St Pancras, Middlesex Genealogy

England Middlesex  Middlesex Parishes   St Pancras

See "A Comprehensive List of St Pancras' Churches in Pre-1900"

Parish History
"St Pancras (which was once called St Pancras in the Fields), the old church of, is situated on the North Side of the road leading from Kings Cross, Battle-bridge, to Kentish town. The parish is of great extent, including one third of the hamlet of Highgate, and the whole of the hamlets of Kentish town, Camden town, Somers town and Pentonville. It extends to the South end of Gray's Inn Lane, and includes the streets westward of it to Cleveland Street and Rathbone Place. The new church of this parish is a very handsome elaborate structure, on the south side of the new road... This parish is a vicarage in the County of Middlesex, in the diocese of London, a peculiar of the archbishopric of Canterbury, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's [Cathedral]. There are also two parish chapels, which are both curacies in the patronage of the vicar, one called the parish Chapel and...[sic] ¹"

"PANCRAS, ST., a parish, in the Holborn division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, a suburb to London. "The cavalry barracks in Albany-road are neatly built of brick, and occupy an area of eight acres and a half; the buildings comprise accommodation for 400 men, with stabling for their horses, a riding-school, infirmary, magazine, and an extensive ground for exercise.

The old parochial church, now used as a chapel, has undergone so many alterations and repairs, that it retains few vestiges of its original character: it was enlarged in 1847-8. The churchyard has been long the burial-place of Roman Catholics. The new parochial church in Euston-square, a splendid structure begun in May 1819, and consecrated May 7th, 1822, was built and furnished at an expense of upwards of £76,600, and is after the model of the Temple of Erectheus at Athens, with a lofty tower of three receding stages, resembling the Temple of the Winds.

"A church was erected in Regent-square, by grant of the Parliamentary Commissioners, in 1824, at an expense of £16,025; it is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style, with a portico of the Ionic order, and an octagonal tower of two stages. ChristChurch, Regent's Park, consecrated June 13th, 1837, and containing 1800 sittings, was erected at a cost of about £6000, raised by subscription: the living is in the gift of the Bishop of London. [Holy] Trinity [C]hurch, Gray's-Inn-road...was consecrated December 13th, 1838: this church belongs to St. Andrew's, Holborn, but is surrounded on all sides by St. Pancras. All Saints', Gordon-square, was consecrated in 1842. The church of St. John the Evangelist, in Charlotte Street, Fitzroy-square, was consecrated in July 1846, and is a Norman edifice, with a tower and spire rising 120 feet from the ground. St. Jude's temporary church, in Britannia-street, Gray's-Inn-road, was opened October 1847. In the parish are, Fitzroy proprietary episcopal chapel, a neat building of brick; an episcopal chapel in Gray's-Inn-road, belonging to the Rev. Thos. Mortimer, B.D.; Percy chapel, Charlotte-street; and Woburn chapel. Two incumbencies have been just formed, called St. Luke's, King's-cross, and St. Matthew's, Oakley-square, Bedford-Town; and besides these, are, a chapel to the church of St. James', Piccadilly, with an extensive cemetery; a chapel and cemetery belonging to St. Giles'-in-the-Fields; and the burial-grounds of the parishes of St. Andrew Holborn, St. George Bloomsbury, St. George the Martyr, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Other churches or chapels are noticed in the articles on Camden-Town, Kentish-Town, and Somers-Town. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Calvinistic and other Methodists, a Scottish church, and a Roman Catholic chapel: of these the Scottish church, in Regent-square, is in the later English style, with two lofty towers at the western entrance.

"The Foundling Hospital, situated on the north side of Guildford-street, between Brunswick and Mecklenburgh squares, was founded by charter...in 1739, "for the maintenance and instruction of deserted infants"... There are generally about 400 children in the institution.... The premises consist of a spacious and elegant chapel.

St. Katherine's Hospital was originally founded by Matilda, wife of Stephen, in 1148, [with a] chapel...²"

1. James Elmes, M.R. I. A., Architect. In “A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Envirions,” (London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot, 1831). Adapted.

2. Samuel Lewis, ed. A Topographical Dictionary of England 531-535. (London: S. Lewis and Co., 1848), Online | here, (accessed: 04 May 2010).

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, nonconformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Middlesex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Poor Law Unions
Contributor: Add information about the pertinent poor law unions in the area.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.
 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.