Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/30/008 I

Address :
39 Hamilton Street Belfast County Antrim BT2 8LP

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
18/03/1985 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/13 SE

IG Ref:
J3408 7387

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Owner Category

Housing Association

Exterior Description And Setting

Mid-terrace three-storey brick townhouse, built c.1835. Rectangular on plan facing south with front railed area, forming part of a terrace of two similar houses lining the north side of Hamilton Street and continuing along the east side of Joy Street. Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and a replacement redbrick chimneystack with clay pots. Stepped brick eaves supporting replacement metal guttering and metal downpipe. Brown brick walling laid in Flemish bond with cement pointing, painted render rusticated quoins to the east end only and painted render plinth course. Square-headed window openings with rendered reveals, painted stone sills and replacement double-glazed 6/6 timber sash windows. Front elevation is two windows wide with an off-centre round-headed door opening having replacement doorcase comprising; painted moulded render door surround and replacement timber panelled door flanked by timber pilasters and replacement decorative fanlight. Door opens onto modern tiled step flanked by replacement swept steel railing on low render plinth wall enclosing front tiled area to the street. West side elevation abutted by adjoining house No. 41 (HB26/30/008H). Rear elevation is two windows wide with painted rendered walling and replacement 6/6 timber sash windows. East side elevation abutted by adjoining modern redbrick house. Setting: Locataed on the north side of Hamilton Street and forming part of a terrace of nine similar houses, mostly lining the east side of Joy Street. Roof: Natural slate RWG: Replacement metal Walling: Brick Windows: Replacement timber sash

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 39 Hamilton Street is one of two three-story townhouses, the sole survivors of a late-Georgian terrace which originally consisted of six buildings, constructed between Joy Street and Catherine Street North (nos 31-41 Hamilton Street). This terrace was under construction by 1832-33 when the First Survey Ordnance Survey map shows that nos 31-35 had been built; nos 37-41 Hamilton Street were likely constructed very soon afterwards. The Belfast Street Directories record that the terrace was numbered differently in 1843 (then nos 27-37) and in that year No. 39 Hamilton Street (No. 35) was occupied by a Mrs. Colville. By 1852 the house had passed into the possession of a Mr. James M. Conville who was employed as a clerk. Conville had vacated the house by 1859 when Griffith’s Valuation recorded that the property was valued at £16 10s. and occupied by a Mr. David Clements who was also employed as a clerk (Belfast Street Directory – 1861); at the time of the valuation No. 41 Hamilton Street (along with the rest of the terrace) was let by a Mr. Ebenezer Crawford. The Annual Revisions indicate that David Clements continued to reside at No. 39 Hamilton Street until c. 1905, however the Belfast Street Directories record that a Ms. Hanna Clements, a dressmaker, and Mr. M. W. Griffiths resided at the address in 1877 and 1880 respectively. The value of No. 39 Hamilton Street was decreased slightly to £15 in 1884 (No. 41 Hamilton Street witnessed a similar devaluation in the same year) and in 1900 the value of the house was further decreased to £13. Ownership of the terrace passed from Ebenezer Crawford to a Mrs. Charlotte Harding c. 1905; in that year Cromac Ward was valued separately from the rest of central Belfast for the first time resulting in the revaluation of No. 39 Hamilton Street to £15. The house lay vacant at the turn of the century; however by 1905 Charlotte Harding let the property to James Rice, a salesman who resided at the address until 1924. The 1911 Census records that Rice was a Roman Catholic clothing salesman who resided at No. 39 Hamilton Street with his wife and three children; the Census Building Return described the house as a 1st class private dwelling that consisted of nine rooms and possessed no out offices. Rice continued to live at the address until his death in 1924 at which time his widow Mary Rice took possession (PRONI Wills Catalogue – 30 March 1924). Mary Rice continued to be recorded as occupant until at least 1935 when the first general revaluation of property in Northern Ireland was undertaken; the valuer noted that ownership of the terrace had passed to a Mr. Joseph Tyney, whilst the value of the property was increased to £18 10s. From c. 1940 a shop assistant named Daniel Gilmartin took possession of No. 39 Hamilton Street, his family continued to occupy the address until the 1970s. During the Second World War Hamilton Street was badly damaged in the Belfast Blitz, when the Luftwaffe targeted the nearby shipyard industries, and many of the houses along the street were lost (Patton, p. 179). After the war the government carried out a second revaluation of property which recalculated the value of the house to £18; by that time the entire terrace had come into the possession of a Mr. J. R. McKee. Daniel Gilmartin continued to reside at No. 39 Hamilton Street until the late 1970s when a Ms. Theresa Moran came into possession, living there until 1986 when the terrace underwent restoration work (Belfast Street Directories). Hamilton Street was built in the 1830s on reclaimed land to the south-east of Belfast’s town centre; this land was created by the construction of a paper mill dam along the Blackstaff River at the current junction of Ormeau Avenue and Cromac Street (O’Hagan, p. 13). Patton records that Hamilton Street drew its title from the family name of the Dukes of Abercorn who resided in No. 3 Hamilton Street from 1818 (now demolished). The street originally attracted high ranking merchant class residents including many who were employed in the newspaper and printing trade; however by the 1850s the area had become more distinctly working class as businessmen moved to grander houses in the Belfast suburbs. With the flight of the merchant classes the buildings on Hamilton Street and the neighboring Joy Street (HB26/30/007A-C; HB26/30/008A-F) became mainly inhabited by working class traders but also by students who frequented Queens College which had been established in 1849. Due to their size and proximity to the town centre a number of the large houses on Joy Street and Hamilton Street were converted into lodging and boarding houses to accommodate the influx of students and also the many musical performers and actors that frequented the nearby music halls; the occupational history of No. 39 Hamilton Street indicates that the house was not utilized as a boarding house but was predominantly used as a private dwelling for traders and other laborers (Patton, pp 179-180). In 1971 Brett described the houses on Hamilton and Joy Street as ‘the best example left in the city of late-Georgian Belfast’ (Brett, p. 4). Many of the original houses on the street, including nos 31-37 Hamilton Street were demolished in the mid-1980s and now only nos 36-46 and 39-41 survive. Nos 39-41 Hamilton Street were listed in 1985 and were restored for the Housing Executive in 1986 by W. D. R. & R. T. Taggart (who also restored nos 14-26 Joy Street (HB26/30/008A-G)). As part of this restoration three sympathetic redbrick houses were constructed on the site of the demolished nos 31-37 linking them to the two surviving buildings of the original terrace; Patton states that nos 33-37 Hamilton Street were built for the Housing Executive, ‘respecting the scale of the older buildings, but spoilt by the use of pivot windows and brick surrounds to the doors’ (Patton, p. 80). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832-33 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 5. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/1B – Griffith’s Valuation 1859 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1 - Annual Revisions 1863-1881 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/24 - Annual Revisions 1882-1896 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/35 - Annual Revisions 1897-1905 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/2 - Annual Revisions 1906-1915 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/5 - Annual Revisions 1915-1930 12. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/21 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 13. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/50 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 14. Belfast Street Directories (1843; 1852; 1861; 1877; 1880; 1901; 1907; 1908; 1910; 1918; 1925-1990). 15. Census of Ireland (1911) 16. PRONI Wills Catalogue (1924) Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B; McKinstry, T. R. J., ‘Survey and recommendations for the Joy Street and Hamilton Street District of Belfast’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1971. 2. O’Hagan, J., ‘The streets where we lived’ Belfast: Unknown Publisher, 2006. 3. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993. 4. First Survey Record – HB26/30/008 (1987).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Mid-terrace three-storey brick townhouse, built c.1830. Square on plan facing south with front railed area, forming part of a terrace of two similar houses on the junction of Hamilton Stree and Joy Street. The building displays proportions and detailing typical of the Georgian period. Restored in recent years in a sensitive manner by Hearth Housing Association c.1985 much of the architectural fabric remains intact. Externally the building has retained much of its historic fabric with appropriate alterations. Number 39 adds significant value to the group as a whole, retaining the style and proportions of the terrace thus ensuring the continued survival of this rare example of late Georgian terraced housing in the centre of Belfast.

General Comments

Date of Survey

28 June 2011