Jane Street, Saltaire

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Jane Street was completed in 1868, with the possible exception of its four westernmost houses which we believe were added at a later date. The street takes its name from Mary Jane Susan Salt (nee Elgood), first wife of Edward Salt, the third son of Saltaire’s founder Sir Titus Salt. Edward’s marriage to (Mary) Jane (Susan) of Leicestershire in July 1861 strengthened an earlier link between the Salt and Elgood families – Jane was the cousin of the wife of Edward’s eldest brother William Henry.

The home that Edward and Jane established at Ferniehurst, in Baildon, on the north side of the river, was to be the first purpose built Salt family residence in the immediate environs of Saltaire. The mansion house was lavishly furnished with 12 bedrooms, a library, and a billiard room. Elsewhere on the mansion’s estate were tennis courts, numerous greenhouses, a farm, a dairy, a carriage house for six carriages, and several other buildings. Like the other two grand 19th century residences associated with Salts Mill on the north side of the river, Milner Field and The Knoll, Ferniehurst has been lost to history.

Sadly Jane died at the age of 29 on 9 October 1870. The death certificate records “chronic diarrhoea, exhaustion” – reminding us that whatever one’s station in life, early deaths in the 19th century were commonplace. Her remains were laid to rest in the family mausoleum in Saltaire Congregational Church, but interestingly the main memorial to her takes the form of a beautiful stained glass window that can still be seen in the Anglican church of St John’s, Baildon.

© Barlo & Shaw