Harristown

Harristown was incorporated by a 1684 charter of 33 Chas II. The borough returned two members to parliament. It had a corporation and kept a minute book,²⁰¹ although 'There was not one house and but one tree inhabiting.'²⁰² In 1727 it even had a disputed election at which Edward Stratford (2023) polled 179 votes, John Graydon (0897) 178, Christopher Usher 117 and Chettwood Eustace 24. About 1793 the financially embarrassed Duke of Leinster sold the corporation for £14,000 to John La Touche, who had purchased the estate around it.²⁰³ La Touche received the £15,000 compensation for its disfranchisement at the Union. One contemporary commentator pointed out that the corporation system made the difference between the thriving town of Belfast and Harristown's tree negligible.