IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): N/C/69
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: NEW COURT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, CAREY STREET
Date(s): 1707-1975
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 5.21 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Congregational Church of England and Wales
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
New Court, one of the earliest nonconformist chapels in London, dates from 1662 when under the Act of Uniformity Doctor Thomas Manton was ejected from the church of Saint Paul's, Covent Garden. He established himself as a nonconformist minister in a chapel built for him in Bridges Street in the same parish. The church remained there until 1682 when as a result of the Five Mile Act it was forced to close due to the imprisonment of its minister, Richard Baxter. James II's Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 enabled another nonconformist minister, Daniel Burgess, to re-open the chapel and after nine years the congregation moved to more substantial premises in Russell Court, Drury Lane, to a building between an old burial ground and the theatre.
On the expiry of the lease in 1705 another move was necessary and a new building was erected in New Court, Carey Street. The congregation remained there for over a hundred and fifty years and as a result the chapel thereafter was known as New Court Chapel.
While at Carey Street the chapel was attacked by a mob supporting Doctor Sachaverell, a high church fanatic who had preached a libellous sermon against dissenters, and this caused it to close for a short time. It was also during this period that New Court was specified as being a Congregational chapel for the first time. Until then the differences between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists had not been well defined. Thomas Bradbury, a minister who had come to New Court from a nearby nonconformist church at Fetter Lane, stipulated that the chapel should be run on the Congregational model.
The extension of the Law Courts in 1866 forced the congregation to move again and a new church was built at Tollington Park. Mission premises at Lennox Road were acquired in the 1880s. The Tollington Park premises were sold to the Roman Catholic church in 1959 (it is now Saint Mellitus Roman Catholic Church). The congregation moved to new premises on Regina Road in 1961 where it remained until its closure in 1976.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Registers of baptisms, 1871-1974; registers of marriages, 1943-1948; register of members' attendance, 1934-1947; register of deacons' attendance, 1905-1941; registers of preaching engagements, 1896-1953; applications for fellowship, 1889-1971; Church Meeting minute books, 1707-1974; Deacons' Meeting minute books, 1877-1967; Choir Meeting minute books, 1924-1969; minute books of Trustees Meetings, General Purposes Committee, Supply Committee, Deacons Finance Committee, and Committee for Alterations and Additions, 1870-1934; Sunday School Teachers' Meeting minute books, 1932-1961; Women's Council minute books, 1917-1975; accounts, 1871-1972; deeds, 1754-1959; correspondence and related material, 1813-1975; Church magazines, 1885-1974; Church manuals, 1873-1962; printed material relating to New Court Chapel, 1792-1921 and sketches and photographs, 1872-1967.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Registers; Minute Books; Administrative; Printed Items.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: Depositor
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Received in 3 accessions in 1976 and 1978 (AC/76/018, AC/76/048 and AC/78/038).
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
For marriage registers see LMA/4094.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: January to March 2009