The minutes of the TIC of 29th September 1886 indicate that on the application of “Messrs Fraser and Son on behalf of Mrs Henderson two new streets off Newtownards Road be named ‘Susan Street’ and ‘Trevor Street’”. Susan Street features in the 1887 BSD with a few addresses listed.
Susan Street
Location: Ballymacarrett, East Belfast
First approved: 1886
Directory appearance: 1887
Susan Street is located off the Newtownards Road in the Ballymacarrett area of East Belfast, close to Westbourne Presbyterian Church. The street was approved in late 1886 as part of a small residential development in this district.
The Belfast Town Improvement Committee minutes of 29 September 1886 record the formal application for the naming of the street. The relevant entry states:
“An application from Messrs Fraser and Son on behalf of Mrs Henderson for two new streets off Newtownards Road to be named ‘Susan Street’ and ‘Trevor Street’.”
The Committee approved the application, and both street names subsequently appeared in the 1887 Belfast Street Directory. Trevor Street was later renamed Tower Street at the request of the owners.
The “Mrs Henderson” named in the minutes was Agnes Henderson (née McKay), widow of James Alexander Henderson (1823–1883). James A. Henderson was a prominent Victorian Belfast figure: proprietor of the Belfast News-Letter, Mayor of Belfast (1873–1874), and a leading Presbyterian layman. His influence in East Belfast extended beyond journalism and civic life into the religious and social development of the district.
The Henderson family donated the land on which Westbourne Presbyterian Church was built. The church opened in 1878, eight years before Susan Street was approved, and took its name from the Hendersons’ son Charles Westbourne Henderson. Often known as the “Shipyard Church,” Westbourne Presbyterian became a focal point for the growing Protestant population of Ballymacarrett. Susan Street, together with the former Trevor Street (now Tower Street), lies within a short walking distance of the church on land shaped by the same family influence.
The choice of street names reflects close family connections within the Henderson household. Trevor Street clearly commemorated Henry “Trevor” Henderson (1862–1930), later Sir Trevor Henderson KBE, who succeeded his father as proprietor of the Belfast News-Letter.
Susan Street is most plausibly named after Susan Mercer Goodwood, who married Alexander Mackay Henderson (1850–1904), another son of James and Agnes Henderson, in 1877. As none of James Henderson’s daughters bore the name Susan, the street name is best understood as honouring this daughter-in-law. Alexander and Susan Henderson lived in East Belfast at Killaire House, and following Alexander Henderson’s death, Susan M. Henderson remained a respected figure, with her son later assuming control of the Belfast News-Letter.
Susan Street therefore provides a clear example of late-19th-century Belfast street-naming practice, where new streets were frequently named after members of influential local families who owned or developed the land. Its proximity to Westbourne Presbyterian Church is not coincidental but reflects the wider Henderson legacy in East Belfast, where family identity, religious life, and urban development were closely interwoven.
Sources:
Belfast Town Improvement Committee Minutes (29 September 1886)
Belfast Street Directory (1887)
Henderson family genealogy
Histories of Westbourne Presbyterian Church
Histories of Belmont Presbyterian Church
Contemporary Belfast newspapers
Secondary historical sources