Historical Information of 16 May Street

No. 16 May Street, a three-storey redbrick townhouse, was constructed around 1855 and first appeared on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for Belfast in 1858. The map depicted No. 16 as part of an adjoining terrace, which consists of similar properties numbered 14-20 May Street (HB26/50/175A-D). Notably, the terrace had not been constructed by the 1852 Belfast Street Directory, which indicated that the area between a music hall (on the corner of Upper Arthur Street) and Hugh Morrison’s post office (at the corner of Montgomery Street) lay vacant.

When completed, No. 16 May Street was valued at £38 in Griffith’s Valuation (1859); the valuer noted that the house included a stable block to the rear and was leased by Sir Edward May. In 1859, the occupant was Mr. William Seeds, a solicitor who had offices on Castle Lane.

Seeds resided at No. 16 May Street until his death in 1886, after which the property became vacant. In 1891, No. 16 was purchased from the May family estate by Mr. Thomas Fisher, proprietor of the Victoria Music Hall, who resided at Arthur Street. Fisher leased No. 16 to Mr. Thomas Maguire shortly after acquiring the property, and its value subsequently increased to £43. The Annual Revisions for May Street from 1897-1905 are missing; however, the Belfast Revaluation (1900) notes that Maguire was employed as a surgeon. Under the revaluation, the value of No. 16 May Street rose to £58, with the valuer noting it consisted of eight rooms (including living rooms and bedrooms, excluding kitchens) and was fitted with gas installations and plumbing.

The 1901 Census indicates that Maguire (34, Roman Catholic) lived at No. 16 May Street with his wife Mary (24) and their two children. The census building return described his property as a first-class dwelling with 13 inhabited rooms and a rear stable as its sole outbuilding. Maguire vacated No. 16 May Street by 1907, and the following year it became temporary premises for James Lindsay & Co., a warehouse firm that had previously occupied premises at No. 28 Donegall Place. The firm only briefly utilised No. 16 May Street, with Mr. J. Ewing Johnston taking possession in 1909, when the value decreased to £48.

Johnston, a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, resided at May Street until 1923 when Thomas Fisher sold No. 16. The former dwelling was acquired by the Antrim Masonic Provincial Lodge, which converted the building into its headquarters. As a result of the conversion, No. 16 was valued at £61 by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. The Antrim Masonic Provincial Grand Lodge occupied No. 16 May Street as its headquarters until 1958; under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935), the value of the Lodge headquarters increased to £125.

Nos 14-20 May Street survived the heavy bombardment during the 1941 Blitz. In the aftermath of the Second World War, No. 16 was included in the second general revaluation commencing in 1956. The Lodge vacated No. 16 in 1958, and the upper offices were occupied by S. M. [McQuintty] & Co., an unknown firm. The ground floor was subsequently converted into a restaurant in 1959, with a modern shopfront installed (visible in the First Survey Image from 1978), which has since been sympathetically removed. By the end of the second revaluation in 1972, the total value of No. 16 May Street stood at £192.

Overview of May Street's Development

May Street, a long axial street running from Oxford Street to Donegall Street South, was primarily laid out in the early 19th century, partially constructed over reclaimed land. This land was made available by the construction of Henry Joy’s paper mill over the Blackstaff River, which opened up acres of land southeast of Belfast’s town centre for development. The eastern section of May Street was the first to be developed, yet it was not until the mid-19th century that the western stretch was fully built over. Originally, the short section of May Street between Joy Street and Alfred Street (including nos 14-20) was known as Clarendon Place; this name remained until around 1860 when the entire length from the square to Oxford Street was permanently designated May Street, named after the May family.

Nos 14-20 May Street were constructed on newly reclaimed land around 1855. Prior to the stylistic experimentation of the Victorian period, the formal Georgian townhouse was the most recognisable feature of Belfast’s urban fabric. Few examples of pre-Victorian housing survive in the city centre, with the three-storey terraces on neighbouring Joy Street and Hamilton Street (HB26/30/007A-C; 008A-I; 009A-F), along with early 19th-century townhouses at nos 18-19 Donegall Square East (HB26/50/172), representing the last remnants of the original Georgian character of the May Street area.

During the Victorian period, the availability of inexpensive building materials led to the construction of the redbrick terraces that now characterise Belfast’s city centre and its surroundings. Nos 14-20 May Street were built during this transitional phase; these redbrick Flemish-bond buildings utilised materials and construction techniques characteristic of the early Victorian period. However, the overall design of the terrace is conservative, resembling the formal townhouses of the Georgian period, incorporating pillared doorcases with fanlights above and quoins bookending nos 14 and 16. Patton described nos 14-20 May Street as ‘Flemish bond redbrick houses with small-pane sashes and arc-headed doorcases with slender edge mouldings and plain fanlights, and recessed Ionic columns supporting plain entablatures; corbelled gutter on rendered wallhead’ (Patton, p. 234).

Usage and Recent History

No. 16 May Street served as a private dwelling from around 1855 until 1923, when it was converted into the headquarters for the Co. Antrim Masonic Provincial Grand Lodge. According to 'A History of the Hall', a history of Arthur Square’s Masonic Hall, when the Grand Lodge acquired No. 16 May Street, a Masonic library and a small private museum were established at the site. In the 1950s, the ground floor of No. 16 was converted into a restaurant, while the upper floors were retained for office use. By the First Survey Image in 1978, the ground floor lay vacant, and the shopfront was boarded up. In the late 20th century, the building served as office space for the Girls Brigade (also administered from the adjoining Boy’s Brigade Headquarters at No. 14); a sign above the entrance door continues to read ‘Girls Brigade’, despite the organisation having vacated the building. No. 16 May Street was listed in 1988. Recently, the modern shopfront was removed during sympathetic restoration work, returning the redbrick façade to its original state. Currently, No. 16 May Street lies vacant, with shutters blocking its entrances and ground floor windows.

References

Primary Sources

PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832-33
PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858
PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02
PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931
PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938
PRONI VAL/2/B/7/1A-B – Griffith’s Valuation 1859
PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1-25 – Annual Revisions 1862-1897
PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/18-42 – Annual Revisions 1897-1930
PRONI VAL/7/B/9/41 – Belfast Revaluation 1900
PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
PRONI VAL/4/B/7/40 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972
Belfast Street Directories (1861-1918)
Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
PRONI Wills Catalogue (13 Mar 1886)
First Survey Image – HB26/50/172 (1978)
Ordnance Survey Map – 130-13SE (1959)

Secondary Sources

‘History of the Hall: 1868-1999’ Belfast: Arthur Square Masonic Hall, 1999.
Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An Historical Gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993.

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