Keith's Chapel, also known as Mr Keith's Chapel and the May Fair Chapel, was a private chapel in

Curzon Street Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running ap ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, operated by the 18th century

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man Alexander Keith. Keith had been the first incumbent of the Church of England's new Curzon Chapel, built in Curzon Street in 1730, where he began to perform marriages without either

banns The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" (from a Middle English word meaning "proclamation", rooted in Frankish and thence in Old French), are the public announcement in a Christian parish church, or in the town co ...

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

until he was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

by an

ecclesiastical court An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...

in 1742.Geraldine Edith Mitton
''Mayfair, Belgravia and Bayswater''
(2007), p. 28 Keith then went to prison and remained there for several years. However, he quickly established his own private chapel very near to his old one on Curzon Street, where he and his curates continued clandestine marriages until 1754, when the

Marriage Act 1753 The Clandestine Marriages Act 1753, also called the Marriage Act 1753, long title "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage", popularly known as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act (citation 26 Geo. II. c. 33), was the first statutor ...

came into effect.Promenades Through London: Mayfair
at edwardianpromenade.com, accessed 24 November 2011 The marriages at Keith's Chapel were perfectly lawful, as until 1754 the only indispensable element of a marriage in England was a Church of England clergyman. At its height, some six thousand marriages a year were taking place at the chapel. The chapel's business was promoted by frequent advertisements in newspapers, such as this one in the '' Daily Post'' dated 20 July 1744: When his wife died in January 1750, Keith combined the announcement of her death in the '' Daily Advertiser'' with an advertisement for his chapel's services.James Hogg and Florence Marryat, ''London Society'', vol. 4
p. 549
/ref>

Notable weddings

The chapel's weddings included *

Duke of Kingston Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, with the title Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull being a title in the Peerage of England. The Earldom was created on 25 July 1628 for Robert Pierrepont, 1st Viscount Newark. Th ...

and

Elizabeth Chudleigh Elizabeth Pierrepont (née Chudleigh), Duchess of Kingston (8 March 172126 August 1788), sometimes called Countess of Bristol, was an English courtier and courtesan, known by her contemporaries for her adventurous life style. She was the daugh ...

(bigamously)''National and English Review'', Volume 95 (1930), p. 966 *

Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos, KB (17 January 1708 – 28 November 1771), known from 1727 to 1744 by the courtesy title Marquess of Carnarvon, was the second son of the 1st Duke of Chandos and his first wife Mary Lake. He was the Member ...

and Anne Jeffrey, 1744 * Lord Strange and Lucy Smith, 1746 * Lord Kensington and Rachel Hill, 1749 *Sewellis Shirley and Margaret Rolle, widow of the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

, 1751 *

James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton James George Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Duke of Brandon, KT (10 July 1724 – 17 January 1758) was a Scottish peer. Early years and education Hamilton was the son of the 5th Duke of Hamilton, by his first wife, the former Lady An ...

and Miss Gunning, 1752 (married with a bed-curtain-ring half an hour after midnight) *

Lord George Bentinck Lord William George Frederick Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck (27 February 180221 September 1848), better known as Lord George Bentinck, was an English Conservative politician and racehorse owner noted for his role (with Benjamin Disraeli) in unseatin ...

and Mary Davies, 1753

References

{{coord, 51.5066757, -0.1473069, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Chapels in London Marriage, unions and partnerships in England 18th century in London Buildings and structures in Mayfair