John Street (Australian politician)

John Rendell Street, MLC (19 October 1832 – 23 March 1891) was an Australian businessman, banker and politician. He served as the successor of Sir Edmund Barton, 1st Prime Minister of Australia, in his New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of East Sydney, holding this office until his death on the 23rd of March, 1891.[1] A descendant of the English Baron Sir Thomas Street, John Street is the founder of Australia's Street family.

John Rendell Street MLC
Member of Legislative Assembly of New South Wales for East Sydney
In office 5 February 1887 (1887-02-05) – 23 March 1891 (1891-03-23)
Personal details
Born	(1832-10-19)19 October 1832 Woodlands, New South Wales
Died	23 March 1891(1891-03-23) (aged 58) Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales
Citizenship	Australia
Political party	Free Trade
Spouse(s)	Susanna Lawson
Relations	Street family Smith family
Children	Sir Philip Street
Relatives	William Lawson (father-in-law) Thomas Smith (brother-in-law)

Street founded the Perpetual Trustee Company in 1886 as managing director with fellow trustees Sir Edmund Barton and Sir James Fairfax. He was a partner in law firm Allen, Street & Norton, a director of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Company (now Commonwealth Bank of Australia), and a vice president of Sydney Hospital. Street married Susanna Lawson, the daughter of Australian politician and explorer William Lawson. His second son was Sir Philip Street.

Background

John Rendell Street was born in Woodlands, New South Wales, to businessman John Wood Street and Marie (née Rendell) Street.[2] His father descended from the Englishman, Baron Sir Thomas Street. John Wood Street had arrived from England as a free settler in 1822, finding land at Bathurst and marrying Marie Rendell, with Reverend Samuel Marsden officiating, before settling in Woodlands, New South Wales.[3]

Business and politics

Street first entered business in Sydney in 1849, working with Smith, Crawford & Co. He would later be made a partner at Allen, Street & Norton. In 1885 he became managing director of the Perpetual Trustee Company. He was a director of Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Company, and a vice president of Sydney Hospital.[4] In 1887, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a Free Trade member for East Sydney, a position he held until his death at Elizabeth Bay in 1891.[5] Street was the first member of the Street family to make an entry into Australian politics.

Smiths & Lawsons

On 4 December 1860, he married Susanna Caroline Lawson, daughter of explorer William Lawson, who discovered the first crossing across the Blue Mountains, to the knowledge of settlers, alongside Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth on the 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains expedition. Street's brother-in-law via his sister Sarah Maria (née Street) was the Australian politician and banker Thomas Whistler Smith, deputy chairman of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (now NAB) and nephew of Australian politician and banker Henry Gilbert Smith.

Street family

John and Susanna had seven children, the eldest son being Sir Philip Street, who would go on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, as would John's grandson Sir Kenneth Street and great-grandson Sir Laurence Street.[5] His third son Ernest Henry Street married Emma Margaret Browne on 1 June 1892, the daughter of author Thomas Alexander Browne.[6]

References

1. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales: Street family - further papers, 1861 - 1972
2. https://www.smh.com.au/national/sir-laurence-street-the-very-model-of-a-modern-chief-justice-20180622-p4zn3f.html
3. Lillingston family papers, 1819 - 1925, and Ogilvie family papers, 1824 - 1896
4. Sun-Herald (Sydney), 20 Feb 1972.
5. "Mr John Rendell Street (1832-1891)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
6. Karen Fox, Australian Legal Dynasties: The Stephens and the Streets (Sydney, 2015)

 

New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Edmund Barton Henry Copeland	Member for East Sydney 1887–1891 Served alongside: Sydney Burdekin, William McMillan, George Reid	Succeeded by Walter Bradley