Findmypast adds Belfast and Ulster directories
Family history website Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk) has added a new collection of Belfast and Ulster directories, containing more than 1.6 million entries and dating from 1890 to 1947.
Directories were published annually and provided a comprehensive list of the names, addresses and often occupations of heads of household. Each volume is divided into the civil establishment (including government and courts); street directory (for Belfast only); residents’ lists (for larger towns); and lists of tradespeople and professionals. They are a useful source for finding where your Northern Irish ancestor was living, especially since the 1891 Irish census returns have been destroyed and census records after 1911 are not yet publicly available.
Ulster is one of four traditional Irish provinces and covers the six counties of modern-day Northern Ireland plus the counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, which are in the modernday Republic of Ireland and so are not included in the directories after 1923. Northern Ireland was established in 1921.
The 1920, 1923–1925 and 1928 directories include entries for Albert James Lewis, solicitor, living at Little Lea on Circular Road, Belfast – the father of Narnia creator CS (Clive Staples) Lewis.