Ancestry adds Londonderry Freemen Records, 1673-1945

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added another collection from Northern Ireland:

Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Freemen Records, 1673-1945
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63087/
Source: Freemen Records. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/freemen-records Accessed: Oct. 2022.

About Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Freemen Records, 1673-1945

This is an image-only collection and contains records of the “Freemen of the City” in Londonderry between 1675 and 1945. The collection is comprised of the Register of Freemen (1700-1945), Extract Books (1675-1840), and Freemen Index (1793-1862). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Freemen was the only organisation allowed to conduct business and own property within Londonderry.

Using this collection

Records in the collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Occupation
• Residence
• Date granted “Freedom of the City” (admittance to the Freemen)
• Date granted “ticket of freedom” (permission to conduct business without being a Freeman)
• Name of sponsor, or “master” they were apprenticed to
• Involvement in business transactions, complaints, etc.
• Names of associates and family members

Detailed records from sixteenth and seventeenth century Ireland are scarce, so this collection can be invaluable in documenting your Irish ancestors. If you are unsure where to begin your search, start by locating your ancestor’s name in the Register of Freemen (1700-1945), an index organised alphabetically by the first letter of the surname. The Register will provide a year and entry number beside your ancestor’s name. Use the year to find the appropriate Freemen Index book, then the entry number (written on the left hand side) to find your ancestor’s entry.

It’s worth searching this collection for your ancestor’s name, even if they lived outside of Londonderry. The Londonderry Freemen became a semi-hereditary organisation over time, and its members often resided outside of the city. You may also find your ancestor’s name amongst complaints against “strangers and foreigners” who conducted business in Londonderry but were not Freemen. 

For further details, visit the link above. Note that the records can be browsed as well as searched.

Chris

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