Jessie Street

Jessie Street
Jessie Street at the United Women's Conference in San Francisco, 19 May 1960
Born	Jessie Mary Grey Lillingston 18 April 1889 Ranchi, India
Died	2 July 1970(1970-07-02) (aged 81) Sydney, Australia
Monuments	Jessie Street Gardens in Sydney Jessie Street Centre in Parramatta
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Spouse(s)	Kenneth Street (jurist)
Children	Laurence Street
Relatives	Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, cousin

Lady Street (née Lillingston, commonly known as Jessie Mary Grey Street; 18 April 1889 – 2 July 1970) was an Australian suffragette, feminist and human rights campaigner.

She was a key figure in Australian political life for over 50 years, from the women's suffrage struggle in England to the removal of Australia's constitutional discrimination against Aboriginal people in 1967. She is recognised both in Australia and internationally for her activism in women's rights, social justice and peace. The Jessie Street Centre, National Women's Library and the Jessie Street Gardens are named in her honour. On her husband's knighthood in 1956 she became Lady Street.

Street was born on 18 April 1889 at Ranchi, India. She was the eldest of three children. Her parents were Charles Lillingston, a civil servant, and Mabel Lillingston (née Ogilvie).

In 1896, Street's mother inherited her parents' property Yulgilbar station in New South Wales. Her father resigned his position with the civil service and the family moved there. Street initially studied with a governess, and later was sent to England to attend Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire.

In 1906 she returned to Australia and three years later she became a resident of Women's College at the University of Sydney. In 1911 she graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While studying, she was captain of the university's women's hockey team and attended the first meeting of the New South Wales' Ladies Hockey Association. She also played in the first interstate game between New South Wales and neighbouring Victoria and was a founding member of the Sydney University Women's Sports Association.