I was looking on ancestry and I ran across something called a Lord Viscount Morpeth's Testimonial Roll 1841. Can anyone tell me what this particualr document is? It lists a whole page of names so is this like a cabinet member list? Thanks
George Howard (Lord Morpeth) was Chief Secretary of Ireland. (In US terms that’d be like the Secretary of State). He left Ireland in 1841. 160,00 people signed a petition thanking him for his service to Ireland. Some gave their addresses.
So it’s a significant list of people alive in Ireland in 1841, with names and some addresses. Given that the 1841 census was destroyed, it acts as a sort of census substitute, providing some information at a period when other records are scarce.