Lord George (1751-93) was president of the Protestant Association and it was here, where the Roman Catholic Cathedral on Saint George's Road is now, that on 02/06/1780 he addressed a rally of some 50 to 60,000 on the pernicious nature of a Parliamentary act passed in 1778. The act was an early measure in the fifty-year process of Catholic Emancipation which, after 300 years of second-class citizenship, brought the rights of Roman Catholics to equivalence with those of Protestants (except that they still may not be enthroned). Gordon led the crowd, well on the way to being a mob, over Westminster Bridge to present a petition for repeal of the act. The mob rioted and the riot spread to become one of the worst that has occurred in London. It lasted 5 days with, reportedly, some 285 deaths among the rioters when the soldiery were called out and 21 more from executions afterwards. Lord George continued an erratic career after being found innocent of a charge of treason following these events. He converted to Judaism, which would have stopped any further Parliamentary activity had that been otherwise possible. He died in Newgate prison where he had been committed following conviction for a libel on Marie Antoinette.

O/S Co-ords:3143.7934
Source(s):

The Map of London from 1746 to the Present Day

Chambers Biographical Dictionary

August Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52), a Catholic convert, was the winner in 1839 of a competition for the design of the church built here between 1841 and 1848 that became the present Saint George's Roman Catholic Cathedral. Pugin has been considered by many a genius. He was certainly precocious in his ability to assist his father's work when a boy and amazingly prolific during the time he was in practice and good health from 1835-46. His physical and mental health broke in 1846. His work as the chief assistant or collaborator of Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) was hugely important in the design and building of the present Palace of Westminster / Houses of Parliament, between 1840 and 1860, following the destruction of the old by fire in 1834. The dispute that followed their deaths as to which of them had made the more significant contribution was very unfortunate.
In terms of its significance in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of church buildings Saint George's was the most important of Pugin's commissions in London. Architecturally it has been considered his least successful. The history of its construction and destruction has been the main cause of this failure. Firstly, as Pugin wrote afterwards, 'St George's was spoilt by the very instructions laid down by the Committee that it was to hold 3,000 people on the floor at a limited price: in consequence, height, proportion, everything was sacrificed to met these conditions.' Secondly, his design included a magnificent tower and spire as a feature of particular importance because of the effect of the committee's edict on the proportions of the body of the church. That was never built. Despite considerable financial problems the building work was completed in 1848. Then in the Second World War that structure was largely destroyed. The architect for this reconstruction was Romilly Craze who certainly based his proposals on Pugin's plans but produced a 20th century Gothic revival building. There was still the intention but not the achievement of a great tower and spire. His first plans of 1943 were considerably modified to those accepted in 1953 but the subsequent construction, the last major works were in 1977, omits and amends several features of those plans. Cherry and Pevsner's 'Buildings of England' volume covering this area notes 'After relishing the C 19 work, any medievalist will wince at the details of the C 20 rebuilding, with its effort to marry the desiccated traditions of Arts and Crafts free Gothic to Pugin's fragments. Yet the scale is noble...'

O/S Co-ords:3143.7934
Source(s):

Chambers Biographical Dictionary

The Buildings of England - London 2: South

Westminster Palace and Parliament