St. Francis - St. Martin Parish

This history will concern itself with a brief survey of the varied personalities of the Pastors who have served the Parish over the years and it will highlight the main events or developments during their tenures.

From 1826 tol 1961, London was a very compact city and, until 1912, there were only two Catholic churches in the city - the Cathedral and St. Mary's. So it is not surprising that Bishop Fallon initially rejected a request by Catholics in South London who wanted a church in their area. The bishop wasn't very diplomatic - he said, "They shouldn't be so lazy and should be able to walk to the Cathedral without any problem". However, these folks were a match for the Bishop and finally secured his assent. St. Martin's parishioners threw themselves into the task; Martin O'Sullivan, one of the leaders of the local London South Catholics, donated the land, donated the High Altar and a stained window and apparently, named the church. Men of the Parish excavated the basement and worked on the construction of the church. The black and white picture near the entrance of the church shows the church under construction. One of the workers in the picture was identified by a parishioner as her grandfather. Bishop Fallon laid the cornerstone and donated the stained glass window of the Resurrection on August 20, 1911.

On May 5, 1912, Bishop Fallon officially dedicated and opened St. Martin of Tours Parish church.