Bedford Street is a street in Belfast city centre, extending south from Donegall Square and forming part of the nineteenth-century street grid associated with the Linen Quarter. It lies adjacent to the former Linen Hall site and developed during the mid nineteenth century as a centre for the linen trade.
The street originated under a different name. On Mason’s town plan of 1815, the route is clearly shown and labelled as Bishop Street, indicating that both the alignment and an earlier name were in use by the early nineteenth century. This confirms that the street existed prior to its later renaming and formed part of the planned street grid laid out south of Donegall Square.
On the Ordnance Survey First Edition map (c.1829–1835), the street is again clearly formed but is not labelled by name. This reflects a transitional phase in which the physical street layout was established, but its naming had not yet been standardised or formally approved by the municipal authorities.
Definitive evidence for the renaming and formal opening of the street as Bedford Street is provided by a report of Belfast Town Council proceedings published in the Belfast News-Letter on Wednesday 2 April 1851. The report records that Messrs McClean gave notice to the Town Clerk of their intention “to open a street of the width of sixty feet six inches, to be called Bedford Street, and to run in a direct line from the West side of Donegall Square to the old Dublin road.” The Council considered the proposal and resolved that the width of the new street should be seventy feet, with the frontage line on the west side aligned with the railings in front of Mr Harrison’s houses, and the frontage line on the east side aligned with the railings on the west side of the Linen Hall. This report provides clear confirmation of both the adoption of the name Bedford Street and the regulated nature of its layout.
Bedford Street first appears under its present name in the Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory of 1852, consistent with the timing of this Council approval. The street was largely developed during the 1850s, following drainage and ground improvement works, and rapidly became a centre for linen warehouses, factories, and offices. Its dense concentration of Victorian commercial buildings played a key role in establishing the surrounding area as the heart of Linenopolis.
The origin of the name Bedford Street is not explicitly stated in surviving municipal records. Patton suggests that it may derive from Sir William Franklin of Bedfordshire, who married Letitia, widow of the first Earl of Donegall. Another line of interpretation draws comparison with Bedford Row in Dublin, which Clerkin associates with the Dukes of Bedford. On this basis, it has been suggested that the name may refer to John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1757 to 1761. While such aristocratic naming conventions were common in nineteenth-century urban development, no direct documentary evidence has been identified to confirm the precise individual commemorated.
By the later nineteenth century, Bedford Street was firmly established as an important element within Belfast’s commercial and industrial core. Although the linen trade has declined, the street retains its historic name and continues to form part of the city’s central street network.
Sources
Belfast News-Letter, 2 April 1851
Mason, Town Plan of Belfast (1815)
Ordnance Survey of Ireland, First Edition (c.1829–1835)
Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory (1852)
Patton, M., Central Belfast: A Historical Gazetteer
Clerkin, P., Dublin Street Names