England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Paddington St James

The Parish

The parish of Paddington St James lies in southern central Middlesex not too far from its border with the city of London. Paddington is located about 1 mile west of the city of London and in the northern portion of territory within the wider city of Westminster. Paddington sits on the route of the A40 as its leaves central London headed for Oxford. It is difficult, viewing present day Paddington, to imagine this area as it was at the start of this transcript period. In the 1750s Paddington was a small discrete village separated by fields from the western edge of Metropolitan London, marked by the Tyburn gallows and the Edgware Road. Even by the 1820s Paddington was still a separate village albeit much enlarged. Development of this area began in earnest in the 1820s and was accelerated by the construction of a canal from Paddington Basin linking up with the Grand Union Canal at Uxbridge. Further developments came when Paddington was chosen as the terminus for Brunel's Great Western Railway, a role for which it is, perhaps, best known today. Today's Paddington in an integral part of inner London, a maze of property intersected by canal, railway and modern communications, the 1960s project of Westway, a lengthy overpass attempting to ease the movement of traffic westwards by elevating it above street level, a notable feature of the area. Today's Paddington sits surrounded by many of London's highlights, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Regent's Park lie close by as green lungs whilst Lord's cricket ground, Madame Tussauds and the Stardome lie close by for entertainment. Paddington is drained by mostly sub-surface drainage, the Thames lying around 3 miles to its south takes that water to the North Sea. Paddington sits upon one the former river terraces of the Thames at around 30 metres above the sea, land continues to rise northwards, away from the river, reaching just over 70 metres at nearby Hampstead Heath. Paddington parish was typically sized for a rural lowland parish, covering just over 1,200 acres, like many in Greater London it was split down to several smaller parishes during the Victorian era, within that small acreage a population would have grown exponentially from around 2,000 to approaching 25,000  by the end of this transcript period. Paddington is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

Paddington's churches have come and gone over the centuries, the original parish church was dedicated to St Mary and was the venue of most of these marriages. St Mary was demolished and rebuilt in the 1780s. St James became the parish church once completed in 1843. St James' church sits on the eastern side of Sussex Gardens, a leafy area to the north of Lancaster Gate underground station. Today's church is a replacement for the 1843 original, reusing only the chancel of the 1843 church, the newer church being erected in 1882. The church's main feature is the early English Gothic style spire atopping its tower, something of a landmark in the area. Like most London churches St James is best approached on foot with the underground an aide to a visit. The church is rather hemmed in to either side by commercial properties which limits the angles available to those from Sussex Gardens only.