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Petre Street - origin of name


johnm

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My dad  lived at 309 Petre Street from 1931 until his marriage in 1941 & my bgfrandparents continued to live there until the houses were demolished around 1975 I think. Does anyone know the origin of the name Petre please?

Thanks, John

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No but, my Dad worked on Petre street at Littlewoods garage , I don't remember any houses so l think it might be after that date, 

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Petre Street is named after one of the Duke of Norfolks ancestors, the Earl of Petre in the eighteenth century. The amount of roads named after the Duke of Norfolk in Sheffield is unbelievable, shows what money can do for you.

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Shows what being the original landowner can do for you...with or without the money! Must say, I had never come across the Earl of Petre before...but a quick check and I have learned something new!:rolleyes: My paternal ancestors moved into a house on what must have been the newly built Petre Street and lived there for a while before my Grandfather with his wife and several children, together with his father and mother, moved into newly built adjoining houses on Skinnerthorpe Road.. Firvale.

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Petre Street and the surrounding area only started to develop in the late 19th Century, to house the rapidly growing workforce of the Steel industry in the valley below.

You can see Petre on the family tree attached and also references to other names and places which are familiar as streets in the area (Clun for example?)

In addition to Petre, there are several roads in the area that could have connections to the nobility (e.g. before the area was developed Ellesmere Road was called Occupation Road). The whole area only 20 years previous was Carr Wood and completely undeveloped.

Also, maybe coincidental or deliberate that several of the surrounding roads and streets were / are named after places in Norfolk (at a time when Norfolk also included parts of Suffolk)

Harleston, Buckenham, Earsham, Ditchingham, Forncett, etc.

I suppose with the rate that streets and houses were going up, the town planners would need to have a steady supply of names to identify them? Maybe something in this, or maybe there was some other reason for naming these streets?

Duke of Norfolk_Lord Petre.JPG

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