Belfast Urban Registration Districts
Many people looking for their family history in Belfast find references to births, marriages and deaths in the "Urban District of ..." This page will hopefully help identify the area referenced to. These districts are not the same as the Postal or Electoral districts
For ease of administration every Superintendent Registrar's District was divided into Registrar's Districts. In the urban areas of Belfast (also Cork, Dublin and others) these sub-Districts are referenced by numbers.
It is widely belived that the urban districts and rural districts of Northern Ireland had their origin in 1899, when the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 came into effect. They were based on the system of district councils introduced in England and Wales four years earlier. However, there is evidence that the use of urban numbers was introduced in Belfast and Londonderry in the late 1800s.
Below is a list of the Belfast Districts and some of the streets in those districts.
This list has been compiled from various sources and expands upon a partial list on display at GRONI but is given as a guide only as the districts could vary over time and it is possible for a street to change district after a period of time due to expansion and development just one example being Roundhill Street was Castlereagh No 1 in 1899 but had became part of Urban 12 by 1902. Where I have been able to find a confirmed date this has been added.
I would be happy to receive any notes of Streets not already listed and their District number which I can add to further expand this list and especially the year of registration.
| District | Streets |
|---|---|
| Belfast Urban 1 | Duncrue Street, Fleet Street, Jennymount Street, Little Patrick Street, Pilot Street (1867), York Dock |
| Belfast Urban 2 | Gainsborough Drive (1907), Limestone Road, Mayo St (1898), Newlodge, Roden Street (1899), Seaview Street (1919), Shore Road |
| Belfast Urban 3 | Agnes Street, Clifton Park Avenue, Duncairn Avenue, Foyle Street (1891), Joseph Street (1940), Liffey Street (1895), Upper Malvern Street (1902), Upper Meenan Street, Oldlodge Road, Oldpark Road (Lower), Sancroft Street, Shankill, Shannon Street (1929), Suir Street, Weir Street |
| Belfast Urban 4 | Balaclava Street (1882), Balkan Street, City Hospital, Fox Row (1895), Grosvenor Street (1880), Lisburn Road, Botanic, Ton Street (1889), Ulsterville |
| Belfast Urban 5 | Argyle Street, Divis Street (1871), Falls Road (Lower), Millfield, Norfolk Street, Townsend Street, Urney Street (1884) |
| Belfast Urban 6 | Eglantine Avenue, Etterick Street (1904-05), Rugby Road, University Street, Wansbeck Street (1900), Wellington Park |
| Belfast Urban 7 | Greencastle (1893), Whitehouse, Whiteabbey (1885), Jordanstown |
| Belfast Urban 8 | Alliance Street, Ballygomartin Road, Ballysillan, Ballyveasey aka Ballyvesey (1874), Ligoniel Road, Oldpark Road (Upper), Woodvale Avenue |
| Belfast Urban 9 | Broadway, Cupar Street (1905), Falls Road, Limestone Road, Royal Victoria Hospital |
| Belfast Urban 10 | Baden Powell Street, Bourton Street, Brookmount, Cambrai Road, Druse Street, Enniskillen Street, Hillview Street, Linwood Street, Louisa Street, Mayo Street, Springfield Road |
| Belfast Urban 11 | Bangor Street (1900-25), Belmont Street, Castlereagh Road, Castlereagh Street, Donegore Street, Hamburg Street (1903), Mountpottinger Road (1900), Mountpottinger Street, Ormeau Road, Ravenhill Road, Seaforde Street (1929), Third Avenue, Woodstock Road |
| Belfast Urban 12 | Albertbridge Road (1917), Beersbridge Road, Connswater, Chadolly Street, Cluan Place, Crossley Street, Josephine Street, Kilmood St (1900), Roundhill Street (1902), Susan Street, Trillick Street, Ulster Hospital, Westbourne Street |
| Belfast Urban 13 | Belmont Church Road, Bloomfield Avenue, Bread St East (1924), Connsbrook, Third Avenue (1906-07), Knock Village |
| Belfast Urban 14 | Belmont Road, Ballygomartin |
| Belfast Urban 15 | Divis Street, May Street, Joy Street, Bosnia Street |
| Belfast Urban 16 | Albertbridge Road, Mountpottinger Road, Seaforde Street (1939), Thistle Street, Queens Island |
| Belfast Rural 1 | Whiteabbey Hospital, Greencastle, Whitehouse, Cloughfern |
| Belfast Rural 2 | Cavehill Road, Upper Ballysillan, Glencairn Road |
| Belfast Rural 3 | Musgrave Park Hospital, Finaghy |
| Belfast Rural 4 | Glengormley, Carnmoney, Ballyhenry, Whitewell |
| Castlereagh 1 | Albertbridge Road (1885), Douglas Street (1898), Dundonald, Gilnahirk Road, Roundhill Street (1899) |
| Castlereagh 2 | Hollywood, Ballyrobert |
| Castlereagh 3 | Cregagh Road, Ladas Drive, Ballygowan Road |
| Castlereagh 4 | Medway St (1898) |