from 1911 to 1916; and Chancellor of The Queen's University of Belfast from 1909 to 1923. As a young man, Lord Shaftesbury spent much of his time at Belfast Castle, often living there when he was not in London. He and his wife, Constance, Countess of Shaftesbury (1875-1957), were also very involved with charitable causes in Belfast, often holding events in the grounds of Belfast Castle in order to raise money for local charities. It was Lord Shaftesbury who had the Baroque stone staircase added to the garden façade of the castle in 1894. The architect of this elaborate, serpentine outdoor staircase is unknown. The vast country estates of the Donegall family, which had been inherited by the Shaftesbury family in October 1883, were largely broken up and sold off under The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury during the 1890s and during the first decade of the twentieth century. While the town of Belfast had been sold off by The 3rd Marquess of Donegall back in the 1850s, the Donegall family continued to own a large estate in County Antrim and large parts of Inishowen until these passed to the Shaftesburys in October 1883. Under the various Land Acts passed by the British Parliament during the 1880s, 1890s and early twentieth century (especially under the Wyndham Land Act of 1903), the huge country estates in Ireland, including those of the Shaftesbury family in Ulster, were broken up and sold off, mainly being sold to the tenant farmers who actually lived on and farmed the land. In his later years, Lord Shaftesbury spent less and less time at Belfast Castle, particularly after the outbreak of the First World War. Running the castle became ever more of a financial burden to the Shaftesbury family, especially after what remained of their County Antrim estate was sold off, under the terms of the Land Acts, in the 1890s and the years immediately before 1914. The castle and its surrounding demesne was eventually gifted to the City of Belfast by Lord Shaftesbury in January 1934. Belfast Castle and Demesne since 1934 In the years after it was given to the city, there was some debate about what Belfast Castle should be used for. The publicity manager at the time felt that the castle should either be re-purposed into a tea and dance room, or perhaps a museum and art gallery with refreshment rooms. The castle was