Derry~Londonderry Freemen Records

The Londonderry Corporation was the historical municipal governing body for the city of Derry~Londonderry and surrounding area. It functioned as the local authority responsible for civic administration, public services, and local governance from as early as 1673. In the early 20th Century, the authority became known as the Londonderry County Borough Council which operated until 1969.

Many of the corporation’s minute books and other records are held in PRONI’s LA/79 archive. Derry City and Strabane District Council hold records relating to the ‘Freemen’, the city’s war memorial registers and many other records. For information about accessing these records, you can contact the Archive and Genealogical Service.

The council and PRONI have worked together to digitise the minute books and ‘Freemen’ records dating from 1673 to 1901, as well as the war memorial registers from 1926; all of which are available to view online.

About the Freemen of the City

The ‘Freemen’ of Derry~Londonderry City were originally members of the city craft guilds, but by the mid-eighteenth century they were a semi-hereditary and controlled group consisting of those entitled by birth, apprenticeship, marriage, buying or as a favour. As a result, Freemen were often not residents of the city and rarely came from a merchant or commercial background.

The jurisdiction and liberties of Freemen of the City extended 3 miles in every direction, including the River Foyle east bank. Liberties in this context meant the right to exercise one’s craft or trade. In the 17th and 18th centuries, only those granted the ‘Freedom of the City’ were entitled to conduct business, own property and receive protection.

About the Freemen Records

As granted during the Ulster Plantation, the Londonderry Corporation operated as the administrators of land and property; collecting rents and engaging in legal battles with the city’s London landlord, the Irish Society and any others who challenged locally established rights, including those of the Freemen.

The Corporation’s Freemen records form four manuscripts on the Freemen of the City from 1675 to 1945 are now available to view online. The volumes include:

• one book of extracts from Corporation minutes relating to Freemen matters
• two corresponding indexes to the extracts
• one register of Freemen including names and some details