Uncover the origins of St Mary Magdalene’s in the context of Paddington’s development from an early nineteenth-century village to a crowded urban area. Bill Jacobs charts its expansion as a transport hub with associated industries, how districts of multiple deprivation were established alongside housing for the very rich, and the impacts of migration, alongside a vibrant religious life.

The talk is free as part of the Open House Festival.

About Bill Jacob

Bill Jacob has been associated with St Mary Magdalene’s since the mid-1990s, initially overseeing the City of Westminster for the Bishop of London, and subsequently, a trustee of Paddington Development Trust, chairing the project board for the restoration and regeneration of St Mary Magdalene’s. As a historian, he has published extensively about the social history of religion in eighteenth and nineteenth century England and Wales. His most recent book is Religious Vitality in Victorian London (Oxford University Press, 2021).

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The evening is a part of Grand Junction’s Our Shared Heritage talks programme which explores themes from the late Victorian period, when St Mary Magdalene’s was built, from different and diverse perspectives.

Our Shared Heritage celebrates the part that Black, Arab, and Asian people and cultures have played in London’s history.