Year approved: 1887
Located in East Belfast, off Albertbridge Road near the Short Strand.
Application of R. J. McConnell & Co. for new streets on their property off Albertbridge Road and Roundhill Street to be named Chamberlain Street, Montrose Street, Vicarage Street, and Melrose Street was considered by the Town Improvement Committee on 19 October 1887. The first three were approved, but McConnell was asked to suggest an alternative in place of Melrose Street.
Montrose is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland, situated on the coast between Dundee and Aberdeen. “Montrose Street itself recalls the gallant but unfortunate James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, one of Scotland's national heroes, whose life was amongst the last literary work of John Buchan (the late Lord Tweedsmuir)” (John J. Marshall, Belfast Telegraph, 26 February 1941). James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650), was a Royalist leader during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The choice reflected the common practice of using distinguished aristocratic or military titles to confer prestige on new developments.
The link with Scotland is further underlined by McConnell’s simultaneous proposal of Melrose Street. While that name was not accepted, its pairing with Montrose shows the developer’s intention to draw on Scottish place names and their literary associations. Montrose itself could also be linked with Sir Walter Scott’s novel A Legend of Montrose (1819). See also Ardenvohr Street.
Sources:
Belfast Town Improvement Committee minutes, 19 October 1887
John J. Marshall, Belfast Telegraph, 26 February 1941
Historical accounts of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650)
Sir Walter Scott, A Legend of Montrose (1819)