"Waring Street derived its name from the Waring family, the great merchants and tanners of the seventeenth century, whose place of business it was. It was sometimes called Broad Street; on other occasions both names are used, as if each end had a separate title, but Waring Street was more general; the other has long been extinct" (George Benn, A History of the Town of Belfast, vol. i, 1877, p. 528).
Under the name Broad Street it is mentioned as early as 1619 ((PRONI, D271/1: Notes of an Agreement re plot of land, Broad Street, Belfast, between Arthur, Lord Chichester, Baron of Belfast and George Theaker, [Belfast] dated 1 Aug. 1619).
"Thomas Waring, second son of John Waring, of Toome, County Antrim, settled in Belfast, where he carried on the tanning business, prior to 1643, as he was sworn in and admitted to the roll of Freemen on September 14 of that year. He must have been a man of good standing, as he was Sovereign, in the years 1652, 1655 and 1656. His son, William Waring, in 1670 acquired four half-burgage shares. The supposed family residence is shown, on Phillips's map of 1685 as the largest building, except the Castle, in the town, situate nearly opposite the site of the Ulster Bank.... William Waring died a wealthy man, having acquired a considerable amount of property in Broad Street and Skipper Lane. The most notable building in Waring Street is the Ulster Bank Head Office, built in 1859, their earlier office being a couple of doors from the Commercial Buildings" (John J. Marshall, Belfast Telegraph, 24/02/1941).