St George's, Hanover Square

{{other uses|St George Hanover Square (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox church | name = St George's | full_name = | image = Saint George Church, Hanover Square.jpg | image_size = | caption = View from St George Street | denomination = [[Church of England]] | diocese = [[Diocese of London|London]] | parish = '''St. George, Hanover Square with St. Mark''' | division = | founded = 1725 | founder = | architect = [[John James (architect)|John James]] | style = | heritage_designation = Grade I | years_built = 1721–1725 | dedicated = | closed = | demolished = | bishop = | priest = | dean = | rector = Rev. Roderick Leece | vicar = | abbot = | pastor = | location = St George Street, [[Mayfair]], [[City of Westminster, London]] | country = England | coordinates = {{Coord|51|30|45|N|0|8|34|W |type:landmark_region:GB-WSM|display=inline,title}} | website = }}

'''St George's, Hanover Square''', is an [[Church of England|Anglican]] church, the parish church of [[Mayfair]] in the [[City of Westminster]], built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the [[Queen Anne Churches]]). The church was designed by [[John James (architect)|John James]]; its site was donated by General [[William Steuart (Scottish soldier)|William Steuart]], who laid the first stone in 1721. The building is one small block south of [[Hanover Square, London|Hanover Square]], near [[Oxford Circus]]. Because of its location, it has frequently been the venue for [[High society (group)|society]] weddings.

==Ecclesiastical parish== A civil parish of [[St George Hanover Square]] and an [[ecclesiastical parish]] were created in 1724 from part of the ancient parish of [[St Martin in the Fields (parish)|St Martin in the Fields]].<ref name="Youngs">{{cite book |first=Frederic |last=Youngs |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England |volume=I: Southern England |year=1979 |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] |location=London |isbn=0-901050-67-9}}</ref> The boundaries of the ecclesiastical parish were adjusted in 1830, 1835 and 1865 when other parishes were carved out of it. The ecclesiastical parish still exists today and forms part of the Deanery of Westminster St Margaret in the [[Diocese of London]].

==Architecture== [[File:St George's, Hanover Square - geograph.org.uk - 4518508.jpg|thumb|Interior of St George's]] [[File:St George's Hanover Square by T Malton. 1787.jpg|thumb|Street view of St George's in 1787]] The land for the church was donated by General Sir William Stewart (sometimes spelt Steuart) 1643 – 4 June 1726.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org/history/A%20New%20Church.html|title=A new church|publisher=St George's Hanover Square|access-date=3 May 2015}}</ref> The church was constructed in 1721–1725, funded by the [[Commission for Building Fifty New Churches]], and designed by John James,<ref name=westminster /> who had been one of the two surveyors to the commission since 1716.<ref name=downes>{{cite book |last1=Downes|first1=Kerry |title=Hawksmoor |series=World of Art |year=1987 |publisher=Thames and Hudson|location=London |page=104}}</ref> Its portico, supported by six [[Corinthian order|Corinthian column]]s, projects across the pavement. There is a tower just behind the portico, rising from the roof above the west end of the nave.<ref name=westminster />

The interior is divided into nave and aisles by piers, square up to the height of the galleries, then rising to the ceiling in the form of Corinthian columns. The nave has a [[barrel vault]], and the aisles transverse barrel vaults.<ref name=westminster>{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Simon |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |title=London 6: Westminster |series=The Buildings of England |year=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=480}}</ref>

==Burial ground== {{Category see also|Burials at St George's, Hanover Square}} St George's was opened in the new residential development of Hanover Square with no attached churchyard. Its first burial ground was sited beside its workhouse at Mount Street. When this filled up a larger burial ground was consecrated at [[Bayswater]] in 1765. They were closed for burials in 1854, when London's city churchyards were closed to protect public health. Burials at St George's included [[Ann Radcliffe]] (1764–1823), an influential gothic novelist, The Rev. [[Laurence Sterne]] (1713–1768), abolitionist and author of ''[[The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|Tristram Shandy]],'' [[Francis Nicholson]], British military officer and colonial administrator, and the Barbados landowner [[Richard Clement (1754 – 1829)]].<ref name="Richard Clement UCL">{{cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146640761|title=Richard Clement: Profile and Legacies Summary, ''Legacies of British Slave Ownership'', UCL|publisher=University College London|date=2019}}</ref>

The Mount Street ground was later cleared of monuments and turned into a small park. Some of the old tombstones were used for guttering and drainage, and may be seen today. During the [[First World War]] the Bayswater ground was covered with 4' of top soil and used for growing vegetables. In 1969 the burial ground was cleared to enable land to be sold off for redevelopment. A skull, part anatomised, was conjectured to be Sterne's and a partial skeleton separated from the other remains to be transferred to [[Coxwold]] churchyard by the Laurence Sterne Trust. 11,500 further remains were taken to [[West Norwood Cemetery]] and cremated, for burial there.<ref>''Hansard'' 11 February 1964</ref><ref>"Is This the Skull of Laurence Sterne?" ''The Times'' 5, 7 & 16 June 1969</ref>

==Music== [[File:Saint Georges Church Organ, Hanover Square.jpg|thumb|The organ in 2009 (since rebuilt<ref>{{cite web|url=http://richardsfowkes.com/pages/3instruments/18/18_index.php|title=Richards, Fowkes & Co. – Opus 18|work=richardsfowkes.com|access-date=4 May 2015}}</ref>)]] St. George's has a full-time professional choir and a strong choral tradition.

[[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] lived at 25 [[Brook Street, London|Brook Street]] from 1723 until his death in 1759. He was a regular worshipper at St George's. He was on the panel that appointed the first organist, [[Thomas Roseingrave]] in 1725. During his years at Brook Street he became a British citizen and wrote ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' in 1741.<ref name="Boylan">{{cite journal |journal=Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. & Hist. Soc. |last=Boylan |first=Patrick John |title=Four Handel Oratorio Libretti published by John Gregory of Leicester 1759–1774 |volume=80 |date=January 2006 |page=78 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339817368 }}</ref> St George´s is now one of the venues used by the annual [[London Handel Festival]].

A Restoration Fund Appeal was launched on [[Trinity Sunday]] 2006 to raise a total of five million pounds, with a target of one and a half million pounds needed for the first phase of essential restoration work to the fabric of the church. Classical music concerts include series in support of the Restoration Fund,{{when|date=April 2023}} supported by the William Smith International Performance Programme and featuring solo piano performances by students from the [[Royal College of Music]], including Ren Yuan, Ina Charuashvili, Meng Yan Pan and the London debut of Maria Nemtsova of Russia.

The church is one of the two main bases of the [[Orpheus Sinfonia]], an orchestra of players recently graduated from music colleges.<ref>[http://www.orpheusfoundation.com/about-orpheus/who-s-who-organisation.html "Who's Who – Organisation"], Orpheus Foundation, accessed 3 July 2013</ref>

==Rectors== The following have served as rector of St George's, Hanover Square:<ref>{{cite web|website=St George's Hanover Square|title=Rectors|url=https://www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org/rectors.html|access-date=7 July 2020}}</ref>

*1725–1759† Andrew Trebeck *1759–1774 [[Charles Moss (bishop of Bath and Wells)|Charles Moss]] (as Bishop of St David's 1766–74, later Bishop of Bath and Wells) *1774–1803† [[Reginald Courtenay (bishop of Exeter)|Henry Reginald Courtenay]] (as Bishop of Bristol 1794–97, Bishop & Archdeacon of Exeter 1797–1803) *1803–1844† [[Robert Hodgson (dean of Carlisle)|Robert Hodgson]] (as Archdeacon of St Alban's 1814–16, Dean of Chester 1816–20, Dean of Carlisle 1820–44) *1845–1876† Henry Howarth<ref>{{acad|id=HWRT818H|name=Howarth, Henry}}</ref> *1876–1890† Edward Capel Cure<ref>{{alox2|title=Cure, Edward Capel}}</ref> *1891–1911 David Anderson<ref>{{acad|id=ANDR861D|name=Anderson, David}}</ref> *1911–1933 [[Norman Thicknesse]] (as Archdeacon of Middlesex 1930–33) *1933–1940 [[Henry Montgomery Campbell]] (later Bishop of Willesden, Kensington, Guildford, and London) *1940–1955 [[Stephen Phillimore]] (as Archdeacon of Middlesex 1933–53) *1955–2000 William Maynard Atkins<ref name = Atkins/> *2001–2004† John Slater *2005– Roderick Leece

† ''Rector died in post''

==Weddings== From its early days, the church was a fashionable place for weddings, which have included those of:<ref>{{cite book|first=Maria|last=Perry|title=Mayfair Madams|publisher=André Deutsch|location=London|year=1999|isbn=0-233-99476-9|pages=87–93}}</ref>

*[[Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer|Sir Francis Dashwood]], founder of the second Hellfire Club, later [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], and Sarah, daughter of George Gould of Iver, Buckinghamshire, and widow of Sir Richard Ellis, Baronet, on 19 December 1745.<ref>Albert Frederick Pollard, "Dashwood, Francis", in ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1901) pp. 112–115</ref> *[[James Stopford, 2nd Earl of Courtown|Viscount Stopford]] and [[Mary Stopford, Countess of Courtown (died 1810)|Mary Powys]], 19 April 1762<ref>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/stopford-james-1731-1810 STOPFORD, James, 2nd Earl of Courtown], History of Parliament online</ref> *[[Henry Holland (architect)|Henry Holland]] and Bridget Brown, a daughter of [[Capability Brown]], on 11 February 1773.<ref>Dorothy Stroud, "Henry Holland His Life and Architecture", Country Life 1966, p. 36</ref> *[[William Hodges]] and Martha Bowden Nesbit, on 11 May 1776. *The botanist and antiquary [[Edward Rudge]] (1763–1846) married the botanical illustrator [[Anne Rudge]] here in 1791. *[[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]], architect, and Mary Ann Bradley on 17 December 1798.<ref>John Summerson, ''The Life and Work of John Nash Architect'' (George Allen & Unwin, 1980), p. 30</ref> *[[John Shaw Sr.|John Shaw]] (1776–1832), architect, and Elizabeth Hester Whitfield in 1799. *[[Sackville Tufton, 9th Earl of Thanet]], and Anne Charlotte de Bojanowitz, on 28 February 1811<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Tufton, Sackville}}</ref> *Sir [[John Scott Lillie]] [[Companion of the Bath|CB]] (1790–1867), British officer in the [[Peninsular War]], and Louisa Sutherland (1791–1860), daughter of Andrew Sutherland RN and Louisa Colebrooke on 22 January 1820. *[[Joseph Wolff]] (1795–1862), German-born Jewish convert, to Lady Georgiana Mary Walpole, daughter of [[Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford]], on 26 February 1827.<ref name = JewEnc>{{Cite book|section = WOLFF, JOSEPH | title = The Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher = JewishEncyclopedia.com|url = http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=248&letter=W&search=wolff|access-date = 2016-01-18| date= 1906}}</ref> *[[John Young (architect)|John Young]] (1797–1877), architect and surveyor, and Caroline Pettis on 1 January 1828.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/registerbookmar02bargoog The register book of marriages belonging to the parish St. George, Hanover square, in the county of Middlesex, p. 98]</ref> *[[Thomas Henry Lister]], novelist and biographer, and [[Maria Theresa Villiers]], novelist and biographer, on 6 November 1830. *[[Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet]], and Juliana Barbara, a daughter of [[Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard]], on 7 July 1831.<ref>George Edward Cokayne, ed. ''The Complete Baronetage'', vol 2. (Exeter: William Pollard, 1900), p. 317</ref> *[[Madeleine Smith|Madeleine Hamilton Smith]] [to George Young Wardle], on 4 July 1861.<ref>England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837–1915</ref> *Sir [[John A. Macdonald]], first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada, to his second wife [[Agnes Macdonald, 1st Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe|Susan Agnes Bernard]] on 16 February 1867. *[[Theodore Roosevelt]], future United States President, aged 28, and [[Edith Roosevelt|Edith Carow]], aged 25, on 2 December 1886. *[[Charles Manners (bass)|Charles Manners]] (1857–1935) and [[Fanny Moody]] (1866–1945), opera singers, on 5 July 1890.<ref>Marriage of Frances Moody (1890) in Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754–1935 – via Ancestry.co.uk</ref> *[[George Albu|Leopold Albu]], of [[4 Hamilton Place|4 Hamilton Place, Mayfair]], the brother of Sir George Albu, to Adelaide Veronica Elizabeth Burton, daughter of Edgar Henry Burton, and granddaughter of [[Henry Marley Burton]], on 19 August 1901.<ref>Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 66</ref> *Alfreda Ernestina Albertina Bowen, daughter of [[George Bowen|Sir George Ferguson Bowen]] and [[Diamantina Bowen|Diamantina, Contessa di Roma]], and Robert Lydston Newman, in October 1899.<ref>[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP18991124.2.49 "Anglo-Colonial Notes"], in the ''Evening Post'' (Wellington, New Zealand), dated 24 November 1899, p. 5</ref> *Euphemia Dunsmuir, daughter of [[Robert Dunsmuir]], and [[Somerset Gough-Calthorpe]], 27 February 1900<ref>[[Henry James Morgan]], ''Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada'' (Williams Briggs, 1903), [https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft/page/42 p. 42]</ref> * [[John Galsworthy]], [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] recipient and [[Ada Galsworthy|Ada Nemesis Cooper]] on 23 September 1905 after a 10-year affair.<ref>{{cite book |date=1956 |last=Mottram |first=Ralph Hale |title=For Some We Loved: An intimate portrait of Ada and John Galsworthy |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London |page=71}}</ref> *[[Henry Hall (bandleader)|Henry Hall]], band leader, and Margery Harker, a girl he had met on a train, January 1924.<ref>Henry Hall, ''Here's to the Next Time'' (London: Odhams Press, 1955), pp. 56–57; "Hall, Henry R, & Harker Margery" in ''Register of Marriages for St. George's Hanover Square Registration District'', vol. 1a (1924), p. 648</ref> *The actress [[Charlotte Wattell]] married Thomas Sandon here in 1799.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wQ5cAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA149 ''The Seasonal Papers Printed by Order of the House of Lords''], Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords (1847–8) – Google Books</ref> * [[Daniel Orme]] official Historical Engraver to [[George III]] and [[George IV]], married Ann L Barr, on 25 June 1787<ref name="Register_1725-1787">{{cite book |author1-link=John H. |editor1-last=Champan |title=The register book of marriages belonging to the parish of St. George, Hanover square, in the county of Middlesex, Volume 11 |date=1886 |publisher=Mitchell & Hughes |location=London |page=404 |hdl=2027/coo.31924009528328?urlappend=%3Bseq=416 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924009528328?urlappend=%3Bseq=416%3Bownerid=13510798902356126-454 |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref> * [[Edward Orme]] artist and property developer, younger brother of Daniel, married Hester Edmonds on 22 June 1802<ref name="Register_1788-1809">{{cite book |editor1-last=Chapman |editor1-first=John H. |title=The register book of marriages belonging to the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, in the county of Middlesex : Marriages, 1788–1809 |date=1886 |publisher=Mitchell & Hughes |location=London |page=260 |hdl=2027/coo.31924063475564?urlappend=%3Bseq=272 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924063475564?urlappend=%3Bseq=272%3Bownerid=13510798902356164-336 |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref> * William Orme, another brother and also an artist, married Charlotte Eleanor Scarman, a future governess to the poet [[Elizabeth Barrett Browning]], on 14 December 1802<ref>Ibid, 271</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=4770. EBB to George Goodin Moulton-Barrett |url=https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/correspondence/5195/#D-00C0008 |website=The Brownings Correspondence |publisher=Wedgestone Press |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref>

High society weddings at St. George's Hanover Square fell in numbers in the late 20th century, a social change discreetly mentioned in the obituary of the Reverend W. M. Atkins, Rector of St George's from 1955 to 2000.<ref name = Atkins>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1422107/Prebendary-Bill-Atkins.html Prebendary Bill Atkins] (obituary) at telegraph.co.uk</ref>

==References== {{Ibid|date=March 2025}} {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10164503 Parish data] (Vision of Britain) * http://www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org/ * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100315140115/http://www.westminsterstmargaret.org/ Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret)]}} * [http://www.shipoffools.com/mystery/specials/london_05/reports/1050.html Mystery Worshipper Report] at the [[Ship of Fools (website)|Ship of Fools website]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's, Hanover Square}} [[Category:18th-century Church of England church buildings]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Mayfair]] [[Category:Church of England church buildings in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:Diocese of London]] [[Category:Grade I listed churches in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:John James (architect) buildings]]