St Giles in the Fields, Middlesex Genealogy

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

Parish History
St Giles-in-the-Fields, also commonly known as the Poets' Church, is a church in the London Borough of Camden, in the West End. It is close to the Centre Point office tower and the Tottenham Court Road tube station. The church is part of the Diocese of London within the Church of England. Several buildings have stood on the site; the present structure (in the Palladian style) was built between 1731 and 1733.

'St Giles in the Fields, the church of, is situated on the south side of the High Street, and receives its addition from the circumstance of being formerly in the Fields, to distinguish it from that of St Giles, Cripplegate. This parish was anciently a village of the same name, and its church is supposed to owe its origin to the chapel which belonged to the hospital founded about 1117, by Queen Matilda, consort of Henry I, for the reception of a certain number of leprous persons belonging to the city of London and the county of Middlesex. In 1354, Edward III granted this hospital to the master and brethren of the order of Burton, St Lazar, of Jerusalem, in Leicestershire, for certain considerations, for which it became a cell to that order, till the general dissolution of religious houses by Henry VIII, who, in 1545, granted it to Lord Dudley. Soon after this period the chapel or church was made parochial, and on the 30th of April 1547, William Rawlinson was instituted Rector.

'The ancient church being very small, and much dilapidated, was taken down in 1623, and a church of brick was erected in its stead. This also became in its turn too small and inconvenient, when the inhabitants applied for an act of parliament to enable them to rebuild it; accordingly the old fabric was taken down in 1730, and the present very handsome edifice, designed by Gibbs, was erected and completed in 1733. This substantial church is built of Portland stone, its interior is seventy-five feet in length, exclusive of the recess for the altar, and sixty feet in width, and is divided into nave and aisles, by Portland stone columns of the Ionic order, which assist the main walls in carrying the roof. The tower and spire are also of Portland stone, and are 160 feet high to the vane.

'A new entrance gateway, of great beauty, has been within these twenty years erected, from the designs of William Leverton, Esq, in which is introduced an ancient piece of sculpture, of more curiosity than beauty, representing the Last Judgement. The church is a rectory, in the county and archdeaconry of Middlesex, in the diocese of London and in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor.'

1848 Description

St. Giles-in the-Fields is a Tower parish. It is adjacent to the City of London, in the hundred of Ossulstone, Middlesex. The patron is the Crown.

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.

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.

1600 Lay Subsidy

 * 1600 - Lay Subsidy Returns for London, Middlesex, Surrey (north) 1593-1600: St Giles in the feildes and St Gyles in the feildes adhuc (TNA E179/142/234) at Alan H. Nelson website - free

1666 Hearth Tax

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

1693-1694 Four Shilling in the Pound Aid

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

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 survey of the pre-1800 monuments within the church is available online.

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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

Websites
St Giles in the Fields on GENUKI