Gazetteers were the reference books of their day. Published throughout the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they described towns, villages and parishes, recording details such as population, industries, churches, schools, public buildings, transport links and local government.

The extracts collected here provide a series of contemporary snapshots of the six towns of the Potteries. Read in chronological order, they reveal how the six towns of Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton, developed from small market towns and villages into a major industrial conurbation before their federation as Stoke-on-Trent in 1910.

Because each gazetteer was written at a different date, they allow us to trace changes in population, industry, transport, civic institutions and the appearance of the towns themselves. They are therefore valuable sources for local historians, family historians and anyone interested in the growth of the Potteries.

What can you learn from these gazetteers?

• How the six towns changed between 1828 and 1907

• Contemporary descriptions of each town

• Creation of municipal boroughs

• Population growth

• Development of the pottery industry

• Expansion of canals and railways

• Schools, churches and public buildings