Names in Seventeenth-Century Belfast

Title: Names in Seventeenth-Century Belfast

Description: This is an attempt to bring together all the available sources listing names in the town of Belfast in the seventeenth century. The main sources are R. M. Young (ed.), The Town Book of the Corporation of Belfast (1892, reprinted 2008)) and G. Benn, A history of the Town of Belfast (1877, reprinted 2008). No attempt has been to standardise the transcription of names. However, Latin forenames are given in English.

Compiled by: Ian Montgomery

Burgess Roll

Under the charter granted to Sir Arthur Chichester in 1613 the town of Belfast was governed by a sovereign and 12 burgesses with the proprietor as 'lord of the castle' and his appointee the 'constable of Belfast castle' acting as ex officio burgesses. The original burgesses, who were associates of Chichester, were named in the charter and they nominated their successors. The burgess elected one of their number the sovereign, from a list of three names provided by the lord of the castle and selected the two Members of Parliament for the borough. In practice, the proprietor's nominee would inevitably be selected for all these offices. The list is taken from the Town Book, pp 233-5. It appears to have been compiled around 1698 and is probably incomplete.

Cess payers

List of householders paying cess, i.e. money raised for civic improvements or to contribute to the support of local military forces, between 1639 and 1645. Information taken from Town Book, pp 11-12, 19-22, 24-27, 35-37. For full details see: Directory of Irish Family History Research, no. 43 (2020), pp 18-22.

Church Records

There are no surviving church registers for Belfast before the mid-eighteenth century. Information on clergymen and some laymen is taken from J. B. Leslie Clergy of Connor (1993) and A. Gordon, Historic Memorials of the First Presbyterian Church of Belfast (1887).

Donegall estate papers

The earliest surviving rental for the Donegall Estate to include the town of Belfast dates from 1719 (see Directory of Irish Family History Research, no. 46 (2023), pp 19-23). There are however some seventeenth century leases and other documents relating to the town in the estate records held in PRONI. See the PRONI catalogue for further information.

Roll of Freemen

The term Freeman in this context simply means men who were ‘Free of the Borough’, that is, they had the right to own property and conduct business in the town. In practice the main benefit of becoming a Freeman was that they exempt from the payment of various tolls or fees or at least paid a lower rate. Freemen also played a limited roll in the government of the borough. Men could become Freemen in a variety of ways including inheritance, serving an apprenticeship in the town, providing services to the community or through the payment of an appropriate fee. It has been estimated that about half of the householders in Belfast were Freemen in the 1660s.

Not all of the Freemen lived in the town. The non-residents (estimated at around 14%) included local gentry, members of Lord Donegall’s family and army officers stationed in the town as well as merchants from England and Scotland who traded with Belfast. Merchants and some of the higher status candidates were elected as Merchants of the Staple or Free of the Staple rather than Freemen however there appears to have been no practical difference in these designations.

The Town Book lists 1125 Freemen admitted between January 1636 and February 1682. There is a gap in the list which recommences in 1723. Presumably there were Freemen admitted before 1636 but their names have not survived. I have simplified the list focusing on name, occupation and date made free. Other information is included if relevant i.e. details of apprenticeships or if not from Belfast. (Town Book, pp 246-86).

Gravestones

The Shankill Graveyard is the oldest in the Belfast area. Only three seventeenth century memorials have been recorded. See Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland, vol. viii, pp 491-4.

Hearth Money roll of 1666

Hearth Money was a tax introduced in Ireland in 1662 and based on the number of hearths or stoves in a house. The original returns were destroyed in 1922 however various transcriptions have survived. This list for Belfast is taken from a certified copy made by PROI in 1873 and now in the Benn Papers in PRONI (D3113/5/1).

Census 1659

This is not a census in the modern sense but rather a list of land and property owners, referred to as Tituladoes, which was based on the Poll Tax returns of 1660-61. There are 22 names for Belfast Town out of a population of 589. See: S Pender (ed.) A Census of Ireland circa 1659 (1939).

Jury List 1676

List of jurors in sworn connection with an Inquisition regarding First Fruits and Ecclesiastical revenue taken in Belfast, 25 October 1676. Transcribed from Benn Papers in PRONI (D3113/5/1).

List of Licenses

This is taken from a ‘List of licenses for ale, wine and strong waters, 1683 and Easter 1684’ held in the Tenison Groves papers in PRONI (T808/14891). According to Grove it was transcribed from an original in the Presbyterian Historical Society, Belfast.

Ship Owners' List

Taken from ‘Shipping list of Belfast about 1663’ in Benn, History, pp 309-12.

Poor’s Money

This is taken from a ‘List of the legacies and gifts made for the use of the poor of Belfast’ now in Clifton House, Belfast. See I. Montgomery ‘The poor and distressed inhabitants of Belfast: the Poor’s Money lists of 1753’, Familia, no. 36 (2020), pp 41-58.

Subsidy list of 1661

Subsidies were a form of taxation paid by property owners. Benn gives extracts from the County Antrim Subsidy Lists for 1661 and 1666. (Benn, History of Belfast, pp 314-5).

Town Book

The Town Book is the official record of the Corporation of Belfast from 1613 to 1816. As well as recording the proceedings of the Sovereign and burgess it includes lists of office holders and transcripts of legal documents. In addition to Roll of Freemen and Burgess Roll names have been included from: names of a Grand Jury elected 2 November 1645 (Town Book, p. 40); and petition signed by freemen tailors 5 January 1673 (Town Book, pp 128-9).

Wills

Before 1858 wills were proved in the Diocesan Courts of the Church of Ireland. Nearly all original pre-1858 wills were destroyed in 1922, although indexes of the probated wills have survived for many dioceses. In some cases, copies or extracts of wills are available, usually as part of the title to property. There are also transcripts of wills made before 1922 by researchers, including Sir William Betham and Tenison Groves. The list of wills is taken from the PRONI catalogue. In most cases no actual will is available, and the date given is the date of probate rather than date of death.