Ancestry adds Irish judicial rents collection 1882-1902

A new Irish collection from Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk): 

Ireland, Judicial Rents, 1882-1902
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63259/
Source: Irish Land Commission. Returns According to Provinces and Counties of Judicial Rents. Belfast: His Majesty's Stationary Office.

General collection information

This collection is an index of information extracted from judicial rent lists filed in Ireland between 1882 and 1902. The index includes names of individuals involved in court proceedings pertaining to matters of fair rent practices, free sale of property, and permanent tenancy. Images of the original records are not included in the collection.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Relationship to head of household
• Rental date
• Record number
• District
• Townland
• County
• Province

The books published by the Irish Land Commission are high-quality primary historical sources. This index is a secondary source because it derives its information from the land commission books.

Ireland experienced protests and political pressure to reform land laws during the 1870s. The Land Law Act of 1881 was forged by this intense debate. The act created the Irish Land Commission and addressed fair rental charges, free sale of property, and permanent tenancy. The act gave tenants judicial rights to their rented land for 15 years, and this right was renewable every 15 years. The commission served as a regulatory body for fair rent by holding hearings with landowners and tenants to discuss rent charges and issue binding decisions. The act established a principle of dual ownership by landowners and tenants, and the terms of the joint ownership could be debated at a commission hearing.

About 75 percent of the tenants who were eligible according to the 1881 act brought their cases before the commission, which heard about 380,000 cases during the initial 15-year term. Overall, rents were reduced by about 20 percent as a result of these cases.

Further details in the full Ancestry description via the link above. 

Chris 

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