Parliamentary Boundary Posts in garden of 49 Queensberry Park, Belfast

A pair of cast iron administrative boundary markers located in the garden of 49 Queensberry Park, Belfast, marking the outer extent of the jurisdiction of Belfast Corporation (as Belfast City Council was then known) and of Ormeau District Electoral Division and Ward.

Both posts are of slightly tapered cylindrical profile, measuring 3 feet high by 1 foot in diameter. Each has a banded octagonal base with an oversailing octagonal collar, supported on a splayed dentil casting and a slightly smaller spoked cap. One of the spokes bears an additional casting which may indicate the post's orientation.

The posts are dated 1918, with the front of each bearing the shield of Belfast Corporation's coat of arms and an attached plaque reading 'PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL BOUNDARY OF BELFAST ORMEAU DIVISION ORMEAU WARD 1918'. The plaques are secured with four countersunk screws.

Evidence suggests the posts were originally erected around 1898, as 'B.P.' (boundary post) is marked on the 1901 Ordnance Survey map of this vicinity. The posts were likely adapted in 1918 by bolting new plaques over the original legend. The design is consistent with an earlier post dated 1858 which survives on the west side of High Street, Holywood, County Down, indicating continuity in local design practice.

The front boundary post was previously buried and has been re-erected close to its original location in the footpath. The boundary between the street gardens and footpath kinks at this point, which may have resulted in the post's interment. The second boundary post is located in the rear garden, close to a boundary fence.

Historical context: The posts were erected within a field but subsequent suburban development has placed both within a private garden. The County of the Borough of Belfast was created under the Local Government Act 1898 and enacted in 1899. The borough was initially divided into four parliamentary constituencies. Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, these were abolished and increased to nine, including Ormeau. The new constituencies were first used in the General Election of 14 December 1918, under the Representation of the People Act 1918. This election was historically significant as the first in which all men over 21 and all women over 30 could vote, and the first election to be completed within a single day. With the inception of the devolved parliament for Northern Ireland in 1922, the Ormeau parliamentary constituency was abolished and previous Belfast seats restored, though the municipal wards continued to be used for local elections.

The posts are relatively rare, as many similar markers have been lost to road widening and removal. They possess group value with four similar posts demarcating Ormeau Electoral Division recorded at nearby locations, and represent important surviving remnants of a short-lived period in the province's political development between the County of the Borough's establishment and the formation of Northern Ireland and the Stormont administration in 1922.