Finsbury St Luke Old St, Middlesex Genealogy

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Finsbury St Luke Old Street, the [parish] of, is situated on the north side and near the centre of Old Street, and owes its rise to the great increase of buildings in the parish of St Giles, Cripplegate. In consequence of which, the commissioners for erecting the fity new churchers int he reign of Queen Anne, purchased the piece of ground upon which it stands, and erected one of those churches. The inhabitants afterwards applied to parliament and had the Middlesex liberty of St Giles, Cripplegate assigned to them for their parish.

The Church was finished in 1732, and was consecrated in the following year, on St Luke's day, when the name of that apostle was given as its patron [saint]. The church is very substantially built of Portland Stone and has an obelisk by way of a spire.

The advowson of this church is a rectory in the county and archdeaconry of Middlesex, in the diocese of London, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's [Cathedral]... This parish has also recently erected a new church or chapel of ease, in King's Square [called St Barnabas, in 1826], Goswell Street Road, from the designs of Philip Hardwick, Esq., which is a curacy in the patronage of the rector, and the commissioners for new churches are building another church in the parish which is neither finished nor instituted [called St ames]. ¹

FINSBURY, one of the newly-enfranchised metropolitan boroughs, comprising parts of the Finsbury and Holborn divisions of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, with some places of exempt jurisdiction; the whole containing 265,043 inhabitants. It sends two members to parliament, under the provisions of the Reform act: the right of election is vested in the £10 householders, and the returning officer is annually appointed by the sheriff.—See Islington, Clerkenwell, &amp;c.²

1. Adapted from: A Topographical Dictionary of London by James Elmes; published 1831

2. From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 235-238. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50963 Date accessed: 21 April 2010.