Keith's Chapel


Keith's Chapel, also known as Mr Keith's Chapel and the May Fair Chapel, was a private chapel in Curzon Street, Mayfair, Westminster, operated by the 18th century Church of England clergyman 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 until he was excommunicated by an ecclesiastical court in 1742. 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 came into effect.
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.

Notable weddings

The chapel's weddings included