Meet the team
Clergy
Rector
Father David Peebles
Fr David comes from Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England but has lived all over the place. University in Bristol, Durham and Manchester, followed by teaching in Bath and then a curacy in Crewe, followed by teaching again in West Yorkshire. He came to London in 1995 and was the chaplain of Queen Mary College in the East End and also parish priest of Bethnal Green. In 2001, he became Chaplain of the London School of Economics and remained there for ten years until he became Rector here at St George’s in 2010.
His mission is to help St George’s to be a Parish Church for all people; so that nobody is excluded. The gospel is about the whole of humanity and the utter self-giving of God in Jesus Christ to us. St George’s attempts to bring curiosity and fun as well as solemnity and depth to our Christian faith. You would be very welcome indeed to just turn up.
Honorary Assistant Priest
Revd Phillip Dawson
Fr Phillip was ordained deacon in 2023 as Curate at St Giles-in-the-Fields, our neighbouring parish, and then ordained priest in 2024. He is with us at St George’s one Sunday a month and assists with our theology book club and annual retreat days. Before to ordination Phillip worked as a Director of a firm of architects and served as Non-Executive Director of a number of local charities. He is President of the Enfield Talking Newspaper for the Blind. Phillip is currently undertaking an MPhil in World Christianity at the University of Cambridge. As well as his duties at St Giles-in-the-Fields and St George’s Bloomsbury, Phillip supports Fr David as one of the Honorary Chaplains to The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Honorary Assistant Priest
Father Rene Jarrett
Father Rene comes from Sierra Leone and has been in the UK since 1988. He has been assisting in the Edmonton Diocese and presently is Honorary Assistant Priest at St George's. He is also Chaplain to the Sierra Leone community in the UK.
Parochial Church Council
Julian Sharpe
Churchwarden
Sara Payne
Safeguarding officer, Secretary
Helena Roden
Churchwarden
Dorothy Connell
Deanery Representative
Neil Handley
Reader
Carmen Bailey
Member
Mabel Alonso
Treasurer
Serving team
Michael Taylor
Sacristan
Esther Kim
Jack Highton
Reader
Staff
Hiring & caretaker - Noel
Noel handles all bookings and enquiries regarding hiring the church, vestry hall and meeting room. If you would like book our hall or meeting room please contact him here. Noel also handles all matters relating to the site, buildings and facilities management of St George’s.
Finance & accounts - Pat
For all matters relating to accounts please contact her here.
Music Team
Director of Music
Sam Bardsley
Sam Bardsley started singing as a chorister in his local parish church and has gone on to sing with some of the finest cathedral choirs in the country. Before commencing study at the University of York, Sam was a choral scholar at Southwark Cathedral and when not committed there worked as a freelance singer and conductor with various choirs in London and the South-East.
When he moved to York, Sam was a choral scholar at York Minster and was fortunate enough to sing at the annual Royal Maundy service and appear on live broadcasts and recordings with the Minster choir. Solo appearances have included lead roles in Dido and Aeneas, Monteverdi operas, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi Gloria, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and other oratorio. Whilst in York, Sam studied with Iestyn Davies and David Lowe and currently studies with Ben Johnson.
Sam has been the organist at St George’s since 2012 and has directed acclaimed orchestral performances of works including both Mozart and Fauré Requiems and Bach’s Magnificat.
Choral Young Artist
Francis Melville
Francis Melville is a tenor currently studying on the master's course at the Royal College of Music, under Ben Johnson, where he is a Big Give Award Holder and is supported by the Janet Baker Trust. He initially studied medicine at Imperial College, London and worked as a junior doctor at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital from 2020 until 2022.
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His opera debut was as Miguel in Pepito at Imperial College and subsequent roles include Count Almaviva in the Barber of Seville with King’s College Opera. He was a young artist at the Ludlow English Song Weekend in April of last year and has performed in the chorus at Grange Park Opera and The Grange Festival.
Choral Young Artist
Isabella Piggott
Soprano Isabella Piggott recently completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours at the Royal Academy of Music and is passionate about both opera and oratorio music. She played the role of Puck in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Opera School's production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other operatic highlights include the role of Ilia in an excerpt from Mozart's Idomeneo at the Royal Academy of Music. Also at the Academy she has performed numerous Bach Cantatas under the direction of John Butt and performs regularly with the Philharmonia Chorus under their students scheme. Passionate about contemporary opera she has premiered the role of Brân in Ben Hoppe's As the Crows Fly and the Therapist in Yan E Toh's Imposters at the Tete a Tete Opera Festival.
As a Josephine Baker Trust supported artist Isabella has performed as an oratorio soloist on numerous occasions, highlights include Schubert's Mass in G and Handel's Dixit Dominus with the Chichester singers under the baton of Jonathan Willcocks, as well as Bob Chilcott's and John Rutter's Requiems with Arun Choral Society in Arundel Cathedral. She was the soprano soloist in Haydn’s Harmoniemesse at the Sherborne Abbey Music Festival and more recently performed the solos from Faure's Requiem, Matthew Coleridge's And I Saw a New Heaven as well as his Requiem with Leatherhead Choral Society.
Choral Young Artist
Lydia Ward
Lydia is a Nottinghamshire-born mezzo-soprano who recently completed her Master’s Degree in vocal performance with distinction from Trinity Laban Conservatoire. She began her musical journey as a vocal specialist at Wells Cathedral School and later graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Music and German from Royal Holloway, University of London, where she was awarded a prestigious choral scholarship.
A recipient of the Southwell Choral Society Music Bursary Prize, Lydia has built a vibrant career in London as both a soloist and ensemble singer. She has performed with renowned groups such as Siglo de Oro, Sansara and St Martin’s Voices, featured on their latest CD release, A Winter Breviary, and Ensemble OrQuesta, where she portrayed Iphis in Céphale et Procris at the 2023 Grimeborne Festival.
In December 2023, Lydia starred as Ruby in César Cui’s Little Red Riding Hood with St Paul’s Opera. In May 2024, she performed Judith Weir’s one-woman unaccompanied opera, King Harald’s Saga. A month ater she sang with Trinity Laban Opera as Second Woman in Errollyn Wallen’s opera, Dido’s Ghost, directed by Frederic Wake-Walker. Most recently in November 2024, she performed as mezzo-soprano soloist in Bach’s Magnificat with the Academy of Ancient Music in Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre.
Lydia is a passionate music educator and teaches Singing, Piano and Violin at Kew House School in London, where she also leads an all-female vocal ensemble. Aside from singing, her favourite thing to do is run and in February 2025 she will race her third marathon in Seville!
Choral Young Artist
Laura West
Laura West is a German/British old soprano based in London, England. She is currently an undergraduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with a scholarship, under Marcus Van Den Akker. Until July 2021 she was enrolled at The Royal College of Music Junior Department, with help from the Peter Rogers music scholarship, under Jean-Claude Ohms. Laura has placed in many competitions thus far in her career, including the Kath Topping Vocal Award (2021), Woodard Young Musician of the Year (2020), as well as the first vocalist to place 3rd in the RCMJD performance competition, and recital competition.
Roles Include Amor, Orfeo Ed Euridice- Gluck (Barefoot Opera) and Frost, Selfish Giant- John Barber (Garsington Youth Opera). In 2021 Laura was selected by Roderick Williams to sing in his masterclass; other masterclasses include Jane Highfield in 2018. She has also performed at prestigious venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, St. James’ Piccadilly, The Royal College of Music Concert Hall, Britten Theatre, Garsington Opera, The Barbican and Rochester Cathedral.