St. John's Church stood behind St. George's Hall, on the site of what is now St. John's Gardens. The burial ground for the church, with a small chapel, was consecrated and opened for use in 1767 but the church itself was not completed until 1784. The architect of the church building was Timothy (sometimes given as Thomas) Lightoler. Burial records indicate the degree of abject poverty to be found locally. Almost half of the 82,000 people buried there were children. Large numbers were recorded as paupers or from the poorhouse, while early baptismal records suggest that there were many people of African, Jamaican and other colonial origins. This is probably an indication of former slaves or servants being given English names possibly as part of a  conversion to Christianity.