Townland Valuation of the 1830s

Townland Valuation of the 1830s

Though often dismissed as being of fairly limited genealogical value, the townland valuation carried out in the 1830s can be an important source for those searching for their ancestors, particularly if those ancestors were urban dwellers. The bound Manuscript Valuation Books are arranged by barony and parish and those for County Londonderry are available at PRONI under the reference VAL/1/B; the accompanying annotated maps are listed under VAL/1/A [six inch maps for the countryside] and VAL/1/D [larger scale maps for the towns]. Although the townland valuation was primarily concerned with the agricultural value of land, it also included details on houses valued at £3 or over (in 1838 this was raised to £5 or over). In the rural areas the names of only a few householders were given, and these tended to be of the gentry or the more substantial tenant farmers. In towns, however, many more houses were substantial enough to reach the valuation, with the result that a large number of the names of householders are recorded.

Townland Valuation (1833) for rural areas within the Ballymoney District

Clearly, it would not be possible for me to cover the entire rural district of Ballymoney on this web site. So, I have chosen two areas within the district - one centred on Seacon/Ballywattick/Ballycormick and one centred on Roseyards/Killyramer/Kilraghts.

Fortunately much of the Ballymoney rural area was valued during the year 1833 which means that quite a number of houses were recorded in each townland. The valuation lists the dwelling house and outbuildings and, using a code, indicates whether they were thatched or slated, what the walls were made of, and the general condition of each building. It is also gives measurements for each buildings - length, breadth and height. Click here for a copy of the code used by the valuers.

Each property was given a number in the valuation lists. Some of these numbers are marked on the accompanying VAL/1/A maps which, theoretically, should enable us to locate some houses precisely within a townland. However, because the valuers chopped and changed the numbers so much it is often very difficult to match the house numbers in the valuation lists with the numbers on the valuation maps. Furthermore sheet 17 [VAL/1/A/1/17], which includes many of the townlands in the two locality studies, is missing.

Because of these difficulties in using the VAL/1/A maps I have used the 1833 OS maps for the area. These maps will show the settlements in each townland c.1833 and a comparison of these 1833 maps with the later 1859 Griffith's Valuation map may help you to identify some of the houses on the 1833 OS maps. In fact, if you look carefully at the 1833 numbers in some townlands you will see that the valuers are beginning to use the numbers that will be used in the later 1859 valuation.

You will find links to copies of the actual manuscript pages from the Townland Valuation book of 1833 for each of the townlands in the study areas [plus the accompanying 1833 OS maps] at the Localities link in the top menu.

Quite often valuers wrote comments on the pages - click here to see a few examples.

Townland Valuation (1833) for Ballymoney Town

The term Townland Valuation seems a strange one for a town. However, remember that this valuation was mainly a valuation of land and houses in the countryside. Also remember that the town of Ballymoney was situated in the townlands of Glebe and Townparks - see map - and the information relating to the town was presented within these two townlands.

It would be impossible, on this web site, to give you the valuations for all of the buildings in all of the streets in the town. At the Localities link in the top menu you will find tables containing a list of the householders recorded in the 1833 valuation for some of the streets in the town, including a description of the buildings which made up each holding plus the code assigned to the property and its valuation. There are also copies of the actual valuation pages relating to Church Street.

Unfortunately, the large scale valuation map of the town which normally accompanies this valuation appears to be missing for Ballymoney. However, the location of houses on the later town maps may help you to locate some of the properties in 1833.