St. Pancras Old Church, London

St. Pancras Old Church in London is where my great-great-great grandfather and grandmother, Thomas Henry Leitch and Mary Ann Peacock, were married in 1850. It is also where Mary Ann’s parents, John Dowsing Peacock and Elizabeth Pool, were married in 1823. This church has an amazing history and has stood there since 314 AD, making it one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in Great Britain.

An old lady at the church told us that many visitors from the US or Australia come to this church to see where their ancestors worshiped. In the 1800s, St. Pancras was a poor area and most people living there eventually emigrated elsewhere… Thomas and John were tailors, and Thomas emigrated to Canada some years after his marriage.

It was very special and exciting to see this place of family history. I imagined my great grandparents getting married here, walking through the gates and starting their lives here.

places in London where my family is from

 

Hanover Square (Thomas Henry Leitch)

Marylebone (Elizabeth Pool and John Dowsing Peacock)

Lewisham (William Leitch)

St. Pancras (Elizabeth Pool and John Peacock were married here in 1823, as well as daughter Mary Ann Peacock to Thomas H. Leitch in 1850)

Shoreditch (Elizabeth Pool and John Peacock)

Stepney (Thomas Pool, b. 1765)

hello

… yes, I am still here. Taking 18 months off from this blog/project was not what I had intended, but here we are. My only excuse is that I was earning my Master’s Degree, and during that time I was insanely busy. I had all kinds of plans to find some of my ancestral sites, but as the information has been very difficult to find, it got put on the back burner. So, I will ask:

Does anyone know which cemetery in Lewisham, London that William Leitch (1791-1874) is buried in?

I lived in London for a year and a half and could not find that information. Someone has to know… anyone?? Any information you have, please tell me.

One good thing did come… a distant relative (through the Leitch line) contacted me this summer. Unfortunately, we did not get to meet as he lives in Wales and I was too busy to follow up. On a search through Ancestry.com tonight, I found he had added another image of my great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Henry Leitch (son of William).

Thomas Henry Leitch (credit: Andrew Leitch)