This was posted to another list and I thought it might be of interest. ---------------Original Message--------------- Taken from PRONI : Your Family Tree 16 The Encumbered Estates Acts, 1848 & 1849, allowed the sale of Irish estates which had been mortgaged and whose owners, because of the Great Famine, were unable to meet their obligations. It was hoped that English investors would be attracted to buy Irish estates and thereby transorm Irish agriculture. Under the 1849 Act an Encumbered Estates Court was established with authority to sell estates on the application of the owner or encumberer (one who had a claim on the estate). After the sale the court distributed the money among the creditors and granted clear title to the new owners. The existing tenants on the estates were unprotected by legislation. Estates were generally bought by speculators. Between 1849 and 1857, there were 3,000 estates totalling 5,000,000 acres, disposed of under the Acts. The functions of the court were assumed by the Landed Estates Court in 1853. The most spectacular sale at the encumbered estates court was the property of the 3rd Marquis of Donegall, which had been in financial difficulties since the late 18th century. When he succeeded to the title in 1848 the new Marquis inherited debts of nearly £400,000 - fourteen times the annual rental. He had no choice but to let the encumbered estates court arrange the sale of the thirty thousand acres which remained. The Irish Encumbered Estates Rentals are in bound volumes and are available for the whole of Ireland. They are divided into counties, townlands or house or tenements, the names of the parties involved and the date. Included are rentals, maps of the estate giving tenants` names and on occasion surveys of the estate. They are an under used source for genealogists interested in the names of tenants of various estates throughout Ireland in the mid 19th century. Ref D.1201. An Index to the Encumbered Estates Court Sales is also available Ref. MIC.80/2 Alex Hughes >from Ayrshire, Scotland Searching for Duncan,Bruce,Kilpatrick,Campbell,Fairley,Milne,McKechan, Jamphray,Strathern,Kelso,Smith & Auld in Scotland Searching for Hughes, Graham, McCutcheon, Donaghy, Irvine, Dorian, Kelley & Black in Ireland ----------End of Original Message----------