitised from printed British telephone directories published between 1881 and 1951 at decadal intervals.
Access Tier:
Controlled
Contact Point:
Documentation
Documentation:
This dataset provides a historical record of telephone subscribers for three cities in Great Britain, digitised from printed British telephone directories published between 1881 and 1951 at decadal intervals. It includes individual- and household-level entries capturing name, address, exchange, and number. The source directories were digitised using OCR, followed by rule-based cleaning and structuring to extract tabular data.
## Content
The dataset is available in CSV format with each record corresponding to an individual subscriber and column reporting, the forename initial, the surname, address, number and the geographical coordinates of the address. Commercial subscribers are also included. Accompanying documentation explains the structure and scope of the data, offers a glossary of terms, and presents classification codes, metadata, and statistical summaries that support interpretation and reuse.
## Quality, Representation and Bias
Data quality varies by year and region due to differences in printing conventions, OCR performance, and changes in publication standards over time. Early years are often sparser and more urban-focused, with rural coverage improving post-World War I. OCR errors and inconsistencies in address formatting present challenges, particularly for automated geocoding. The methodology includes procedures to minimise such errors, though residual issues may affect a small proportion of records.
As with all historical sources, certain demographic groups (e.g. women, minorities, renters) may be underrepresented.
Coverage
Spatial
Spatial Coverage:
- London
- Manchester
- Glasgow
Temporal
Start Date:
01 January 1881
End Date:
31 December 1951
Frequency:
10_YEARS
Date of First Release:
21 May 2025
Provenance
Origin
Source:
- BT
- GeoDS
Collection Situation:
Individual Household
Author 1
Family Name Person:
Gibin
Given Name Person:
Maurizio
Author 2
Family Name Person:
Tanu
Given Name Person:
Nikki
Access and Governance
Access
Access Service:
The data for this research have been provided by the Geographic Data Service (geods.ac.uk), a Smart Data Research UK Investment: ES/Z504464/1.
Data Controller:
Maurizio Gibin
Licence:
Other (Not Open)
Format and Standards
Format:
- CSV
- HTML
Origin
Name:
Geographic