Just wanted to share my joy at discovering the existence of a set of Irish estate papers held in England. I haven't seen the records themselves yet, but based on their description they will almost certainly list ancestors of mine! I didn't have much luck finding the family at PRONI, so this is really great!
The records cover lands in the parishes of Ahoghill and Portglenone in Co. Antrim and are not listed by Grenham or Roulson in their comprehensive Irish genealogy books, neither does PRONI or the NAI appear to have copies of them. I discovered their existence by tracing the landowning family and then found out that the lands passed to a family based in England.
The records are held by the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive. Here is the description of some of them;
- D661/8/2/1 Rental of Mountstafford and Ballylumin estates (Antrim) 1806; Gives tenant's names and rents. no description of holdings.
- D661/8/2/2 Yearly Rent rolls and estate agent's current accounts for estates at Ballylumin and Mountstafford, 1810-1829; Tenants' names only. Holdings not described or named.
- D661/8/2/3 Rent roll of Mountstafford estate, (Antrim) 1844; Gives tenants' names, acreages of holdings, and rents, with some remarks.
- D661/8/2/4 Yearly rent rolls and agents' current accounts for Mountstafford estate, (Antrim) 1851-63; Gives tenants' names, rents, arrears and rent reductions or allowances.
- D661/8/2/6/3 Account of rent rebates given to tenants because of potato famine, Mountstafford, (Antrim), 1849; with notes of improvements carried out by tenants' in lieu of rent.
- D661/8/2/6/8 three maps of lands intended to be planted with trees, showing existing tenants, and acreages of fields, 1848
