Jessie Mary Grey Street
Jessie was born on 18 April 1889 in Chota Nagpur, Bihar, India. She was the eldest of three children born to Charles Alfred Gordon Lillingston, a civil servant in the Indian Civil Service, and his wife Mabel Harriet. Jessie's father was Edward Ogilvie of Yulgilbar station, near Grafton in New South Wales. When Mable inherited Yulgilbar in 1896 her husband resigned from the Indian Civil Service and the family moved to the property.
Jessie began her formal education with a governess and then attended Wycombe Abbey School, Buckinghamshire, England. After she matriculated by private study she attained a BA in arts at the University of Sydney.
She travelled to Europe with her family in 1911 and 1914 and while there worked as a volunteer at Bishop Creighton House and Waverley House. On her return she married (Sir) Kenneth Street - who later became chief justice of NSW.
She was a key figure in Australian Political life for over 50 years and devoted her time to gaining equality for women and abolishing slavery. She was nationally and internationally recognised for her activism in social justice, women's rights and peace. She campaigned for equal pay for women, the appointment of women to public office and the election of women to parliament. She was the only woman on the Australian delegation to the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945 and established the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the Charter of Women's Rights.
Jessie died in Sydney in 1970.
JESSIE STREET GARDENS WAS OPENED ON
FRIDAY 7 DECEMBER 1990
BY THE LADY MAYORESS OF SYDNEY
MRS. CANDY BINGHAM
IN THE PRESENCE OF
THE RT. HON THE LORD MAYOR OF SYDNEY
ALDERMAN JEREMY BINGHAM
AND
SIR LAWRENCE STREET, AC, KCMG
AND DEDICATED TO
THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN.
L.P. CARTER OBE
TOWN CLERK
JESSIE STREET 1889-1970
JESSIE STREET CAMPAIGNED TIRELESSLY THROUGHT HER LIFE
FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS, SOCIAL JUSTICE REFORMS & INTERNATIONAL
PEACE. CO-FOUNDER OF THE UNITED ASSOCIATIONS OF WOMEN,
SHE WAS A KEY ACTIVIST IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL
WORK. IN 1945 JESSIE STREET WAS AMEMBER OF THE AUSTRALIAN
DELEGATION TO THE SAN FRANSISCO CONFERENCE WHICH ESTABLISHED THE
UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION. SHE HELPED LEAD THE MOVEMENT THAT
RESULTED IN THE SUCCESSFUL 1967 REFERENDUM TO ELIMINATE CONSTITUTIONAL
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ABORIGINES.