Thursday, 22 September 2011

230 years of Derry City life revealed in minutes.

Historic records of Derry Corporation dating back more than 300 years can now be viewed online, thanks to the successful completion of a partnership project between the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and Derry City Council Heritage and Museums Service.

The project, which started in December 2009, has involved the digitisation of the entire collection of twenty-three original volumes of Derry Corporation minute books. These volumes date from 1673-1901. The volumes record discussions in the Council Chamber on a vast array of subjects relating to local government of the City.

Each minute book begins with the date of the meeting of the Common Council and a list of those members in attendance.

You can find out about the Plantation of the City, the Royal Charter of King James 1, the city's Industrial Linen Heritage, its thriving port, the arrival of the railways, and much more.

The digitised images are held in pdfs which can be downloaded from www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/derrycorporationarchive-3.htm.