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 a street in Mayfair, London, within the W1J postcode district, that ranges from Fitzmaurice Place, past Shepherd Market, to Park Lane. It is named after Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baronet, who inherited the landholding during ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, operated by the 18th century

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 or

license A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...

until he was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

by an

ecclesiastical court In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...

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 ( 26 Geo. 2. c. 33), 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, was the first statutory legisla ...

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 and Elizabeth Chudleigh (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, 1st Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. De Vere family, His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half cen ...

, 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 A ...

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 Party (UK), Conservative politician and racehorse owner noted for his role (with Benj ...

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