Northern Ireland Research at PRONI
As per the PRONI website:
"Welcome to the new PRONI website
Welcome to the new PRONI website which was launched in January 2008. PRONI aims to identify, preserve and make available Northern Ireland's unique archival heritage and community memory.
All the information that was available on our old site has been rearranged into a new structure, plus lots of new information has been added! We hope you find this site user friendly, helpful and informative."
The Family history section states:
"Family history
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) holds many valuable sources for family history research.
If you are just beginning your research and have no experience of family history, read our family history: getting started and family history: key sources sections first. You may also find it useful to read what are archives and records and using the archives.
Family history researchers at all levels will find valuable information in the Your Family Tree Series of leaflets. There are 28 leaflets in total, each giving information on various archives which can be used for genealogical research. Each leaflet is a PDF document – you can download the whole series and use them as a reference file if you wish.
In addition to using the archives we have specifically identified, you can also consult the catalogues, guides and indexes to widen your search.
What's available online?
The Ulster Covenant archive
The archive of the Ulster Unionist Council, held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), contains just under half a million original signatures and addresses of the men who, on 28 September 1912, signed the Ulster Covenant, and of the women who signed the parallel Declaration. In total, the Covenant was signed by 237,368 men, and the Declaration by 234,046 women.
Previously the Covenant was difficult and very time-consuming to access and, consequently, it was under-used. PRONI has now improved access by digitising all the signatures, in recognition that the on-line database should make a significant contribution to both genealogical research and cultural tourism.
Freeholders records are lists of people entitled to vote, or of people who voted, at elections. A freeholder was a man who owned his land outright (in fee) or who held it by lease which could be for one or more lives (for example, his own life or for the lives of other people named in the lease). From 1727 to 1793 only Protestants with a freehold worth at least 40 shillings a year were legally permitted to vote. Between 1793 and 1829 both Protestants and Catholics with 40 shilling freeholds could vote, but in 1829 the franchise level was increased to 10 pounds, so 40 shilling freeholders were no longer allowed to vote. This last measure increased the influence of landlords by effectively confining membership of Parliament to the propertied or monied classes.
These online archives are fully searchable and have links to digitised images of the original documents.
A project to index and digitise 1858 - c1900 wills from the District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry is almost complete. Phase one - an index to the will calendar entries (grants of probate and letters of administration) - is now available on the PRONI website. Phase two - to link the will calendar entries to the digitised images of the wills - will follow shortly.
Family history researchers can search for ancestors who may be recorded in the above sources.
Some of PRONI's guides and indexes are also available online.
Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.
While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.
"Welcome to the new PRONI website
Welcome to the new PRONI website which was launched in January 2008. PRONI aims to identify, preserve and make available Northern Ireland's unique archival heritage and community memory.
All the information that was available on our old site has been rearranged into a new structure, plus lots of new information has been added! We hope you find this site user friendly, helpful and informative."
The Family history section states:
"Family history
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) holds many valuable sources for family history research.
If you are just beginning your research and have no experience of family history, read our family history: getting started and family history: key sources sections first. You may also find it useful to read what are archives and records and using the archives.
Family history researchers at all levels will find valuable information in the Your Family Tree Series of leaflets. There are 28 leaflets in total, each giving information on various archives which can be used for genealogical research. Each leaflet is a PDF document – you can download the whole series and use them as a reference file if you wish.
In addition to using the archives we have specifically identified, you can also consult the catalogues, guides and indexes to widen your search.
What's available online?
The Ulster Covenant archive
The archive of the Ulster Unionist Council, held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), contains just under half a million original signatures and addresses of the men who, on 28 September 1912, signed the Ulster Covenant, and of the women who signed the parallel Declaration. In total, the Covenant was signed by 237,368 men, and the Declaration by 234,046 women.
Previously the Covenant was difficult and very time-consuming to access and, consequently, it was under-used. PRONI has now improved access by digitising all the signatures, in recognition that the on-line database should make a significant contribution to both genealogical research and cultural tourism.
Freeholders records are lists of people entitled to vote, or of people who voted, at elections. A freeholder was a man who owned his land outright (in fee) or who held it by lease which could be for one or more lives (for example, his own life or for the lives of other people named in the lease). From 1727 to 1793 only Protestants with a freehold worth at least 40 shillings a year were legally permitted to vote. Between 1793 and 1829 both Protestants and Catholics with 40 shilling freeholds could vote, but in 1829 the franchise level was increased to 10 pounds, so 40 shilling freeholders were no longer allowed to vote. This last measure increased the influence of landlords by effectively confining membership of Parliament to the propertied or monied classes.
These online archives are fully searchable and have links to digitised images of the original documents.
A project to index and digitise 1858 - c1900 wills from the District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry is almost complete. Phase one - an index to the will calendar entries (grants of probate and letters of administration) - is now available on the PRONI website. Phase two - to link the will calendar entries to the digitised images of the wills - will follow shortly.
Family history researchers can search for ancestors who may be recorded in the above sources.
Some of PRONI's guides and indexes are also available online.
Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.
While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.
Labels: Northern Ireland, PRONI
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