Place Name
John Dawson (1832 – 1898) was an influential and wealthy Victorian leader of an Independent chapel who came to live on nearby Heathen Street. Concerned that visitors might see the street name as a reference to the ungodly, he agitated to get the name changed to a Biblical reference after the garden in Genesis, hence Eden Street. He elicted the support of the Quakers who had a meeting house there and the Methodists who were planning a new church. The matter was made worse by local leaders of the Church of England making fun of these non-conformists. However, the local council took sympathy on Dawson and agreed to his change of name, Eden Street.
