47 Lisburn Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AB

47 Lisburn Street is a symmetrical two-storey three-bay end-terrace Georgian house built around 1780, prominently sited at the corner of Wapping Lane and Lisburn Street in Hillsborough town centre.

The building is rectangular on plan with a two-storey return and a rear extension. It features a pitched natural slate roof with blue and black angled ridge tiles, rendered chimneystacks (one with tall terracotta pots), and cast-iron half-round rainwater goods. The walling is painted pebble-dash with a smooth-rendered plinth, eaves course, and render banding to the north corner; a plinth wall runs along the north elevation.

Windows throughout are replacement 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash windows (diminished to first floor) set in smooth rendered lugged surrounds with projecting masonry sills. The principal elevation faces west with three openings to each floor. At ground floor centre is a four-panelled timber door with a glazed section to the top, set in a smooth rendered surround with decorative brass door furniture. This is accessed by five masonry steps facing south, enclosed by decorative cast-iron railings and a latch gate. The north elevation has a window at left to first floor. The east elevation is partially concealed, with a return to the right featuring a first-floor window. The rear extension is full-height and gabled to centre with a first-floor window; the lower section to the right has a gently sloping roof with a first-floor window. The south elevation is abutted by the adjoining building.

The property is corner-sited and street-fronted between Lisburn Street and Wapping Lane. Vehicular access to the rear is through modern timber arch-headed gates. The frontage is bounded by a modern red-brick wall and timber fence. The rear garden is currently undergoing landscaping.

Number 47 first appears on a map dated around 1800 and an illustrated plan of Hillsborough from 1803, both depicting it as an oblong building with a small rear return at the corner of Lisburn Street and Wapping Lane. Lisburn Street is the oldest part of Hillsborough, developed between around 1800 and 1830 when buildings on the northern half of the street were constructed. The street was formerly known as Great Newport Street, a reference to the construction of the Lagan Canal in the late 18th century. Number 47 is one of the earlier Georgian houses built in the mid to late 18th century, predating the later development of the street.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 and the Townland Valuation map of around 1830 show little change to the building, though it then possessed two small outbuildings in the rear yard. The Townland Valuation records indicate the house was occupied by Mr James Stephenson, who let the property from the Marquis of Downshire, valued at £8 8s.

Between around 1830 and 1861 the house passed to Mr Henry Ellis, recorded as a former occupant in the 1861 Griffith's Valuation. By 1861, Mr James Dagg had taken over the property, valued at £11 10s. The valuer described it as a 1B+ class dwelling measuring 10 by 6 yards, two storeys in height. In 1885 the valuation increased to £13 10s when an extension was added to the rear, connecting the rear outbuildings to the dwelling.

Dagg occupied number 47 Lisburn until his death on 15 March 1901, leaving the house and effects valued at £3,079 0s. 3d. to his widow Jane Dagg. Jane vacated the property and retired to Rhoda Lodge outside Hillsborough until her death in 1928.

The house passed to Mr James W. Hatch in 1901. The 1901 Census records Hatch (aged 48), a Petty Sessions Clerk, residing at number 47 with his wife Isabella (47) and three children. The Census Building Return describes the house as a first-class private dwelling with 11 rooms. The 1911 Census indicates the rear outbuildings housed a stable, coach house, small stores, coal house, and washhouse; these have since been demolished.

James Hatch remained at number 47 until his death in 1917, when the house passed to his daughter Georgina Hatch, who occupied it until 1930. Isabella Hatch died in September 1934, having presumably remained at the property in her daughter's care.

In recent years, the rear offices have been demolished; they were still visible on the 1966 Ordnance Survey map. The house continues to be occupied and is in good repair. It is located within a conservation area.