| Description | Summary
CONVENT: Chapter minutes, 1869-2001; indexes of Chapter minutes, 1873-1992; Consultative Council minutes, 1911-1991; index of Consultative Council minutes, 1948-1990; Council of Finance minutes, 1870-1947; Land Trust solicitor's bill book, 1903-1917; Money Trust solicitor's bill books, 1903-1916, accounts, 1925-1961, and resolutions, 1943-1949; Land and Money Trust articles of association, 1906, annual statements of accounts, 1907, 1920/1-1954/5, agendas and resolutions, 1910-1951, annual reports, 1914/5, 1924/5, copy trust deed, 1947, and miscellaneous, 1906-1940; General Purposes Trust copy trust deeds, 1947-1954; Clewer Trustee Ltd articles of association, 1953, minutes, 1985-2004, and financial statements, 1993-2010 (incomplete); Business Committee minutes, 1893-1948 and correspondence, 1894-1945; minutes of committee appointed to discuss the revision of the Office, 1904-1906; letter book of the same, 1903-1927; Finance Committee minutes, 1947-2006, and regulations, 1950; Advisory Committee minutes, 1988-1999; Rules, 1850-1997; constitutions, 1874-2008; Clewer Manual, 1874-1888; customaries, c.1870s-2003; Sisters' accounts, 1855-1878; Community Fund accounts, 1872-1947, 1956-1977; Community Fund no 2: accounts, 1883-1977; Community Fund statement of accounts, 1962/3; Clewer Suspense Account accounts, 1918-1955, and annual statement, 1962/3; accounts of Sisters' contributions, 1921-1968; General Purposes Trust statement of accounts, 1962/3, 2009/10; Retreat Wing statement of accounts, 1968/9; Bursaress's day book or diary, 1886-1909; 'Bursaress's Box' of files on documents relating to trusts, c.1938-1946; regulations of Community Fund and Council of Finance, 1867-1897; finance memorandum book, 1915-1937; agreements with House of Mercy relating to expenses, 1922-1925; details of business organisation of Community, 1945; papers relating to Fidelity Trust, 1908-1934; General Trust Fund memoranda, 1889-1907; papers relating to gifts by Sisters, 1874-1957; copy deeds, 1852-1889; Convent property file, 1851-1925; drainage plan, 1928; chapel property log, 1881-1938; registers of repairs and renewals to property, 1922-1962; papers relating to repairs and building work, 1908-1976; papers relating to transfer of convent from the House of Mercy to the Community, 1924-1925; papers relating to proposed development of the site, 1986-2000; sale particulars of convent, 2000-2005; contract for purchase of Begbroke Priory, Oxfordshire, 1999-2000; papers relating to new convent building at Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, 2007-2012; letters to Sisters in India, 1883-1888; general correspondence, 1869-2002; letter from Mother Marian Hughes, 1882; annual summary accounts of daughter houses and works of Community, 1939-1968; property files on Albion Cottages, Clewer, 1909-1935, Bell Farm, Clewer, 1907-1948, Chaplain's House, 1929-2000, Clewer Laundry, 1909-1968, Hadspen, Clewer, 1907-1955, Kent House, Clewer, 1945-1973, Knight's Cottage and Field, Clewer, 1923-1957, Melrose, Clarence Road, Clewer, 1903-1955, 1 St Agnes' Villas, Clewer, 1910-1936, St Andrew's Cottages, Clewer, 1869-1959, St Andrew's Hospital, Clewer, 1904-1955, St Andrew's Lodge (formerly St Andrew's Cottage), 1868-1956, St Anne's House, Clewer, 1980-1984, St Augustine's House, Clewer, 1982, St Augustine's Lodge, Clewer, 1962-1985, St John's (later St Anne's) Home, Clewer, 1857-1967, St Michael's House and 13-15 Gerald Villas, Clewer, 1890s-1931, St Stephen's Elementary Schools and St Stephen's High School, Clewer, 1875-1937, Clewer St Stephen's Patronage Trust, 1927-1944, 11-12 St Stephen's Villas, Clewer, 1941-1942, the Warden's Lodge, Clewer, 1917-1954, work with Brigade of Guards families in Clewer and London, 1893-1939, London Mothers' Convalescent Home, Sunningdale, 1928-1941, The Bungalow, Winkfield, 1913-1945, Devon House of Mercy, 1867-1939, Mission House, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1921-1931, Woodfield, Lustleigh, Devon, 1911-1919, Brockett Hall Cottage, Torquay, Devon, 1968-1981, St Barnabas Home and Lodge, Torquay, Devon, 1908-1967, St Luke's Home, Torquay, Devon, 1954-1959, St Raphael's Home, Torquay, Devon, 1940-1960, the chaplain of the Torquay homes, 1890-1957, Holworth House or Cottage and St Catherine's-by-the-Sea, Warmwell, Dorset, 1890-1944, The Pastures Training Home (formerly the Home of the Good Shepherd) and other property in Leytonstone, Essex, 1888-1950, St Alban's and Chelmsworth House of Mercy, St Mary's Home, Great Maplestead, Essex, 1880s-1943, St Lucy's Home, Gloucester, 1875-1937, Newark House, Hemsted, Gloucestershire, 1882-1912, St Lucy's Hospital for Children of the Poor, Kingsholm, Gloucestershire, 1867-1939, Convalescent Home, Rownhams, Hampshire, 1887-1910, St Stephen's College property, Broadstairs, Kent, 1945-2001, Colebrooke House, Folkestone, Kent, 1915-1939, St Eanswythe's Mission House, Folkestone, Kent, 1879-1941, St Saviour's Mission House, Folkestone, Kent, 1887-1955, St Barnabas' Home of Rest and The Myrtles, Tankerton, Kent, 1913-1939, London Diocesan Penitentiary and House of Mercy, 1881-1940, 72 Gower Street, London, 1916-1927, 48-49 Nelson Square, London, 1920-1923, St Alban's Mission, Holborn, Middlesex, 1862-1993, Stonehouse House of Refuge, Pimlico, London, 1908-1919, St Barnabas' Orphanage, Pimlico, London (later Chislehurst, Kent), 1856-1924, House of Charity, Soho, London, 1860-1941, 9 Rose Street and 36 Soho Square, Soho, London, 1869-1941, St John's Cottage, Marcross, Monmouthshire, 1934-1940, St John's Mission House, Newport, Monmouthshire, 1884-1948, St John's High School, Newport, Monmouthshire, 1914-1947, Mission House of SS Mary and John, Cowley, Oxford, 1903-1929, Oxford Female Penitentiary (later St Mary's Home, Littlemore, Oxfordshire), 1891-1949, St Anne's School, Baltonsborough, Somerset, 1885-1896, Harley Place, Bristol, Somerset, 1947-1948, All Saints Home, Hawley, Surrey, 1884-1955, St John's Home, Bognor Regis, Sussex, 1958-1966, 149-149a North Street, Brighton, Sussex, 1930-1936, Lancing Manor estate and property at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, 1933-1949, 14 Norfolk Road, Littlehampton, Sussex, 1920-1921, St Michael's Home, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, 1884-1950, Salisbury House of Mercy, Wiltshire, 1888-1946, Orielton Hall estate, Barmouth, Wales, 1904-1919, and miscellaneous, 1880-1989; sale catalogue and draft contract to sell convent, 2000; copy contract to buy Begbroke Priory, 2000; papers relating to the new convent at Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, 2007-2012; licences for chapel, 1875-1880; service for admission of Sisters, n.d. [c.1850s]; office books, 1869-1963; special orders of service, 1881-2014; oratory books, 1911-n.d [mid 20C]; hymn book, 20C; appointment of organist, 1969; Annals, 1849-2015; log books, 1940-1964, 2008-2017; Community rolls, 1863-2018; registers of Sisters, 1851-1999; registers of Mothers Superior and Sisters in Charge, (1852)-2016; papers relating to the release of Sisters from their vows, 1871-1972; Sisters' work books, 1879-2006; duties of Sisters, n.d. [c.1960s]-2004; register of Sisters' graves, 1864-2018; papers relating to Sisters' graves, 1849-2015; miscellaneous papers relating to Sisters, c.1870s--2007; roll of Mothers Superior, 1852-2014; sketch and photographs of Mother Harriet, n.d. [19C]; papers of Mother Harriet, 1855-1884; Mother Ellen's letter book, 1877-1879; letters to Mother Ellen, 1881-1882; correspondence of Mothers Superior, 1897-1924; Mother Superior's crucifix, 17C; papers relating to elections of Mother Superior, 1935-2009; papers relating to Mother Superior's travels, 1964-1984; register of novices, 1869-1996; register of novices leaving, 1889-1992; notes on novices, 1948-1998; Novitiate class book, 1907-1913; correspondence with novices, 19C, 1988-1992; Chamberess's memorandum books, 1890-1976; roll of Wardens, 1902-1996; books and pamphlets written by Canon Carter, 1834-1906; memorial to and in memoriam book for Canon Carter, 1873-1902; books and sermons on Canon Carter, 1901-1918; correspondence and papers of Canon Carter, 19C; papers relating to Wardens, 19-20C; visitation papers, 1942-2004; papers relating to the Visitor, 1871-2016; registers of Associates, 1873-1995; Rules and manuals for Associates, n.d. [c.1920s-1980s]; Letters to Associates, 1908-2003; register of Friends of Clewer, 1956-1992; Rule and manual for Oblates, n.d. [c.1960s-1980s]; letters to Oblates, 1959-2002; manuals of Guild of St John Baptist, 1870-1876; magazines, 1882-1907, 2009-2012; leaflets on the Community and its works, 1865-2000; printouts from website, 2002; registers of retreats, 1890-1996; register of persons attending Drop In Days, small-group retreats and Quiet Days, 1995-2010; seal matrix, n.d.; register of deeds and documents, 1908-1940; articles on the Community, c. 1883-1989; historical notes, 20C; descriptions of Sisters' travels, 1962-1989; report on joining the Community of Reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, 1981; photographs and slides, 20C-2002; oral history recording, n.d, [c.1980s].
HOUSE OF MERCY/ST JOHN'S TRAINING HOME, CLEWER: Council minutes, 1850-1946; Finance (and Building) Committee minutes, 1851-1947; annual reports, 1853/4-1953/4 (incomplete); statutes, 1853-1928; accounts, 1849-1868, 1942-1955; donation and subscription accounts, 1851-1872; annual statements, 1948/9, 1954/5; papers on building works, 1853-1898, 1927-1952, including correspondence with Henry Woodyer, 1853-1893; fire insurance policy, 1859; papers relating to charity endowments, 1954-1996; other financial papers, 1882-1954; letter book, 1850; domestic directions, 1849; housekeeping accounts, 1851-1859; admission records, 1849-1955; testimonies, c. 1850; religious examination books, 1849-1851; progress books, 1867-1870s, 1893-1918; case papers, 1948-1954; Penitential Rule, 1873; register of Magdalens, 1860-1946; papers relating to Magdalens, 1898-1954; deceased Magdalens' prayer roll, n.d.; Society of St John the Forerunner register, 1946-1980, Chapter minutes, 1952-1960, Rule, 1946, and other papers, 1946-1959; religious notes of Mariquita Tennant, 1835-1852; photograph of Mariquita Tennant, n.d. [c.1850s]; sermons of the Revd Robert Tennant, 1844; appeal leaflets, 1850-1857; rules for Sisters, 1851.
EMBROIDERY ROOM, CLEWER: order books, 1878-2006 (incomplete); accounts, 1950-1991; annual statements, 1962-1990/1; design for stole, 1900.
FARM RECORDS, CLEWER: farm accounts, 1884-1903, 1943-1951; poultry and egg records, 1940-1952; herd records, 1952-1956; register of calves, 1952-1956; abdtract of title of Farm Cottage, n.d [1950s]; photographs of livestock, n.d. [c.1930s].
ST ANDREW'S CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL, CLEWER: Council minutes, 1865-1950; (Building and) Finance committee minutes, 1865-1945; annual reports, 1868-1950 (incomplete); copy conveyance of site, 1863; statutes, 1867-1923; accounts, 1861-1863 (Invalid Home), 1933-1951; annual statements, 1942-1950 (incomplete); register of patients, Holy Cross Ward, 1936-1939; photographs, n.d. [c.1890s-1930s]; miscellaneous, 1865-1957.
ST ANDREW'S COTTAGE/LODGE, CLEWER: accounts, 1956-1957; annual statements, 1906, 1939-1993; statutes, 1893-1951; sketch plans, 1869; plans, 1980-1989; deeds, 1869; tenancy agreements, 1893-1951; rental, 1922-1954; correspondence, 1892-1926; leaflets, n.d. [c.1890s-1910s]; historical notes, n.d. [c.1980s]; St Andrew's Society miscellanea, n.c. [c.1890s]-1947; endowment fund trust deed, 1954; miscellaneous, 1869-20C.
ST ANDREW'S COTTAGES, CLEWER: deeds and plans, 1869; tenancy agreements, 1893-1951; rental, 1922-1954; statutes, 1893-1951; correspondence, 1892-1926; miscellaneous, 19-20C.
ST ANNE'S HOUSE (FORMERLY ST JOHN'S RETREAT OR GUEST HOUSE), CLEWER: trustees' minutes, 1987-2000; annual statements of accounts, 1939-2000; admission registers, 1932-1947, 1997-2000; case book, 1947-1967; plans, 1980; correspondence, 1987-2000; articles of association, 1987; inspection reports, 1992-2000; photographs, 1998-2000; miscellaneous, 1975-2000.
ST AUGUSTINE'S HOME FOR BOYS, CLEWER: admission registers, 1883-1895, 1906-1921; correspondence, 1886-1937; draft and copy deeds, 1887-1888; site plan, 1921; printed miscellanea, 1880s-1921; memoirs, n.d. [c.1890-1905]; photograph of boys and staff, 1889.
ST JOHN'S HOME FOR GIRLS, CLEWER: annual report, 1931; plans, 1857-1912; deed of part of site, 1976; miscellaneous property records, 1893-1894; admission registers, 1855-1931; licence for services, 1858; daily routine, c.1914-1916; printed miscellanea, 19-20C.
ST STEPHEN'S HIGH SCHOOL, CLEWER: Council minutes, 1924, 1930; annual statement of accounts, 1929; correspondence, 1917, 1924; school magazines, 1902-1934 (incomplete); Guild yearbooks, 1935-1972; Society of the Children of St Stephen magazines, 1895-1896; prospectuses, n.d. [c.1900s-1910s]; Inspector's report, 1931; copy tenancy agreement of boarding house, 1931; history, c.1973.
ST STEPHEN'S MISSION, CLEWER: appointment of new trustee of benefice, 1887; letter relating to endowment of benefice, 1872; correspondence relating to St Stephen's House, 1911-1937; reports, 1870-n.d. [1880s]; copy deed of National Schools, n.d.
WAFER BAKERY, CLEWER: accounts, 1950-1989; annual statements, 1940-1988/9 (incomplete); wafer sale accounts, 1983-1989.
NEALE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE: annual statements, 1964/5-1974/5; correspondence, 1959-1967.
DEVON HOUSE OF MERCY: admission registers, 1913-1939; annual report, 1881; press cutting, 1907.
ST BARNABAS', ST LUKE'S AND ST RAPHAEL'S HOMES, TORQUAY, DEVON: annual reports, 1944-1957; annual statements, 1939-1958/9 (incomplete); licences for divine service, 1866, 1868, 1903; property papers, 1891-1958; miscellaneous, 1867-1957.
ST MARY'S HOME/ST ALBAN'S AND CHELMSFORD DIOCESAN HOUSE OF MERCY, GREAT MAPLESTEAD, ESSEX: annual reports, 1881, 1890, 1925-1942; statutes, 1866-1930s; agreement for management by Community, 1929; admission register, 1924-1943; pentitents' maintenance accounts, 1942-1943; photographs, 1920s; miscellaneous, c.1880s-90s.
ST LUCY'S HOME, GLOUCESTER: summary accounts, 1920-1954; admission register, 1869-1927; correspondence, 1872-1876; photographs, 19-20C; miscellaneous, 1880-1906.
ST LUCY'S HOSPITAL AND SISTERHOOD, GLOUCESTER: Rule of St Lucy's Sisterhood, 1871; photograph of a ward, n.d. [19C].
ST JOHN'S HOUSE, BROADSTAIRS, KENT (LATER BOGNOR REGIS, SUSSEX): draft annual statements, 1950-1965 (incomplete); photographs, n.d. [c.1960s].
ST ANDREW'S CONVALESCENT HOME, FOLKESTONE, KENT: Council minutes, 1881-1940; committee minutes, 1881-1903; annual reports, 1875-1945; statutes, 1882-1933; accounts, 1882-1889, 1903, 1929-1946; subscription and donation accounts, 1933-1940; treasurer's correspondence, 1882-1903; papers relating to endowments, 1889-1955; register of baptisms, 1890-1940; notes on child patients, 1929; staff register, 1937-1940; orders of service for laying cornerstone and dedication of chapel, 1882-1890; property files, 1884-1948; photographs, 1920s-1930s; brochure, 1938.
LONDON DIOCESAN PENITENTIARY, HOUSE OF MERCY, HIGHGATE, LONDON: draft statutes, c.1855; agreement for management by Community, 1901; lease of Park House, 1855; property papers, 1870s-1913; admission registers, 1898-1940; miscellaneous, 1856, 1894-1993.
ST ALBAN'S MISSION, HOLBORN, MIDDLESEX: accounts, 1954-1955; draft annual statements, 1939-1953 (incomplete); parish magazines, 1888, 1915.
HOUSE OF CHARITY, SOHO: agreement relating to premises, 1883; miscellaneous, 1874.
ST JOHN BAPTIST MISSION, SOHO/THE PASTURES TRAINING HOME AND HOME OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, LEYTONSTONE, ESSEX: Council minutes, 1885-1940; annual reports, 1888-1940 (incomplete); fee accounts, 1919-1922; annual statement, 1930; plans, 1890-1940; property correspondence, 1901; insurance policy, 1914; admission registers, 1889-1924; applications for admission, c.1922-1942; transfer details, 1942; baptism and birth certificates, 1881-1938; correspondence on individual cases, 1888-1893, 1924-1942; photographs, 19C-1942; St Anne's Mission School log book, 1865-1871; history of Good Shepherd Home, 1886.
ST BARNABAS' ORPHANAGE, LONDON/CHISLEHURST, KENT: admission registers, 1855-1912; baptism certificates, 1868-1911; correspondence, 1868-1957; miscellaneous, 1917.
HOME FOR WORKING GIRLS, NELSON SQUARE, LONDON: Alice Newmarch Memorial Fund correspondence, 1945-1951.
ST JOHN BAPTIST'S HOME, NEWPORT, MONMOUTHSHIRE: annual reports, 1924-1935 (incomplete); annual statement, 1938/9; budget papers, 1938-1939; property papers, 1904-1907; admission register, 1913-1939; correspondence relating to admissions, 1922-1940; health register, 1934-1940; Occasional Papers, 1881-1930s; photographs, 20C.; miscellaneous, 1878-1907.
ST BASIL'S HOME, OXFORD: annual reports, 1907-1966 (incomplete); annual statements, 1907-1966 (incomplete); files of residents, 1936-1966; rules, 1890s; correspondence relating to sale, 1966.
OXFORD FEMALE PENITENTIARY AND HOUSE OF MERCY, HOLYWELL: annual report, 1881; admission register, 1929-1949; correspondence, 1948-1949; leaflet, 1935.
ALL SAINTS' HOME, HAWLEY, SURREY: admission register, 1920-1937; miscellaneous, 1930-1952.
ST MICHAEL'S HOME, LEAMINGTON SPA, WARWICKSHIRE: photographs, n.d. [c.1940s].
ST MARY'S HOME, SALISBURY, WILTSHIRE: annual statements of accounts, 1960-1970; property correspondence, 1963; historical notes, 1930s-1959; photograph, 1930- n.d. [c.1950s-1960s].
BARBADOS: correspondence, 1923-1946; photographs, 1926-n.d. [c.1938-1945]; miscellaneous, 1919-1926.
INDIA: Chapter minutes, 1935-1940; Province regulations, 1938; Pratt Memorial School, Calcutta: photographs, 1905-1934; St Michael's School, Darjeeling: correspondence, 1894-1945; history, n.d. [c.1960s], and photographs, 1926-1938; Zenana Mission, Calcutta: annual reports, 1895/6-1911/2, photographs, 1915-n.d. [c1930s], and history, n.d. [c.1910s]; correspondence on European Female Orphanage, Calcutta, 1887; correpondence on Presidency General Hospital, Calcutta, 1881-1950; correspondence on Eden Sanitariuam, Darjeeling, 1882-1890; papers relating to Medical College Hospital, Eden Hospital, Calcutta, 1909-1910; St Thomas's School, Kidderpore: correspondence, 1915-1939, 2007; registers of Sisters in India and Barbados, 1881-1946; rules for confessions, 1884; general correspondence, 1883-1944; photographs, n.d. [early 20C]-1939; financial proposals, n.d. [c.1934]; reminiscences of Sister Eudora, 20C; miscellaneous, 1909-1943.
AMERICAN AFFILIATION: copy Chapter minutes, 1876-1949, 1971-1998; constitutions, n.d. [c. 1881], 2004; correspondence, 1870-1884; photographs, 20C; history, 2002; miscellaneous, 1875-2007.
COMMUNITY OF REPARATION TO JESUS IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT: draft constitution and correspondence, 1991-1992; list of Sisters, c.1992-2006; tribute booklet, 2007.
MISCELLANEOUS: Windsor and Eton Waterworks Act, 1883; printed miscellanea relating to the Anglo-Catholic movement and other Sisterhoods, 1843-1945; appointment of trustees of St Stephen's School, Clewer, 1969.
Mothers Superior
Mother Harriet (Harriet Monsell) 1852-1875
Mother Ellen (Ellen Nixon) 1875-1881
Mother Jane Frances (Fanny Jane Callander) 1881-1889
Mother Betha (Elizabeth Pearson) 1889-1907
Mother Evelyn (Helen Evelyn Hylton-Jessop) 1907-1928
Mother Katharine Maud (Katharine Maud Skilbeck), 1928-1935
Mother Frances (Gertrude Frances Napier Sharpe) 1935-1939
Mother Dorothy Frances (Dorothy Frances Brown) 1939-1958
Mother Annys (Nancy Evered Burston) 1958-1978
Mother Edna Frances (Edna May Wilson) 1978-1992
Mother Jane Olive (Olive Stencil) 1992-2004
Leadership Team (Sister Mary Stephen, Sister Anne and Sister Ann Verena)
2004-2009
Sister Ann Verena (Sheila Taylor), Community Leader 2009-2013
Sister Jane Olive (Olive Stencil), Community Leader 2014-[2017]
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| Admin History | The Community of St John Baptist (known as CSJB) was established in Clewer in 1852 as an Anglican Religious Community for women, initially to run the House of Mercy established in Clewer in 1849 to rescue 'fallen women'. The House of Mercy was founded in 1849 by Mariquita Tennant, a Spanish-born widow living in Clewer, in her own home, under the supervision of the Revd Thomas Thelusson Carter, rector of Clewer, and a Mr Johnson, a tutor at Eton (and later Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College and Archdeacon of Westminster). Mrs Tennant's health failed, and the Sisterhood was formed to take over the House of Mercy under the leadership of Harriet Monsell (Mother Harriet). Mrs Monsell, another widow, took vows as a novice in 1851; her final vows and institution as Mother Superior were regarded as the official foundation of CSJB.
The Convent building and adjoining House of Mercy in Hatch Lane, Windsor, were built in the mid 1850s, and added to at various dates, c. 1872-1900. The restoration of 'fallen women' was the primary purpose of the Community, with other aims being education and training of orphans and other children, the care of the sick, and mission work at home and abroad. Works undertaken by the Community included Houses of Mercy in other parts of the country (mainly in southern England); orphanages and children's homes (the inmates of which were not all orphans); hospitals and convalescent homes; and mission work in new urban parishes.
The majority of Sisters comprised the First Order, most of whom were Choir Sisters with a few Lay Sisters. Choir Sisters served six months as a Postulant and two years as a Novice; Lay Sisters served four years as a Novice. They then had to be elected by a majority of the professed Choir Sisters, and made their profession (final vows) before the Visitor (the Bishop of Oxford). Their vows were taken for life, although they could withdraw from the Community if they wished. The Second Order renewed their vows every three years, and served as Postulant for three months and Novice for a year, before being elected and then professed by the Warden.
The Convent was governed by a Chapter of the professed Sisters from 1860. This dealt with branch work as well as the profession of novices, withdrawal of Sisters and disciplinary matters. It was subject to the Warden of the Community, a clergyman.
From 1874 the Chapter elected Consultative Council. In 1893 a Business Committee was established (consisting of the directors of the Land and Money Trust which managed the Community's property and finances) to deal with legal and property matters, including oversight of the works of the Community and the Community Fund (for maintenance of the Sisters). In 1948 the organisation of the Community was altered. The Council dealt with general business, including discipline and admission of Sisters, while the Finance Committee replaced the Business Committee and the Council of Finance.
The property of the Community was brought under a single General Trust Fund, of which seven Sisters were trustees, in 1889. The Land Trust was established in 1899 to hold the Community's real estate, and the Money Trust in 1898 to hold personal property, including real estate let to tenants. They were jointly incorporated as a limited company (the Land and Money Trust) in 1906. It appears to have been replaced by Clewer Trustee Ltd in 1953.
In 1980 the Sisters of the Community of Reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (CRJBS, or the Reparation Sisters) came to live at the convent in Clewer. They came under the care of the Warden and Mother Superior of CSJB in 1988; the last Sister died in 2006. In 1996 the Community also welcomed the Sisters of the Companions of Jesus the Good Shepherd to share the convent (see D/EX2398 for the records of the latter community).
In 2001 the Community sold the Convent and House of Mercy and moved to Begbroke Priory, Kidlington, Oxfordshire. A further move took place to a purpose-built convent building at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, in 2012. The Community was dissolved in 2020.
For a history of the Community, see Valerie Bonham, A Joyous Service: The Clewer Sisters & Their Work (Windsor 1989; revised and enlarged edition Cuddesdon 2012). For a more detailed study of the early years, see Valerie Bonham, A Place in Life: The Clewer House of Mercy, 1849-1883 (Windsor 1992). Copies are available in the BRO library.
Burials in the convent cemetery should be recorded in the Clewer parish registers.
Major works of the Community
Catalogue sections
1/12/1; 2 House of Mercy, Clewer: established 1849. Managed by Community from 1852, with oversight by Council of interested clergy and laymen. 1943 name changed to St John's Training Home. Closed 1954.
1/12/1; 4 St Andrew's Convalescent Hospital, Clewer: work began in a cottage, 1860. Hospital built 1865-1866. Run by its own Council and treasurer, under the Community's Council of Finance. Extended at various dates, 1874-1888. Closed 1939. Premises requisitioned by the Ministry of Health in 1940 and used form medical purposes until 1953. Charity formally wound up 1950. Premises sold in 1955.
1/12/1; 5 St Andrew's Cottage, Clewer: built c.1868 Almshouse for elderly ladies. Renamed St Andrew's Lodge, 1963. Closed 1983.
1/12/61; 26 St Anne’s House, Clewer: Initially used for retreats and short term stays, with some permanent guests, and gradually changed into a permanent residential home for old ladies and for women with severe learning difficulties. Founded as St John’s Retreat House in the premises of St John’s Home from 1932, but generally retained the name of St John’s Home. Renamed St John’s Guest House in 1945 to avoid confusion with St John’s Training Home (the former House of Mercy). During the war numbers of elderly residents increased, and it was registered as a home for the elderly in 1948. Renamed St Anne’s in 1960. Moved into the convent Infirmary in 1976 and the original premises were sold in 1981. It became the residential care home for elderly Sisters as well as accepting inmates from outside, and also provided respite care. From 1987 it was managed by an incorporated body of trustees. Closed in 2000.
23 St Augustine's Home for Boys, Clewer: 1885-1920.
1/12/61; 27 St John’s Home for Girls, Clewer: started in 1855 in cottages. Orphanage built in 1858. Took girls from respectable families from the age of 6, and occasionally younger. Until 1914 it had its own school for the younger girls; thereafter they attended St Stephen’s Church of England School, Clewer. Those over 14 were known as Industrial Girls and trained for domestic service, with the brightest training as teachers. Closed in 1932 and the premises became St John’s Retreat House (see under St Anne’s). Not to be confused with St John’s Training Home, a later name for the House of Mercy, St John's House, or St John's Lodge.
22 St John’s Lodge, Clewer: originally the Warden's house; demolished 1966 and replaced by a new house called St Augustine's.
1/12/5 St Michael's House, Clewer: established 1893 to board and train girls as teachers; later used to board young women teachers. 1894 moved to Clewer Road, 1901 to New Road, 1906 to 15 Gerald Villas, Vansittart Road (formerly St Stephen's Mission House).
1/12/1; D/EX1626 St Stephen's College, Clewer (later Folkestone, Kent): private boarding school for girls. Established 1874. Moved to Folkestone 1919. Closed 1991.
1/12/6; 6 St Stephen's High School, Clewer: private day and boarding school for girls, established 1882. Closed 1934. St Stephen's Guild (for Old Girls) continued.
1/12/1; 7 Wafer and Embroidery Rooms, Clewer: Church Embroidery Rooms established in Soho, London, 1869. Moved to Clewer 1927. Wafer Bakery closed 1989.
1/12/1; 8 Neale House, Cambridge: student mission and pastoral work, 1964-1976.
1/12/11; 9 Devon House of Mercy, Bovey Tracey: 1863-1940.
1/12/12 Mission House, Bovey Tracey, Devon: 1879-1922.
1/12/1; 10 Convalescent Homes, Torquay, Devon: St Raphael's (for women) established 1866; St Luke's (for men), 1883; St Barnabas' (for phthisis patients), 1892. All closed 1959.
1/12/15; 11 St Albans and Chelmsford Diocesan House of Mercy, St Mary's Home, Great Maplestead, Essex: established 1868. Managed by Coummunity 1891-1943.
1/12/16; 12 St Lucy's Home of Charity, Gloucester: children's home and penitentiary; daughter-house of Clewer. Established 1872. Closed 1934.
1/12/18; 34 St Lucy's Hospital for Poor Children, Kingsholm, Gloucestershire: children's hospital. Built in 1866-1867. Run by Community 1872-1939. Closed 1947.
1/12/17 Newark House, Hempsted, Gloucestershire: preventive home for girls. Run by Community, 1883-1912.
1/12/1; 14 St Andrew's Convalescent Home, Folkestone, Kent: established 1875, closed 1940. Building requisitioned, and sold in 1946.
1/12/20 St Eanswythe's Mission, Folkestone, Kent: 1882-1937.
1/12/1, 21 St Saviour's Mission, Folkestone, Kent: 1880-1945.
1/12/23; 15 London Diocesan Penitentiary, House of Mercy, Highgate: established 1853. Run by Community, 1901-1940.
1/12/47 All Hallows Mission, Blackfriars and Southwark, London: 1877-1930.
1/12/47 St Barnabas Mission, Pimlico, London: 1859-1933.
1/12/28; 18 St Barnabas Orphanage for Girls, Pimlico, London: established 1855. Run by Community from 1860. Closed 1913. Country branch established at Chislehurst, Kent, 1879.
1/12/27 Stonehouse House of Refuge, Pimlico, London: established 1853. Run by Community, 1869-1919.
1/12/29 House of Charity, Soho, London: emergency housing for unemployed and sick. Established 1846. Run by Community 1862-1940.
17 St John Baptist Mission House and St Anne's Mission School, Soho, London: training home for girls. Established 1861. Moved to take over Home of the Good Shepherd and the Pastures Training Home, Leytonstone, Essex, 1899. Evacuated to Kettering, Leicestershire, 1940. Closed 1942. Premises sold 1948.
1/12/25 Home for Working Girls, Southwark: hostel for girls in low paid employment. Established 1884. Closed 1923.
1/12/1, 26, 31; 16 St Alban's Mission, Holborn, Middlesex: 1869-1955. 19 St John Baptist's Home, Newport, Monmouthshire: children's home for neglected and abused children. Established 1885 as The Children's Refuge. Closed 1940.
1/12/34 St John Baptist High School, Newport, Monmouthshire: private school for girls, 1901-1939.
1/12/33 St John's Mission, Newport, Monmouthshire: 1876-1940.
1/12/1, 36-37; 21 Oxford Diocesan Penitentiary, St Mary's Home, Littlemore (formerly at Holywell), Oxfordshire: taken over by Community 1860. Moved to Littlemore, 1929.
1/12/1; 20 St Basil's Home For Aged Women, Oxford: established 1891. Run by Magdalens from Oxford Penitentiary. Closed 1966.
1/12/35 Mission House of SS Mary and John, Cowley, Oxford: 1891-1937.
1/12/38 St Anne's School, Baltonsborough, Somerset: private school for girls. Run by Community 1882-1894. Sold 1895.
1/12/1, 39; 22 All Saints Home, Hawley, Surrey: established 1881 as country branch of work in Soho. Later operated independently as home for girls. 1937 changed to become guesthouse for elderly ladies. Closed 1954.
1/12/44; 36 St Michael's Home (Diocesan House of Mercy), Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: established 1855. Run by Community from 1884. For girls aged 14-17. Closed 1950.
1/12/1, 45 St Mary's Home (House of Mercy), Salisbury, Wiltshire: established 1831. Run by Community 1889-1947.
1/12/1, 44 St Michael's Home (Worcester House of Mercy), Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: established 1858. Run by Community 1884-1950.
33 Barbados: Work started in 1926 and ceased in 1946. It consisted of parish work and assisting at the Cathedral and at Summerville Girls' Reformatory, with a small Refuge opened in c. 1935.
31 India: Work started in 1881 with training nurses at the Presidency General Hospital and running the Lady Canning Home for Nurses in Calcutta; they withdrew from this work in 1928. They ran the Medical College Hospital and, Eden Hospital, 1883-1910, all in Calcutta, and Eden Sanatorium, Darjeeling, 1883-1923. They gradually withdrew from the medical work between 1910 and 1928. They taught at Pratt Memorial School, Calcutta, a co-educational private school principally for Anglo-Indians with approximately 10% Indians, 1882-1940; the European Orphanage Asylum, from 1886; St Michael's Diocesan School for Domiciled Europeans and Anglo-Indians in Darjeeling, 1894-1948; St Thomas's School, Kidderpore (a suburb of Calcutta), for girls of mixed Indian and European ancestry, 1919-1939; and St Peter's School, Baruipur, 1928-1934. In 1891 they took over the Zenana Mission, associated with the Diocese of Calcutta, which included Milman Memorial School, the Lower or Vernacular School for Bengali Christian girls (later St Elizabeth's Middle English School), the Diocesan Mission High School (started in 1894) and the Diocesan College (later part of Calcutta University), 1891-1935. A separate Province of the Community in India existed from 1939, but the Sisters left India in 1946.
32 United States of America: Work started 1874 in New York as a branch of Clewer. In 1881 it became an Affiliated House of the Community, managing most of its affairs independently, with its own Chapter, Mother Superior and Warden. In the early 20th century the American Community moved to a new convent in New Jersey. Work undertaken included the convent, a girls' school, St Anna's Home for Wayward Girls and St Marguerite's Home for Children, all at Ralston, Mendham, New Jersey; mission work in the parish of Holy Cross, New York City; St Michael's Home for Wayward Girls and St Andrew's Convalescent Hospital, New York; and St Helen's Hall, a school in Portland, Oregon (closed c. 1942). |