St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex Genealogy

Guide to St Martin in the fields, Middlesex ancestry, family history, and genealogy: Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History


St. Martin-in-the-Fields is a parish, in the city and liberty of Westminster. The patron is the Bishop. Other churches standing within its boundaries included those listed below. St. Martin-in-the-Fields parish, stood in the city and liberty of Westminster. St Martin-in-the-Fields parish was one of about 13 parishes within the City. To view or print out an excellent and helpful list of all of the parishes and their attached chapels for the City of Westminster, visit the City of Westminster Archives "Parishes" page.

Additional information:

The church of St. Martin's in the Fields is situated on the northern side of the western extremity of the Strand, and derives its name from being dedicated to St. Martin an Hungarian Saint, who was distinguished for his ferocity against the Arians, and its addition from its former situation in the fields.

The original church on this site is of great antiquity, as there are authentic records of the dispute between the abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London, concerning the exemption of this church from episcopal jurisdiction. At the time of the Reformation the church was in such bad condition that Henry VIII had built a small church at his own expense, which being found not sufficiently capacious, was much enlarged in 1607 at the expense of Prince Henry and some of the nobility. At length after many expensive repairs, that building was taken down in 1721, and the first stone laid shortly after. It was finished, consecrated and opened for divine service in 1726.

'King George I who laid the first stone, gave the workmen a hundred guineas; and when the church was nearly finished he presented the parish with £1500 pounds for an organ.

'This church is remarkably handsome edifice of the Florida Roman or Italian style of architecture,designed by James Gibbs. The interior is richly ornamented and has a splendid appearance. 'This parish is supposed to have been abstracted from that of St. Margaret, Westminster. The advowson is a vicarage in the county and archdeaconry of Middlesex, in the diocese of London, and in the patronage of the Bishop of London.'

The following churches at some point, stood within the civil parish of St Martin-in-the-Field by act of Parliament:
 * St Martin le Grand, Westminster - pulled down in 1548
 * St Matthews, Spring Gardens Chapel - 1731
 * St. Michael, Burleigh St. - 1848 
 * St. John the Evangelist, Drury Lane - 1855

Church records
The parish registers of St Martin-in-the-Fields have been indexed and the christening and marriages data are available online at FamilySearch. Also, Ancestry.co.uk will be posting digital images of these parish registers with an index for all events including the burials, in the very near future. Pallot's Marriage Index, and Boyd's Marriage Index both provide a considerable portion of the marriages of this celebrated and 'fashionable' Westminster parish. Boyd's Marriage Index is available online at FindMyPast.com. Pallot's Marriage Index, can be seen at Ancestry.co.uk (see table with links, below).

FamilySearch has recently cataloged into its Greater London collections, just about all of the City of Westminster parish and chapel registers of baptisms, marriages and burials in collections (about 65). These microfilmed registers are available for searching either at any of its 4,600 satellite Family History Centers worldwide, or through FindMyPast's scanned and imaged version of the City's registers--including St Martin-in-the-Fields.

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.

1600s-1800 Occupiers of Houses

 * Occupiers of houses at British History Online - free.

1634-1900 Rate Books

 * Westminster Rate Books at findmypast - (£).

1666 Hearth Tax

 * Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: St Martin in the Fields at British History Online - free.

1693-1694 Four Shilling in the Pound Aid

 * St Martin in the Fields at British History Online - free.

1755-1840 Land Tax
The Westminster, Poor Law and Parish Administration collection at findmypast includes St Martin in the Fields Land Tax records (1755-1840).

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.

Cemetery
A 1940 survey of monuments and wall tablets in the crypt is available online.

Poor Law Records
St Martin-in-the-Fields Settlement Examinations Index (1732-1775) is available online at the Westminster Archives website.

Before the formation of Poor Law Unions the workhouse for the parish was established. Refer to http://www.londonlives.org/static/Workhouses.jsp#toc3 for history and free online searchable database 1680 - 1820 for the parish records.

The Westminster, Poor Law and Parish Administration collection at findmypast includes:
 * 1514-1840 - St Martin in the Fields, Examinations
 * 1574-1834 - St Martin in the Fields, Bastardy records
 * 1638-1802 - St Martin in the Fields, Apprentices
 * 1638-1871 - St Martin in the Fields, Paupers
 * 1660-1856 - St Martin in the Fields, Workhouses

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/StMartins/. Further description.

On 29th April, 1835, St Martin's became a Poor Law Parish under the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. Its poor relief activities were then overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 24 in number.

In 1868, St Martin's parish was incorporated into the Strand Poor Law Union. The St Martin's workhouse was demolished in 1871 to make way for an extension to the National Gallery. Records are held at:

Extensive holdings include:
 * City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann's Street, London SW1P 2DE.
 * Churchwardens' and overseers' minutes (1755-64, 1772-1892, indexed 1774-84, 1856-63);
 * List of churchwardens and overseers (1755-1856, indexed);
 * Churchwardens' and overseers' accounts (1598-1844);
 * Lists of the poor in churchwardens' accounts (1741-42, 1758-61);
 * Workhouse building minutes (1770-83);
 * Workhouse sub-committee reports (1817-22);
 * Workhouse admission and discharge registers (1725-29, 1741-1846);
 * Workhouse admission registers (1818-33);
 * Workhouse day books including admissions and discharges (1737-1826);
 * Workhouse selling books [forfeits of food in return for day out] (1826-35);
 * Workhouse building accounts (1770-1830);
 * Workhouse accounts (1725-50);
 * List of lunatics in workhouse day book (1744-48);
 * Lists of nurses and children (1762-3, 1768-9, 1779-95); etc.
 * London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R OHB.
 * Holdings for St Martin-in-the-Fields workhouse: Admissions and discharges (1824-70); Births and deaths (1848-57); etc. Other holdings: Guardians' minute books (1836-68).

Websites

 * St Martin-in-the-Fields (official website). History, visitor directions, schedule.
 * St Martin in the Fields on GENUKI