Grantham Society Uncovers Life of St Wulfram’s Church Curate, Benjamin Street

Remember the dentist’s place at 41 Swinegate? It was on Church Trees. Benjamin Street lived there in the 1850s. He helped St Wulfram’s as a curate and shared key Grantham history that we might not know otherwise.

Benjamin was born in London in 1811 and passed away in 1892; his death occurred in Barnetby le Wold. Jane Eliza Battye was his first wife. They wed in Shropshire, back in 1838, when Benjamin worked as a tutor on the Lough Crew estate, in Ireland.

Augusta Matilda was their child, born in 1841. Sadly, Jane died during childbirth. Mary Platts became Benjamin’s second wife, and they had many children together: Caroline Mary, Margaret Ann, and Alfred came first, then Julia Louisa, Florence, and Charles arrived.

Alfred Street became a surgeon and a Lt Col in the army. He fought in Afghanistan and Burma. Charles Street was a senior physician who oversaw a Lancashire hospital.

Augusta married a sea captain, Frederick Street. Caroline died young, at age 30. Margaret became a nun later in life. Little Julia passed away at just 4. Florence worked as an artist, and she also made sculptures.