This morning we visited the Ulster Historical Foundation and began with a terrific presentation by William Roulston on Estate Records. He discussed all the different types of records that might have been kept for an estate...leases, lease books, rentals, surveys, maps and correspondence. Some of the largest estates in Ireland were in Ulster, and PRONI has an excellent collection of records. We had planned for a one hour presentation, but with questions, we went closer to 1.5 hours, and it was well worth it.
After the presentation the researchers had the opportunity to work on computer terminals with various databases (normally only for members) as well as use the library. William, Fintan and Gillian provided wonderful assistance and direction.
We left the UHF and headed for the Linen Hall Library in the center of Belfast. Founded in 1788, it is the oldest library in Belfast and has a large Irish and local studies collection.
The final stop of the day for some was the Presbyterian Historical Society where Valerie Adams assisted us in finding church histories and other general information about our Presbyterian ancestors.
Overall, the 13th was a very lucky day for researchers! Here's a comment from Deb Thalner.
"Today was a full day. The best part for me was William Roulston’s presentation on Landed Estate Papers. Before his presentation I didn’t think landed estate papers would hold anything of interest for me, but now I cant wait to dig into some!"
Happy Hunting!