Griffith’s Valuation Records
The Griffith’s Valuation Records are available to view on TheGenealogist. The Griffith’s Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868. Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland in 1806, valuing terrain through the examination of its soils. He used the ‘Scotch system of valuation’ and it was a version of this he introduced into Ireland when he became Commissioner of Valuation.
In 1825, Griffith was appointed by the British Government to carry out a boundary survey of Ireland. He was to mark the boundaries of every county, barony and civil parish in preparation for the first Ordnance Survey. He completed the boundary work in 1844. The original volumes of the survey are held in The National Archives, Dublin and the Public Record Office, Belfast.
The Griffith’s Valuation Records are important for family historians with ancestors in Ireland mainly due to the fact very little complete census material has survived from the 1800s. As it’s the only detailed guide to where people in Ireland lived in the mid-nineteenth century and also describes the property they owned or leased, it does act as a census substitute for the tumultuous years around the times of the Great Famine between 1845 and 1852.
The Griffith’s Valuation Records offer the family historian the resource to find an Irish ancestor’s exact place of origin, providing a link to a specific townland and civil parish. This is vital in Irish ancestral research as you can then discover ecclesiastical parish records of births and marriages.
The Griffith’s Valuation Records provide:
- Name of occupier
- Name of Lessor
- Date
- County of residence
- Barony
- Poor Law Union
- Parish
- Townland
- Town
- Street
- Rateable Annual Valuation
- Size and description of land/property
Land Owners of Ireland (1876)
TheGenealogist offers the records of landowners in Ireland who owned land of one acre and more. The record shows the name and address of the Owner and the holding, in acres, rods and poles and estimated yearly rental valuation of all holdings over 1 acre. The records are organised by county, landowner and the address for each landowner.
Irish Wills 1536-1810
The Wills in Ireland in this period consist of 2 classes: Prerogative and Diocesan. The Prerogative Wills are regarded as the most important set of Wills. They commenced in 1536 and continued up to 1858. The record set includes alliances and aliases and also the Hawkins Collection of Wills from 1771 to 1852. Hawkins was the Deputy Registrar of the Prerogative Court.
Other records available in the Irish Collection on TheGenealogist include: Irish Pedigrees, Kelly’s Directories, Trade Directories, Telephone Directories, Irish MP’s Directories