FORTWILLIAM, Belfast One of the grander landed estates on the northern approach to Belfast, in the late 18 century it was home to the Lendrick family from whom it passed to William Sinclair. In 1809 it was purchased by George Langtry (1766-1846) of Langtry and Herdman, owners of a fleet of vessels which sailed to London and Liverpool. This enterprise financed considerable improvements, including the addition of vast glasshouses, to a house that Mclear remembered at the turn of the century as "a fine old place". In 1864 the estate was purchased by James William Valentine who broke it up into lots sold to the burgeoning Belfast merchant class who erected their Italianate villas of which Killeen and Dunlambert [q.qv] were the largest and which themselves have been demolished in the face of increasing demand once again for smaller plots. The exclusive Fortwilliam Park thus formed was approached via two grand lodged gates off the Shore and Antrim roads. Meanwhile George's widow Elizabeth Langtry lived on in one of the three gate lodges to the old house which became the residence of the Murray family before its demolition in the early 20 century. Benn (1880); McTear; Taylor & Skinner; Valuation Books Dean - Plight of the Big House