Town of Portstewart

Town of Portstewart [1901 to 1911]

I would normally use the 1901/1911 Census as my starting point for moving back into the nineteenth century or forward to the present day.

1901 & 1911 Census for Portstewart. Clicking on 1901/1911 Census will take you to the National Archives: Census of Ireland 1901/1911 website, where you can find information relating to Portstewart for yourself.

These two censuses provide details on the members of each household in a townland or street at that time as well as details of the houses in which they lived. Even more importantly, they provide a window into the nature of the society and economy within a locality in the early decades of the twentieth century.

I have created two Excel databases 1901 and 1911 for Portstewart. Note that the Excel databases only include the Head of the Family in each house. These databases should give us an idea of the socio-economic structure of the town in the early years of the twentieth century. Also, I have included a "Field" which contains the numbering of properties in the valuation records. This should make it easier to pinpoint the 1901/1911 houses, etc. in the 1905-1907 Large Scale Valuation Map the town.

Population of Portstewart and Portrush 1891-1911 - click here. I have included this particular information because it shows the substantial increase in the population of Portstewart during this period.

The census records, when used in conjunction with valuation records, allow us to see exactly where people lived in the early years of the twentieth century. This is demonstrated below, using the town of Portstewart [1901 to 1911] as an example.

1904 OS Map of the town - Map 1 & Map 2 show the basic layout of Portstewart Town c.1904 plus the names of the streets and the important buildings.

1905-1907 Large Scale Valuation Map of the Town - [PRONI: VAL/12/E/153/1 - southern end of the town - northern end of the town. The numbers on these maps relate to the Valuation Revision Books which cover the period c.1860 to 1929 and are available online at PRONI.

Here is an example of some pages of the Valuation Revision Book VAL/12/B/30/17E (1895-1905).

Click on pages - 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 .

These pages cover the numbers of each property in Main Street [1 to 43 in 1895] and [1 to 55 in 1905] of properties in Main Street on the 1905-1907 Valuation Map. You can match up these numbers with the numbers in the 1901 Census. You would need to check the next Valuation Revision Book VAL/12/B/30/17F (1906/1917) if you want to match the numbers on the map with the 1911 Census.

Also, you might compare pages 160 and 161 covering Main Street in the town from the 1859 Griffith's Valuation with pages 110 to 117 in 1895-1905 Revision Book.

Street Directories -

1905 Belfast & Ulster Directory for Portstewart - pages 1706-1707; 1708-1709.
1911 Belfast & Ulster Directory for Portstewart - pages 1914-1915; 1916-1917; 1918-1919.

I have also created an Excel database of names and streets from these two directories. There are two sheets in this database - Sheet 1 is sorted by street Sheet 2 is sorted by Persons.