SAINT GEORGE THE MARTYR, QUEEN SQUARE: QUEEN SQUARE, CAMDEN

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 P82/GEO2
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: SAINT GEORGE THE MARTYR, QUEEN SQUARE: QUEEN SQUARE, CAMDEN
Date(s)	: 1706-1967
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 4.13 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Parish of St George the Martyr, Queen Square | Church of England

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Saint George the Martyr Church was built as a proprietary chapel in 1705-1706 by a group of substantial inhabitants of the newly developed area of Queen Square within the parish of Saint Andrew, Holborn. By a deed of settlement dated 1 July 1706 (ref. P82/GE02/48/1) they drew up an agreement to elect trustees to manage the affairs of the chapel and appointed a minister, lecturer and clerk.

By 1713 the proprietors of pews in Saint George's Chapel had entered into negotiations with the Commissioners for Building 50 New Churches to make the chapel a new parish church. The Commissioners bought both the lease and the freehold of the chapel, they provided money to repair the chapel and to purchase pews for the use of parishioners, and they bought a piece of land near Gray's Inn Road to serve as a burial ground for the parish. Saint George's Church was consecrated by the Bishop of London on 26 September 1723. A new parish of Saint George the Martyr, Middlesex was constituted and separated from Saint Andrew, Holborn for church purposes. The two parishes remained united for the care of highways and the poor.

The Rector of Saint George the Martyr was not provided with a proper endowment by the Commissioners, but received a salary from the quarterly assessments levied on the proprietors of pews. Two Acts of Parliament were obtained in 1816 and 1819 for the repair of the church and to make further provision for the Rector. These Acts provided for the appointment of trustees who were empowered to levy church rates.

Saint George the Martyr was united with the parish of Holy Trinity, Gray's Inn Road in 1931 and with Saint Bartholomew, Gray's Inn Road in 1959.

The burial ground of Saint George the Martyr (which was situated to the north of the Foundling Hospital adjoining the burial ground of Saint George, Bloomsbury) appears to have attracted many burials of non-parishioners in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

BENEFICE: The property of the benefice consisted of the Vestry House and the original two houses built adjoining the church, later known as nos. 8 and 10 Cosmo Place (see P82/GE02/47/1-7). It also included the burial ground (disused after 1855) situated on the north side of the Foundling Hospital in the parish of Saint Pancras, together with Prospect Terrace, the private road leading to the burial ground from Gray's Inn Road, which was owned jointly with the Rector of Saint George, Bloomsbury.

TRUSTEES FOR REPAIRING AND ALTERING THE CHURCH: The trustees were established by an Act of Parliament of 1816 (56 Geo III c 28).

MRS ELIZABETH PALMER'S CHARITY: By will dated 4 Aug 1726 Mrs Palmer left £500 to St George's Charity School.

CAPTAIN JAMES SOUTH'S CHARITY: Chimney Sweep's Sermon Fund and Educational Foundation.

REVEREND JOHN BACK'S CHARITY: Object - Mission Hall and parochial activities.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the parish of Saint George the Martyr, Queen Square, including registers of baptisms, marriages, burials, confirmations, banns of marriages, and church services; papers regarding the creation of the parish; minutes of the Trustees and General Meetings of Proprietors of Pews; financial records including Churchwardens' accounts; papers regarding the maintenance of the church building; Vestry minutes; papers regarding parish charities, societies and the school; newspaper cuttings and photographs.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Records arranged in one series: P82/GEO2-1: Parish Records.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright for these records rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Records deposited in December 1981.

Allied Materials

Related material:

ST GEORGE THE MARTYR PAROCHIAL SCHOOL: For plans of the school by S S Teulon dated 1862 see Y/SP/82/6/A - I. For LCC Education Officer's Department subject and policy file 1915 - 1931 see E0/PS/13/190.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
March to April 2010.