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Maybe in 1939 when the Accrington High School for Girls opened? Avenue sounds much more impressive for the main entrance to a school????

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I think Atarah is right on this HOWEVER my O.S. A-Z Lancashire Atlas shows it as STREET, though the postcode finder of Royal Mail calls it Ave. Why Cromwell though? The name was given by Rev Charles Whitaker (hence Whitaker St) who owned the land but as Cromwell was anti-CofE, it is an unusual choice. It might be linked to Marshall St, also on Whitaker land, which was on the opposite side of Whalley Rd, and Whitaker might have admired Cromwell for marshalling the troops, but this is pure conjecture. He did like to link names - Orange, Lemon and Lime, Pilot and Port were his favoured names, though not all got used. There have been other examples, such as Cobham, of streets becoming roads or avenues. The best example of snobbery is that Mary-Ann St became Milton St.

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It may have been named after Thomas Cromwell (not Oliver) who played a large part in the schism from Rome.

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Good thinking Balbus. I have noted your comment on the library's card.

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Rutland St was (is it still there?) a street whose name appeared to have no link to its neighbours. I did think it was one of a few on Peel land which referred to the name of a county. However, I am now of the opinion that is yet another street named after a politician pal of the Peel family, several of whom were politicians linked to Sir Robert but probably also known to Jonathan Peel and his Accrington branch of the family. The 6th Duke of Rutland was a Conservative MP ( as was Peel) and served under Lord Derby, PM in the 1830s and 40s, who was certainly known to our Peels.(Derby St & Stanley St refer to him) Rutland's family name was Manners. He lived 1815-88 and owned vast amount of land in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. Just like the Peels. I think that the present-day company Peel Holdings started off as a family one.

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A pal, Robert Cunliffe, is working on making available in the library a printed list of street names to complement the card index system which has been there for some years. I anticipate it will be up and running in early July and be available in the library. It is restricted, at present, to Accrington streets, but if you can add any information on Church-Ossie-Clayton names, please do so on this thread or PM me and I will ensure the information gets into the system, both card and database. I will announce when the printed version gets into the library.

Someone recently spoke with me about Bent St, Ossie. I would like to hear from you again as to why this street is so called.

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Was probably a description of what lives in ossy.:D

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Anyone got any information as to the origins of the "Hygiene" and "Chequers" in Clayton ?

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Interesting that these two streets aren't called street/road/row - just the name. The answer might be found in the minutes of the urban district council - if they still exist. Hygiene might be linked to laundering or bleaching.

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Chequers is summat i always wondered about, from when i supped in the Castle mid 60s,:confused: But then seemed to forget about after a few Pint Crystals.:D

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Where does Banastre (St) come from?

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Gosh, I had to put my thinking cap on for this street. Then I used my well thumbed Shurmers Guide - its at Altham West, off 27 Whalley Road.

Dont think I have a clue about the meaning of the street, sorry. This is all I could find, but not necessarily the correct reason.

General Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 1754 – 15 January 1833) was a British soldier and politician.
He is today probably best remembered for his military service during the American Revolutionary War.

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A quick answer - The Banastre family hail from the hall at Barrowford which is now a heritage centre. They ownedland and married with other local families, esp those in Altham area - the Waltons for instance. In time they became Bannisters. Sir Roger Bannister, the runner, is descended from this family.

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Did they emigrate to the US and live in "The Little House in the Prairie" as they already had a link with the Colony?;):D

Thanks for the information Bob, it is where you said, just caught my eye when passing.:)

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Ever wondered why the Peel Park pub seems isolated? The houses around it on the top side of Alice Street are quite modern. Today in the library, I found a plan which shows that in 1901, William Peel, then head of the family and owner of the Peel Park Estate had plans drawn up for two streets of houses to run parallel with Alice Street and Durham St, across land which in just a few years would become Peel Park School and t' Stanley's pitch. They were to have been called Alfred and Joseph Streets -= doubtless there were members of his family with these names. Earlier, an Alfred Street was planned to have been built on land on the top side of the Cemetery pub (Whitaker's Arms) by the pub's owner, ALFRED Nuttall. I am starting to look at street names which either never materialised or got changed.

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Roger Bannister gets a mention on here Bob. I never knew he had roots in Lancs until a pal sent me the link.

Facts & Figures - Lancashire and Blackpool

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Roger Bannister's ancestor, Nicholas, was involved in the prosecution of the Lancashire Witches. RB himself was born in London and to my knowledge has never lived in Lancashire.

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Apologies if it's already been posted, but anyone know where Enfield Street was in CLM ?

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It became Whalley Rd, though I am unsure when

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Cheers Bob

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A new street has been born - Ron Hill Way is named in honour of the borough's latest freeman, Ron Hill, a former world record marathon runner and fantastic athlete. Ron attended Accrington Grammar school and ran for Clayton Harriers.

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Sorry Bob, but the name Ron Hill brings on involuntary shudders. As a young impressionable lad in the early 80's I was traumatised along with lots of other young Soldiers, who, when confronted by the Pads wives who classed "Ronnys" running pants & high heels as an exclusive fashion statement. Now, on a svelte & pretty young thing okay ..... sadly those highlighting this dubious 80's chic weren't! :eek: :D

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That's a very complicated posting DaveinGermany :-)

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I don't do things by half Lass. :)

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Although retired by then I still made plenty of business visits to various military establishments - Often had the thought that I was glad to be away from the brown baggers.

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Horsfall Close was named to honour 2nd Lt Basil Arthur Horsfall of the East Lancs Regt, who was awarded a posthumous VC after being killed by friendly fire in 1917 whuilst per5forming an act of great heroism.

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Arthur Basil Horsfall was killed in action 27-03-1918, age 23, lived in Potwalla British Columbia, Plantation Grower. Basil was killed during an action when the enemy attacked at Ablainsville, he was amongst those ordered to withdraw, when a shell landed, his remains were never found. His name is on the Arras Memorial. His VC is in the safe at Fulwood Barracks. Where did the friendly fire bit come from.
I've been to Kew and seen his service records.

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I stand corrected. I had been told that it was friendly fire, but having re-read an item on Facebook, I see that he had earlier (1917) been wounded by friendly fire. I had confused the two

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I have always thought that Primrose St was named after the flower. However, I now believe that it was named after Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny ( 1847-1929) who was Prime Minister 1894-5 and President of the Co-operative Congress in 1890. This last office is a clue to the street being named after him, as there was a Co-op grocery shop in that street

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In 1900 the Accrington Co-operative Society had 14 houses built in Primrose Street .

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Thanks JCB This was the case in Dowry St too - and elsewhere I suspect. The board of the local society were mostly businessmen in their own right.

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Gordon Ave was originally called Gordon St - there have been several streets 'elevated' to improve their image. It was likely named after General Gordon, the hero of Khartoum, who was extremely popular in the eyes of the public. He was killed just a few years before the street was opened c 1890. Am I right in thinking that there are no houses in this street ?- one of very few if I am right, perhaps unique.

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That surprises me .

I never thought there was a street there before they built the sheltered-accommodation bungalows . As far as I know there were no houses there before the bungalows .

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Gordon Avenue? Never even heard of it. Accordingly to Adrian Shurmer's guide - off Fife Street, (Southern end) and Walker Avenue (pedestrians only)

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Gordon Avenue is a cul-de-sac off Fife Street and is open to traffic .

Walker Avenue is a cul-de-sac off Richmond Road , and is also open to traffic .

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A note on Walker Avenue's card in the library suggests that its name may be to honour Alfred Walker, a coach painter( of whom I know nowt) a member of whose family married a (Spring Hill) Pickup, owners of land in that area of the town.

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Alfred Walkers coach works were well famous, in Oxford Street
I know the grandson of this firm. Very interesting family.

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Got it now, Atarah - I've corresponded with this grandson , who has an unusual first name

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Pearl St and Newark St run alongside each other. I have long thought that there may have been a Pearl in the Peel or the Steiner family, but I cannot find one. On the 1891 census, when these two streets first appeared, there were only 54 ladies called Pearl in England - none locally. I am enquiring with Newark Library to see if they know of any connection between the town and these two Accrington industrialists, and if a they can come up with a Pearl who might be connected. In Pearl St at that time was Pearl House, a finer house than the rest of the street. It was occupied by Henry Anderton, a steam engine and boiler maker, who in 1861 was living in Boiler House Works, Lower Antley St This might have been the same house as Pearl House, -- certainly it was nearby. Maybe the house was built on his works. More research needed.

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May be relevant. From Lancashire OPC. Perhaps named after the insurance company.
"Baptism: 2 Feb 1888 St James, Church Kirk, Lancashire, England
Pearl Chisham [sic] - [Child] of William Robert Chisham [sic] & Mary Isabella
Born: 15 Dec 1887
Abode: 51 Pearl St. Accrington
Occupation: Pearl-Agent.
Baptised by: J.S. Moffat Curate
Register: Baptisms 1888 - 1900, Page 2, Entry 13"

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Thanks spw. It is possible that it was named after Peels' insurance company. However, there was a Pearl House there before the street was built and named. It was built by Alfred Anderton, boiler maker.in 1870s.

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Did Pearl House become the Spiritualist Church?

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No The spiritualists' church was in middle of a block. From there, I think they went to China St.

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In today's paper4 is an obituary for Rev Jonathan Sidney Peel MC. He was great-great-grandson of Sir Robert Peel, and thus related in some way to Jonathan Peel, who owned much of Accrington in 1800s. Interesting that his middle name is Sidney, so related also to the Sidney Peel after whom Jonathan named our street- and that the name was spelt with an 'i' and not a 'y'. It annoys me each time I drive past the club which likes to call itself Sydney St WMC. ...The Rev Peel was a high-ranking Army officer before going to Cambridge University to study Land Economy. This would doubtless have helped in his management of the land the family still owned in 1960s - and probably still do.

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After some years of research, I learned today that , possibly, even probably, Brown St may be named to honour a William Brown, who married Grace, the daughter of John Hargreaves, a giant in early to mid-Victorian Accrington who owned much of the land in that area of the town. The land was on his 'Priest Heys Estate'. This was name of a house off Willows Lane above Richmond Hill St.

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Found this reference to Banastre when reading this the other day.

Further Sparth, or Sparth House, was purchased from Ralph Rishton by Christopher Cunliffe in 1556, (fn. 80) and by him bequeathed to his son Robert in 1563. (fn. 81) Robert, who died in 1580, likewise bequeathed it to his son Christopher, (fn. 82) and Christopher dying in 1614 was found to hold his messuage in Clayton-le-Moors of Nathaniel Banastre of Altham in socage by 17/8d. rent; his son and heir Robert Cunliffe was eleven years old. (fn. 83) Administration of his estate was granted in 1672 to Elizabeth Cunliffe, his widow. He left sisters and co-heirs. Afterwards it was held by Turnley (1697) and Brooksbank. (fn. 84) Nearer Sparth, or Old Sparth, was acquired in 1669 by a family named Whalley, afterwards of Clerk Hill. (fn. 85) Both Sparths are now included in the Clayton Hall estate. Oakenshaw, another ancient freehold estate, was a century ago the property of Fort, Taylor & Co., calico printers (fn. 86); it now belongs to the trustees of the late Joseph Barnes.

From this website Townships: Clayton-le-Moors | British History Online

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Thanks for this. My answer at No 213 is correct in that the family owned land in Altham.
Barnes St, Clayton is named after the Joseph mentioned here. The Accrington one is much more complex. I will come back on that.

Messrs Fort & Taylor, mentioned above, were business partners. Two streets in Acc bear their names, and they lie alongside Moreton St - Taylor lived in Moreton Hall, near Whalley. Fort was MP for Clitheroe and lived at Read.

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I haven't read the whole thread, and apologies if I'm duplicating information.

Lime Street is mentioned in the 1939 Register. I know it's the same as Lime Road because my grandparents lived at No 9.

Napoleon Street
 

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but between 1891 and 1901 Whalley Road was extended to include Napoleon Street.

I've documented the changes here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rtbcom...57624817490939

Scroll down a few pages

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I've not been spending much time researching street names in the past year, but it is timely to record that two new Accrington streets have been named after Ron Hill, the Accrington-born and bred long distance runner AND his wife May Hill. I am not aware of a previous example of streets being named after a man and his wife

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Recently two new streets have been created in Acc - Barrett St and Sidings Way. They replace Poland St and Porter St. Barrett St honours Marian Barrett who died in 2012 and was a councillor from 1979 to 89. Sidings Way records that the street runs up to the railway lines , where formerly there was a sidings when we had our own engine sheds and goods yard

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In 1901, the Corporation agreed to a suggestion from the Independent Order of Oddfellows that Crow St, Bash, should be re-named Edward St. Edward would soon become King Edward. I'd like to know a) why was it called Cow St ? and b) why would the Oddfellows make this suggestion - and did they make other such suggestions ?

Is there still an Oddfellows branch in Acc ?

A guess - maybe there were trees containing crows' nests on the land when the street was first paid down in mid-century.

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Been reading through old threads on a quiet afternoon. As Persia street etc related to countries that Steiners traded with, Newark street may refer to Newark in New Jersey. The city grew very quickly in the 19 century as manufacturing developed and there was a textile industry in the city at that time.
Mark

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Pretty sure there was an "Oddfellows Arms" on the corner of little B'burn Rd and Bank St when I was younger:-)

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I think that Mark's suggestion that Newark St is named to refer to Steiner's trade with that American city is quite plausible. I cannot find my notes at this moment, and will come back to this when I have done. I am only aware of one street the name of which is definitely provable to be correct - Arnold St. A Mr Arnold was MP for Salford and in a speech he told how Jonathan Peel has promised to name a street after him "some twenty years ago"

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The study and recording of Accrington's street names was started about 30 years ago I think - Atarah Hindle will know. Information on them is kept in a card file in the wooden cabinets below the front windows in the upstairs room of the library. It is rare to come across a new reason for an old street's name, but this has just happened in the case of Burton Road, which started as Burton Street around 1877. It is likely that the name was given by members of the Peel family , who owned lots of land off Burnley Rd,that it was so named to commemorate the moving of their 18th century ancestors from Accrington and Church to Buton on Trent to set up factories there as it offered better prospects for trade than their factories locally.
The Peel Society ( Google it) commemorates Sir Robert Peel and the rest of the Peel family in a museum in Burton, where there is a Peel St and a Peel House in the centre. I think it likely that the Accrington-based Peels would have gone to visit their relatives in Burton and feel some connection with the town and surrounding area.

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There are many streets in the town which were named by the Peel family of Accrington house, owners of much land in the town in the 1800s. Most of them were chosen by the head of the family, Jonathan Peel, and many of them were named after members of his family - Robert, William, Bertha come to mind. I have long thought that Oswald St, not far from Accrington House, was another I thought was in that category. However, I have been informed by a living descendant of Jonathan that there have been no Oswalds in the family, and a search of the mid-century censuses failed to find any.

My digging has unearthed an MP who loyally served the Conservative party and Sir Robert Peel the PM. He was Alexander Oswald, MP for Ayrshire. Jonathan would be pally with his brother's colleagues in the Commons , and named several streets after them - Pitt, Melbourne, Wellington amongst them, also a Mr Arnold, MP for Salford, who let it be known in a speech made in Accrington that, some 20years before, Jonathan had told him that he intended to name a street after him
The Peels also owned land in Ossie and Rishton, where there are also Oswald Streets.

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In the Plantation St - Cobham Rd area, there are Barnfield, Limefield, Garfield and Beaconsfield Streets all very close together. Presume FIELD means what it says, but havent been able to find how the other bits came about.

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One Solved-
Garfield ▼ as a boys' name is of Old English origin, and the meaning of Garfield is "spear field". Surname and place name from Old English gâr "triangle", and feld "open country, field".

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It seems likely that there is some link between all the 'field' names but there could be other explanations too. I cannot think of any other street names based on old English words. whereas there are streets named, as is Garfield, on American presidents (Washington & Grant)

Before the streets were laid out, around 1885, there was a fine house called 'Barnfield' occupied on the land by businessman Richard Parkinson. The land was owned by the Hargreaves family and is not far from their factory at Broad Oak. Before the factory, this was farmland and prhaps there was a barn there.

Beaconsfield is the name of a town in Buckinghamshire in which John Hargreaves owned an estate. The politician/MP Disraeli became 1st earl of Beaconsfield, so it is possible that John Hargreaves was honouring Dizzy, just as other landowners did.

Limefield appears to have no explanantion other than it ends in 'field'

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[QUOTE=Bob Dobson;1255660]It seems likely that there is some link between all the 'field' names but there could be other explanations too. I cannot think of any other street names based on old English words. whereas there are streets named, as is Garfield, on American presidents (Washington & Grant)

Before the streets were laid out, around 1885, there was a fine house called 'Barnfield' occupied on the land by businessman Richard Parkinson. The land was owned by the Hargreaves family and is not far from their factory at Broad Oak. Before the factory, this was farmland and prhaps there was a barn there.

Beaconsfield is the name of a town in Buckinghamshire in which John Hargreaves owned an estate. The politician/MP Disraeli became 1st earl of Beaconsfield, so it is possible that John Hargreaves was honouring Dizzy, just as other landowners did.

Limefield appears to have no explanantion other than it ends in 'field'

It seems that my ancesters (could), have been landowners, ;);) Your's Taddy (Hadfield)