Householders' Index, 1851, 1857--questions

VirginiaB

I have found an ancestor in the Householders' Index, 1851, 1857. But it is not at all clear what this index is. Online info indicates it's a list of surnames derived from the Tithe Applotments and Griffith's Valuation. But my ancestor, Esther McCaw, was a girl--and not named McCaw--at the time of the Tithe Applotments. She is in Griffith's but her parish--Ballintoy in Co Antrim--was not published til 1861. I assume she was a widow at the time of Griffith's.

What do the dates 1851 and 1857 refer to? It would be valuable info to know if she was widowed by either of those dates.

pinkypinky

Where are you seeing this index?

VirginiaB

It's on Ancestry.
Source Information
Platt, Lyman. County Antrim, Ireland, Householder's Index, 1851, 1857 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2000.
Original data: Platt, Lyman. Irish Householders Index.
And Family Search has a wiki--
Ireland Householders Index

pinkypinky

Right, that is just surnames not an actual list of every householder, and it's compiled by comparing Griffiths and the Tithes.

See here:
http://www.irishgenealogy.com/ireland/griffith's-valuations.htm

VirginiaB

But why the dates 1851 and 1857? Griffith's for Ballintoy, Co Antrim, was not published til 1861. The data may have been a year or even two years old but it's hard to believe it was four years or more. What do those dates mean?