o a more
advantageous situation. This was granted, and license given them to
erect a new church of "stones or flints" at the place where they had
recently built a chapel. The former church had been dedicated to St.
John the Evangelist; the new one was dedicated to St. Mary. The spot on
which it was built is the same on which the old parish church now
stands, near the top of High Street.

This church is described as having been a "mean edifice." It was the
original of the church delineated by Hogarth in the marriage of the
rake, in his famous "Rake's Progress." This series was published in
1735, and the church was then in a ruinous condition. It was
subsequently pulled down and rebuilt (1741) in the form in which it now
stands, with the exception of some slight alterations. In a curious
diary in the Harleian MSS. collection it is stated that the Rev.
Randolph Ford, curate of Marylebone between 1711 and 1724, on one Sunday
"married six couples, then read the whole of the prayers and preached;
after that churched six women; in the afternoon read prayers and
preached; christened thirty-two children, six at home, the rest at the
font; buried thirteen corpses, read the distinct service over each of
them separately--and all this done by nine o'clock at night."

The only ancient charity connected with the church is a bread bequest
left by Thomas Verley in 1692. He left L50, the interest to be spent in
bread, twelve penny loaves to be given to the poor every Sunday. This
ceremony is still observed, but the value of the money has increased, so
that 5s. worth of bread is distributed every Sunday after service. The
mural tablets and monuments on the walls of the church are of some
interest and of great variety. The earliest dates back to 1644. The
Viscountess Ossington about ten or twelve years ago had them all
restored at her own expense.

Among the entries in the register are: J. Michael Rysbach, buried
January 11, 1770; Allan Ramsay, buried August 18, 1784; Rev. Charles
Wesley, buried April 5, 1788. Horatia, daughter of Lord Nelson and Lady
Hamilton, was baptized here, and also Lord Byron.

About 1770 the necessity for providing increased church accommodation
became apparent, and it was first proposed to erect the new building on
the north side of Paddington Street, where Mr. Portman offered a site.
This land was afterwards used for a burial-ground. The next suggestion
was for a site to the north of Portland Place, but this