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History of the church
 In
the early 1840s there were very few Catholics living in the Mortlake
area apart from Lady Constantia Mostyn and her household at Portobello
House, an important property on the site of the present Vernon and Howgate
Roads.
However, after
1846 the terrible famine in Ireland caused many Irish workers to
seek employment in Britain. Mortlake was well known for its market
gardens,
which provided much casual work, and there was soon a considerable
Irish labour force here. In response to the need for a place of worship
for the Irish workers Lady Mostyn made available a room over the
stables at Portobello House where Mass could be celebrated by a visiting
priest.
As the number of worshippers grew the need for a church became urgent.
An energetic young priest, Fr. John Wenham, was appointed to Mortlake
soon after his ordination in 1849. Land was acquired and the building
of the church was put in hand soon after his arrival here.
Much
of the cost seems to have been borne by an anonymous donor, possibly
Lady Mostyn or Fr. Wenham himself. A former Anglican, he had studied
at
Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was much influenced by the
ideas of Newman. It seems likely that he wished to honour the patron
saint
of his old Oxford College by dedicating the new church to her.
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