In the Archives
CH2/852/98 Front cover and CH2/852/1 First full
page beginning 'The book of the Congregation meeting…'
and CH2/852/1 page 133
The Crown Court Kirk in Russell Street provides a place
of worship for Church of Scotland members living in, or
visiting, London. The name refers to the geographical
situation of the 1719 kirk rather than any particular
connection to lawyers or their clients. The Union of the
Crowns in 1603 brought many Presbyterians to London and
when the original Scottish Presbyterian chapel in 'Scotland
Yard' was destroyed by fire in 1698, the congregation
relocated first to rooms in St Peter's Field and then to a
purpose-built kirk in Crown Court.
The baptismal register, which dates from 1711, was
started in this Crown Court building. Earlier records have
apparently been lost, probably many of them in the 1698
fire. The St. Peter's Court location, occupied by the
congregation between 1699 and 1719, became the studio of
the sculptor Louis-Francois Rubilliac, founder of the
Academy for the Improvement of Painters and Sculptors (now
the Royal Academy). In 1909 the Crown Court building was
demolished and a new kirk erected in its place.
The documents reproduced here show the disbursement of a
'poor fund' in 1731, some names and occupations listed in
the baptismal register for 1720 and 1721. Some of the
Christian names recorded are typically Scottish, for
example Alexander, Jean and Robert. We also reproduce the
front page of a small booklet produced about the church in
the 20th century.
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