St. Marten in the Fields & Archives

["Clay Quarterman" <clay@paco.net>]

> Dear Q Relatives and Friends,
> 
> I just returned from 2 weeks' vacation in London (aren't you jealous),
> during which we enjoyed fabulous weather. We were able to follow up on a
> lead regarding Dr. William Quarterman, whose wife is buried in Westminster
> Abbey. He was Physician Royal to Charles II, and is referred to in Pepys'
> history for 1660. Since I had heard that he was also given a rather
> important burial, I decided to follow up. Sadly, I didn't plan ahead and
> take any references along (Hey, I was on vacation with the family!).
> 
> I asked at St. Marten in the Fields church (right on Trafalgar Square,
> which is something of a mess right now with all the public works going
> on). They said serious changes had been made long ago to the church and
> the memorials and the crypt, but that all the older official records were
> kept at the Westminster Archives, and they gave me a brochure. I also
> checked in the crypt under the church, where they have the brass rubbing
> center, and they even looked in their brass rubbing catalog and found no
> Quartermans at all. (Strange!) I'll send some pictures to the Q list soon.
> 
> The Archives are located very near Westminster Abbey, and I didn't even
> have to show any ID to use them, unlike the British Library, where you
> have to fill out forms and show ID to get an ID and prove why you want to
> go in. Great resources at this Archives for any researchers! It's even a
> fun place just to browse, with lots of good books on all periods and all
> areas of interest over centuries in Westminster, right there in the heart
> of London--history of Parliament buildings, the Abbey, St. Marten's, etc.
> They have microfilm readers and scores of drawers with microfilms of
> original church records from the many churches there--including the whole
> history of St. Marten's. The staff were very helpful. I am attaching a
> picture of the brochure with their address and contact information, and a
> very poor map (though I did find it at last, very close to the Abbey).
> Address: 10 St. Ann's Street. Telephone (020) 76415180. Website:
> WWW.WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK   Closed on Mondays and Sundays.
> 
> The research librarian was kind enough to provide me with a helpful
> biographical list of "Monumental Inscriptions in Westminster." I was able
> to check relevant references under "Printed Works for South Westminster"
> nos. 5, 6, 7, and parts of 11 (no index). I ran out of time, but also
> thought #14 might be relevant. I also thought there might be relevant info
> under archives #6, the "Register of removal of bodies..." and
> "Alphabetical list of names on coffins removed...", but those were located
> in the Archives and were by request, and there wasn't time. The very
> helpful list may provide other sources as well.
> 
> Happy hunting!
> 
> Sincerely yours,
> Clay Quarterman
> Odessa, Ukraine
>