Machynlleth
Victorian trade directories
  Worrall's Directory, 1874  
 

The 1874 edition of Worrall's Directory of North Wales has some interesting Machynlleth entries connected with the new Cambrian Railway service, which came to the town in 1863.

  
  Stationmasters,1874 The stationmasters at
three of the local railway
stations are now listed in the
latest directory.
Booksellers & stationers,1874
 This list of the booksellers and
stationers is interesting because of
the appearance of a familiar name at
the bottom of this list - W H Smith !
The surnames
come first in
these lists !
 Boot & shoe makers,1874 Boot & shoe makers,1874
Drawing by
Rob Davies

The list of boot and shoe makers has become a much longer one by 1874. In the directory of 1868 there were only 10 names in the list, but in the later entry shown above there are exactly twice as many at 20.
The local population had increased greatly in the years following the coming of the railway, and the quarries in the district were now able to export more slate by rail. This meant that the workers needed more boots !

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Shoemaker
RDR