Description
Book SynopsisThe life of a Victorian religious community, both within the privacy of the convent and in its work in the wider world, including front-line nursing.This book introduces readers to the life of a Victorian religious community, both within the privacy of the convent and in its work in the wider world, based on documents preserved by the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor.It begins by using the memoirs of first-generation members of the community, a colourful and human introduction to the Anglican 're-invention' of monastic life in the second half of the nineteenth century. The section on government includes the power struggles between the sisters and the religious establishment, and the community's determination to retain its identity after the death of the mother foundress. The sisters nursed with the newly-formed Red Cross in the Franco-Prussian War, work recorded in a diary which discusses the difficulties and dangers of Victorian front-line nursing. Most of all, the documents reveal the challenges and excitement of the struggle to establish awomen's community, to be unfettered in their work with the poor and suffering, and to govern themselves, in a world dominated by men largely hostile to their aspirations. SUSAN MUMM is lecturer in religious studies at the OpenUniversity, Milton Keynes.
Trade ReviewTheir early legacy [captures] the reader's imagination and, by Mumm's well-selected archival study, makes an invaluable contribution to women's religious history. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW A valuable addition to the volumes of the Church of England Record Society.... It aims to give 'a snapshot of one of the earliest and most important Anglican communities' in its formative years, and does it very well. * JNL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. *
Table of ContentsPart 1 Recollections of the society's early years: Memories of Sister Caroline Mary; memories of church life; memories of an old woman. Part 2 Government: The rules of 1855 and 1859; the statutes; chapter; letters on vows. Part 3 Life and training: Rules of the mistress of novices; notes on the novices' rules and regulations; rules for visitors and outer sisters. Part 4 Work: the Franco-Prussian War diary.
