“Jennymount Street, off York Road – could be from Jennymount, seat of Robert Thomson Esqr., but as this house was renamed Castleton in 1847 and the street was not built until 1866, it is more likely named from Jennymount Mill (built between 1856 and 1864), which in turn was named after the house. Jennymount (the house) was built by Robert Thomson c. 1775 (Benn 1880, 226) and was later the residence of John Thomson, one of the founders of the Commercial Bank, which later became the Belfast Bank (Baker 2011). The house is marked on the 1st edition six-inch-to-the-mile Ordnance Survey map made in the 1830s. On the 2nd edition map of 1846 Jennymount has been replaced by a residence called Castleton at the same site. The name Jennymount is explained as follows by George Benn in A History of the Town of Belfast, vol. ii (1880): “In another letter of the year 1782, Miss Jane Thomson writes to her cousin, the Rev. John Thomson, Presbyterian Minister of Carnmoney, announcing an event interesting to both, and dates her letter from Jennymount; doubtless this lady was the originator of the name” (Benn 1880, 226). In other words, Jenny was a pet form of Jane, referring to Jane Thomson. Nowadays we usually think of Jenny as a pet form of Jennifer, but in the 18th century it often stood for Jane. As well as Jennymount Street, the name is also remembered in Jennymount Methodist Church, which is located very close to the site of the original house, and Jennymount Mill. The mill was designed by John Lanyon, son of Sir Charles Lanyon. There is an excellent photograph of the mill taken in 1908 and reproduced in Made In Belfast (Pollock and Parkhill 2005, 29). “Other buildings of the time such as Gallaher’s York Street Tobacco Factory have long been demolished, leaving Jennymount Mill one of the few intact industrial buildings still standing as a relic of the great age of local industry associated with textiles” In 2002 Jennymount Mill was re-opened as an office block and forms part of Jennymount Industrial Estate. However, it has been hard to find commercial tenants to occupy the whole building. Sadly, Jennymount Street is now a cul-de-sac without houses or other buildings.” Paul Tempan.
The information which follows can be found on the Visitor Information Signage on York Road provided by Belfast City Council: “For nearly 100 years, when the mill horns of Jennymount Mill and York Street Flax Spinning Company sounded their call to work, the little terrace streets in communities like Sailortown would come alive as people rose to face another day of grind and graft. The Jennymount Mill dates from 1856. Its office block was added in 1864 and carries an interesting series of carved keystone heads of famous literary and other figures, including Wordsworth, Columbus, Newton and Galilei. The mill’s massive seven storey block, designed in brick by John Lanyon in 1891, has been likened to an Italian palazzo. Linen played a vital role in the development of Belfast. By 1873, the growing town was the largest linen producing centre in the world, a position it held until 1914. The linen industry employed mainly women, although mill supervisors and managers were men. A typical working week in a mill lasted up to 55ó hours, with each day starting at 6am to 6pm, with one hour for lunch. The mills used to employ children as young as eight years, most of whom worked the ‘half-time’ system, ie. a half day in the mill, the other half at school. In 1901 the legal starting age was raised to 13 and by 1907, there were over 3,000 half-timers in Belfast, earning about 3s/6d a week. Working conditions in the mills were harsh. The noise from machinery was deafening, and many workers became skilled lip readers in order to communicate over the noise. The combination of heat, steam and oil fumes from machinery was made worse by the fine dust released from the preparation of the fibres”.
Heatley and Dixon believe Jennymount (house) gets its name from Jane Legg who later married Robert Thompson in 1761. Her grandson Robert Thompson changed the name of the house and estate from Jennymount to Castleton. In 1847 Robert Thompson, the director of the Belfast Banking Company renamed the house “Castleton”. Bradshaw’s General And Commercial Directory 1819 list a John Thompson living at Jennymount. The house and lodge date back before 1832 according to Dean and were built for the Thompson family.