These are an assortment of entries from the 1868 edition of Slater's Directory of North Wales.
The gentry and clergy usually came first in these early listings, and in this case there are quite a large number who find a place in this special group. The most notable of these names is Earl Vane of Plas Machynlleth, who later became the fifth Marquess of Londonderry.

The lists of boot and shoe makers, dress makers and bonnet makers is a reminder that clothing was always made and sold locally in the days before mass production and high street chain stores. There is a similar list of local tailors on the next page.

There are still some local wheelwrights in business in this 1868 trade directory. But the railway came to Machynlleth in 1863, which meant less work for the highly skilled makers of wooden carriage and cart wheels, though many wagons and carts were to be needed on the farms for many years to come.
The wool carders had an important part to play in the clothmaking trade, but the local industry was in decline by this date because the railway could bring in cheaper materials from England.

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