St Mary’s Church was founded by the Abbé Jean Jacques Morel (1766-1852), a refugee from the French Revolution. Coming to Hampstead at the age of thirty, he ministered to French and English Catholics in the village for the next 56 years. This saintly priest established firm relations with the other Christian Ministers, decades ahead of the modern Ecumenical Movement. During the Second World War, another refugee from strife, General Charles de Gaulle, the future President of France, lived in Hampstead and worshipped in this church.
A more detailed history “St Mary’s Church Hampstead 1816- 2016” is available, in print, from the Parish Administrator (hampstead@rcdow.org.uk), priced £4.
You can also view the booklet online.
List of Priests who have served St Mary’s:
| Canon Jean Jacques Morel | 1796-1852 | |
| Fr. John Walsh | 1796-1852 | |
| Monsignor Vincent Eyre | 1859-1871 | |
| Canon Arthur Purcell | 1871-1900 | |
| Fr. Michael Fitzgerald | 1900-1907 | |
| Fr. Thomas Walsh | 1907-1930 | |
| Fr. Francis Brown | 1930-1941 | |
| Canon Joseph Geraerts | 1941-1970 | |
| Fr. Francis Morrall | 1970-1987 | |
| Canon Michael Brockie | 1987-2001 | |
| Canon Daniel Cronin | 2001-2006 | |
| Monsignor Phelim Rowland | 2006–Present |