St George Hanover Square, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes

Parish History
St George Hanover Square, the church of, is situated on the east side of Great George Street and the corner of Maddox Street. It was built by Gibbs, in 1724, as one of fifty new churches voted by parliament, and was dedicated, in compliment to the reigning King, to St George. It has a plain substantial body, with an elegant portco of the Corinthian order, and a handsome bell tower. The ground upon which this church stands was given by Lieutenant-General William Stewart, who also bequeathed £4,000 towards erecting and endowing a charity school.

The parish was taken from that of St Martin in the Fields, and is a rectory in the patronage of the Bishop of London, is in the county of Middlesex, in the diocese of London and in the Archdeaconry of Middlesex.

St George Hanover Square was considered to be, from the day of its establishment, one of the illustrious parishes in the realm. Well over a hundred thousand couples, young and old, flocked to its altars in order to be married in what was considered to be one of the more 'fashionable' churches in all of Greater London.

Chapels of Ease and District Churches Within the Parish of St George Hanover Square

Associated with St George Hanover Square, were its numerous chapelries and later district churches built within its ecclesiastical boundary, some of which whose (chapel) registers are of ancient derivation nearly predating those of St George's, and of which are given due consideration below:


 * All Saints, Grosvenor Road, Pimlico. Chapel-of-Ease to St Gabriel Warwick Square (1863); closed in 1967.
 * Berkeley Chapel, John Street, Berkeley Square, Mayfair [by at least 1810; became St Saviour's in 1864]. Proprietary Chapel - became: St.Mary, Bourdon Street. Chapel-of-Ease to St.Geo.Han.Sq.[in 1882]. Closed 1939.
 * Charlotte Chapel [?] (See under "Pimlico" in the Imperial Gazetteer of England &amp; Wales at Vision of Britain)
 * Christ Church, Down Street, Mayfair [1865]
 * Curzon Chapel, Curzon Street, Mayfair. Proprietary Chapel. Successor to the Mayfair Chapel, the marriage shop of the infamous Dr.Keith who defied church and state authority, with his asistants conducting 7,000-plus marriages c.1730 until activities were stopped by the Lord Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753. Oddly enough, the registers were well-kept and went to the parish church (St.George's Hanover Square), and the Bishop's Transcripts to the diocesan registry. Out of operation by 1894.
 * Eaton Chapel, Eaton Terrace. Proprietary Chapel. [1836?] closed 1901??
 * Ebury Chapel [a proprietary chapel] of ease [prior to 1870]
 * Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street [1730] - Still open
 * Hanover Church, Regent Street [1823] became district church, then replaced by: St. Anselm, Davies Street, Berkeley Square. [Separate parish 1899?] - closed 1938, Parish united to Hanover Square and St. Mark, North Audley Street. Is now gone.
 * St Barnabas, Church Street, Pimlico [1850] Later became a separate parish - Still open
 * St John's Chapel, Pimlico Road. Chapel-of-Ease to above.
 * St Gabriel, Warwick Square, Pimlico [1852] - Still open
 * St George's Chapel, Albermarle Street. Proprietary Chapel [1740?] Licensed for marriages 1899-1909. Registers survive 1888-1909.
 * St John, Belgrave Square. Proprietary Chapel. Possibly the same as: Belgrave Chapel Halkin Street [1898-1910].
 * St John the Evangelist, Wilton Road Chapel-of-Ease to above [1874?] Closed 1942?
 * St Mark, North Audley Street [1828]. Parish united to St.George Hanover Square 1968. Church closed c.1980. leased to Commonwealth Church 1995.
 * St Mary, Graham Street [now Bourne Street] [1909] Still open
 * St Michael, Chester Square [1846] - Still open
 * St Philip, Buckingham Palace Road [1888]. Separate parish 1890. Closed 19?? [war damage??] United with previous 1953.
 * St Paul, Wilton Place [Knightsbridge] [1843] - Still open
 * St Peter, Eaton Square [1827] - Still open
 * St Peter, Buckingham Gate/Palace Street Chapel-of-Ease [1822?] closed 1921?
 * St Saviour's (for Deaf and Dumb) Chapel, Oxford Street
 * St Saviour, St George's Square, Pimlico. [1864] still open.
 * Trinity Chapel, Conduit Street [1691] chapel of ease, closed 1875.

Taken from:

1. Genuki.org.uk at http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/Westminster/churches.htm 

2. British History Online at: www.British-History.ac.uk

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

 * Chapman, John H. The Register Book of Marriages Belonging to the Parish of St George, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex. Multi-volume. London, 1886. Digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive (marriages 1725-1787); Internet Archive (marriages 1788-1809); Internet Archive (marriages 1810-1823); Internet Archive (marriages 1824-1837).

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist 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

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link 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.

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

 * Sketch of St. George Hanover Square Parish Church, courtesy: London Ancestor