62 Donegall Pass

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey two-bay mid-terrace early Victorian townhouse built c. 1845. Square plan form with two-storey rear return; and single-storey lean-to extension. Located on Donegall Pass adjacent to St Mary Magdalene Church (HB26/30/084) south of the city centre, east of Shaftsbury Square.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; overhanging eaves with timber soffits and paired eaves brackets; cast-iron rainwater goods, semi-circular gutters with circular downpipes. Replacement brick chimney with replacement clay-pots. Red-brick walling laid to Flemish bond; ruled-and-lined render to the ground floor; painted rough-cast render to the rear elevation. 6/6 and 6/3 timber sliding sash; with horns; flat arches over with painted masonry cills; continuous cills to first floor. Four raised-and-fielded bolection moulded panelled door with margin-paned over light; flanked by panelled pilaster rising to foliated console brackets supporting moulded canopy surmounted by stuccowork.

The principal elevation faces south and is asymmetrically arranged. The front entrance is located to the right and accessed by four steps shared with adjoining building. Two windows to the ground, first and second floor.

The left gable is abutted by 58-60 Donegall Pass (HB26/30/083B).

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. The left side is abutted by a two-storey return; various timber casement and window openings to the west cheek; landing-window over return. Return north face abutted by single-storey lean-to extension with door into yard. Enlarged ground floor opening with modern segmental arched double-leaf glazed doors; first and second floor windows over, matching the south elevation.

The right gable is abutted by 64 Donegall Pass (HB26/30/083D).

Setting:

The building is flanked either side by the adjoining terrace. Paved area used as a private car park to the front; tarmac yard to the rear enclosed by a palisade gate. The general surroundings are principally two and three-storey residential from various periods. Former School of Music (HB26/30/089) opposite on the south side of the street with St Mary Magdalene Church (HB26/30/084) to the west.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Red brick/render
Windows: Timber sliding sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The current terrace, formerly known as ‘Apsley Place’ was built in 1846 in what was then a sparsely developed area of the growing town of Belfast. Donegall Pass had been laid out by the late eighteenth century across a heavily wooded area that was used as a deerpark by the Donegall family, Belfast’s principal landowners at the time. Brett takes the view that Donegall Pass and the Ormeau Road were laid out as carriage drives through these woodland estates and it was not until the control of the Donegalls over their pleasure grounds began to lessen in the 1820s that permission was given to build in this area. By 1823, the land on the north side of Donegall Pass had become the property of Henry Joy who was proprietor of the Belfast Newsletter and an active participant in the political life of the town. The building of the gas works to the east (1823), probably contributed to the development of the area, but at the time ‘Apsley Place’ was built in the mid-nineteenth century, it was one of a handful of terrace developments along the Pass to the north while the territory to the south of the Pass was largely divided among substantial villas set in spacious grounds. (OS map 1858; Brett; Patton; Dictionary of Irish Biography)

The developer of the terrace itself was Thomas Gaffikin (1809-93), a farmer’s son and butcher who built several other terraces in south Belfast. Gaffikin lived at Number 70 and later number 56 Apsley Place from its construction until he moved into a new terrace he had built at Queen’s Elms where he was to remain for the rest of his life. Gaffikin later became the proprietor of a linen and linen-yarn business and a town councillor for Cromac and then St George’s Ward, and has left an important historical legacy in the form of his 1875 lecture entitled ‘Belfast Fifty Years Ago’ which gives a lively impression of the social life of early nineteenth-century Belfast. (Annual Revisions; Dictionary of National Biography)

The houses were occupied by a succession of tenants through the years, reflecting the range of occupations open to the middle and petty bourgeois classes during Belfast’s period of most rapid expansion. The early residents of the terrace were often wealthy business proprietors or ‘gentlemen’, but as the merchant class gradually moved out of Belfast into the more salubrious surroundings of North Down and elsewhere, there is a perceptible shift in the tenantry of the terrace towards the well-doing petty bourgeoisie. The censuses of 1901 and 1911 reveal that by the beginning of the twentieth century, some tenants were sufficiently wealthy to employ a domestic servant, and others supplemented their income by keeping boarders. However, it is not until the modern era that the houses appear to have been used as commercial premises.

The first tenants to be listed at number 62 are George Withers (1846/7) and Alfred Brownless, master mariner (1852). Griffith’s Valuation lists the occupiers as Edward Scott, proprietor of the Cromac Brewery, then Richard Alexander. The house is valued at £26 and dimensions are given for a three-storey house with two-storey return. The rent is £30 plus taxes. Subsequent tenants are Alfred Edgar bookkeeper (1863), Edward Lennon, then Mrs Lennon (1864-70), Miss Murphy (1877-90) and Rev William Robert Lawrensen Kinahan, former curate at Knockbreda, Cootehill and Scarvagh, who lived at the house in the 1890s. At the time of the 1901 census the house was home to widower Thomas Jones, Managing Director of a packing case factory and his son who was a foreman at the factory. Also living at the house were two further sons one of whom was an unemployed clerk, Jones’ son-in-law, a carpenter, his two daughters and his seven-month-old granddaughter. The family kept a domestic servant from Londonderry. By 1911 the occupiers were the Saye family, a very large family headed by Edward Saye, Master Engineer and Millwright and his wife Mary. They lived with their five sons and five daughters, ranging in age from 10 to 28 and an aged aunt of 82 and although the couple were born in County Down they had lived for some years in England where their eldest five children were born. The trade of three of the sons was engine fitter, the other two were a stoker in a stitching factory and a light-sheet-metal worker. Two of the daughters were stitchers in a factory. Edward James Saye, the son was living there from 1930 to 1935.

The house is also reputed to have been, for much of her later life, the residence of Mary Ann McCracken who was living there with her niece Maria Bodel and her husband. (www.ulsterhistory.co.uk; Dictionary of Irish Biography) Mary Ann McCracken was a radical and philanthropist and sister of Henry Joy McCracken who was hanged for his part in the United Irish rebellion of 1798. Mary Ann is known to have been committed to the United Irish cause herself and arranged for her brother and his companions to escape after the failure of the rebellion. When Henry Joy was arrested and tried, Mary Ann attended his trial and accompanied him to the place of execution, attempting to revive his body after the hanging. In 1803 Mary Ann arranged and paid for the defence of Thomas Russell who had been involved in Emmet’s rebellion of that year, and after his execution arranged financial provision for his sister Margaret. Mary Ann and her sister ran a business manufacturing and selling muslins from the 1790s but this closed c1815 due to changing economic conditions. The sisters then became members of the Belfast Charitable Society and Mary Ann worked tirelessly on behalf of women and children, supporting the cause of equality for women. She was also active in her support for the abolition of slavery and of the employment of boys in chimney sweeping. She helped famine victims and the destitute sick and taught for years in a non-denominational Sabbath school. Although she is said to have lived at number 62, Mary Ann’s will leaves all her estate to William McCleery and his two daughters Anna McCleery and Mary McCracken McCleery who lived at number 70. (Will of Mary Ann McCracken; Dictionary of Irish Biography) The house has now been converted for use as offices.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832-3
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1901-2
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/6 – Sixth Edition OS Map 1931
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/1/D –Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1-45 – Annual Revisions (1863-1930)
7. PRONI VAL/12/F/3/14/1 – Annual Revisions (1930-35)
8. PRONI Will of Mary Ann McCracken, died 26th July 1866
9. Belfast Street Directories (1846-1935)

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C.E.B., Gillespie, R. and Maguire W.A. “Georgian Belfast, 1750-1850, Maps Buildings and Trades” Dublin and Belfast: Royal Irish Academy and Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 2004
2. McGuire, J and Quinn, J, eds “Dictionary of Irish Biography” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Royal Irish Academy, 2009
3. Patton, M “Central Belfast: An Historical Gazetteer” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993
4. www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish Architects online
5. www.ulsterhistory.co.uk – Ulster History Circle

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A three-storey two-bay mid-terrace early Victorian townhouse built c. 1845, located on Donegall Pass in close proximity to St Mary Magdalene Church. Converted for use as an office, interventions have been largely sympathetic. Externally the building has retained much of its historic fabric and late-Victorian detailing. Although the interior has been slightly modified as a response to the changing requirement of the buildings usage, the layout and features of interest have largely remained unaltered. Number 62 has historic interest as the home of Mary Ann McCracken and adds significant value to this listed group of buildings (HB26.30.083A - G), retaining the style, proportions and detailing of the terrace and contributing positively to its overall historic character.