The London Diocesan Sisters’ Council was composed of elected or appointed Sisters from each community represented in the Diocese. Meetings for the Sisters’ Council were presided over by an Executive Committee comprised of a president, vice-president, corresponding secretary, treasurer, and recording secretary. This committee met prior to each Council meeting to prepare an agenda for each meeting. The Sisters’ Council elected two members per year to be members on the Board of Governors of the Diocesan Council. These religious communities, in 1975, included the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of the Holy Names, the Society of the Sacred Heart, the Ursulines of Chatham, the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Polish Ursuline Sisters, the Sisters of the Holy Family, the Felician Sisters, the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa, the Misericordia Sisters, the Ursuline Sisters of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood, and the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate. The Sisters’ Council strived to assume a more effective role in the Church’s ministry by studying the true meaning and focus of religious life, to establish a means of open communication with one another and the church, to be informed about the Apostolic needs of the diocese and to cooperate with priests and lay deaneries, and to stimulate a concern for contemporary issues. The Sisters’ Council accomplished this by meeting three times a year, writing committee reports and constitutions, keeping in touch with priests and lay deaneries as well as by keeping the community informed with regular newsletters and events.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Diocese of London, in Ontario was first incorporated on February 15, 1891 under chapter 92 of the Statutes of Ontario, 1870-1.
On December 11, 1868, at the request of Bishop John Walsh, five Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto arrived in London, Ontario. Mother Teresa Brennan, Sister Ignatia Campbell, Sister Ursula McGuire, Sister Francis O’Malley and Sister Appolonia Nolan were accompanied by Reverend Mother Antoinette McDonald and were welcomed by Bishop Walsh, Rev. J.M. Bruyere, V.G., and Rev. P. Egan, pastor of St. Peter’s Church. Awaiting the Sisters were sleighs that transported them from the train station to a temporary home at 170 Kent Street.
In accordance with their mission in London, three Sisters began teaching at St. Peter’s School in January, 1869. After classes, they visited the sick, the poor and the imprisoned. They were also mandated to open an orphanage in the future. In order to accomplish these tasks, more Sisters and larger facilities were necessary.
On October 2, 1869, the Barker House at the corner of Richmond and College Street in North London was purchased and the Sisters moved there from Kent Street. The building was named Mount Hope, and it became the first Motherhouse of the Sisters, eventually housing the elderly, orphans, Sisters and novices.
On December 18, 1870, the Sisters of St. Joseph became an autonomous congregation in the London diocese, independent of the Toronto congregation. Sister Ignatia Campbell was appointed Superior General, an office she held until 1902. On February 15, 1871, the congregation became legally incorporated.
On October 7, 1877, an addition was made to Mount Hope. This building stood until it was demolished on August 3, 1980, surrounded by the growing healthcare institutions founded by the Sisters, beginning with St. Joseph’s Hospital which opened at 268 Grosvenor Street on October 15, 1888, and followed by the opening of St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1895, and the construction of a new nursing school building in 1927, which saw its last graduation in 1977. On May 1, 1951, St. Mary’s Hospital was opened, followed by Marian Villa on January 12, 1966. In 1985, the hospital complex was renamed St. Joseph’s Health Centre, and ownership was transferred in 1993 to St. Joseph’s Health Care Society.
But it was not only in London that Sisters saw the need for healthcare and nursing education. On October 15, 1890, they opened St. Joseph’s Hospital on Centre Street in Chatham, Ontario, which remained under their control until 1993. In 1895, they opened St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing, which saw its last graduation in 1970. On October 18, 1946, they opened St. Jospeh’s Hospital at 290 North Russell Street in Sarnia which remained under their control until 1993. In Alberta, they administered St. Joseph’s Hospital in Stettler (1926), St. Joseph’s Hospital in Galahad (1927), the General Hospital in Killam (1930), and St. Paul’s Hospital in Rimbey (1932).
On April 10, 1899, the Sisters opened Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse, Novitiate and Orphanage at the former Hellmuth College at 1486 Richmond Street North in London. The orphans were moved to this new location from Mount Hope, which remained a home for the elderly and was renamed House of Providence on June 3, 1899. The orphanage remained at Mount St. Joseph until it was moved to Fontbonne Hall in 1953 (to 1967). The original Hellmuth College building was demolished in 1976.
Later, on September 14, 1914, the Motherhouse and Novitiate moved to Sacred Heart Convent at Colborne and Dundas Streets in London, with the orphans remaining at Mount St. Joseph. The Sisters lived at Sacred Heart Convent until 1953, when they moved back to the newly built Mount St. Joseph, on the original location of the former Hellmuth College. The new Motherhouse and Novitiate was officially opened on June 29, 1954. It was here that they continued a private girls’ school which had begun in 1950 at Sacred Heart Convent, and was now known as Mount St. Joseph Academy (to 1985). It was here too that they continued a music school which had also begun at Sacred Heart Convent and was now called St. Joseph’s School of Music (to 1982). The Médaille Retreat Centre began here in 1992, and the Sisters also administered a Guest Wing for relatives of hospitalized patients (to 2005). The Sisters departed Mount St. Joseph for their new residence, a green building at 485 Windermere Road in London, in 2007.
On September 4, 1873, St. Joseph’s Convent opened at 131 North Street in Goderich, Ontario, followed by other convents in Ontario, including Ingersoll (1879), St. Thomas (1879), Belle River (1889), Windsor (1894), Sarnia (1906), Kingsbridge (1911), Seaforth (1913), St. Mary’s (1913), Woodstock (1913), Kinkora (1916), Paincourt (1923), Maidstone (1930), Leamington (1932), Delhi (1938), Tillsonburg (1938), Simcoe (1938), Langton (1939), West Lorne (1957), and Zurich (1963)
The Sisters also opened missions in other parts of Canada, including in Alberta: Edmonton (1922), Wetaskiwin (1929), St. Bride’s (1934); and in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Yellowknife (1953), and in British Columbia in Haney, now Maple Ridge (1956), and Rutland (1970). Branching even further afield, Convento San Jose was opened in Chiclayo, Peru in 1962.
Over the years, as well as their service as teachers in the separate school system, as music teachers, as healthcare workers, as nursing educators, in providing care to orphans, and in providing parish ministry, pastoral care, and administering spiritual retreats, the Sisters were also involved in social service ministry. In Windsor, they opened the Roy J. Bondy Centre on September 13, 1970 which was a receiving home for the Children’s Aid Society, withdrawing in 1982 but continuing to provide residential care for disabled children afterward. In London, they opened Internos, a residence for teenage girls attending school and later for troubled teens (to 1979). This was followed by the opening of St. Joseph’s Detoxification Centre on September 13, 1973 (to 2005) and St. Stephen’s House, an alcoholic recovery centre on February 1, 1982 (to 2000). Loughlin House in London opened as a residence for ex-psychiatric female patients in 1986 (to 1989), followed by the Home for Women in Need at 534 Queens Avenue in 1979 (to 2004). Later, St. Josephs’ House for Refugees was opened in 1987 (to 2005), followed by St. Joseph’s Hospitality Centre, a food security program, on February 2, 1983.
On November 22, 2012, the congregation amalgamated with those in Hamilton, Peterborough, and Pembroke into one charitable corporation under the name Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Act, a Private Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario which received Royal Assent on June 13, 2013.
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Title is based on the contents of the series.
This series consists of committee reports by the Religious Education Program’s committees, of constitutions for the Sisters’ Council, of correspondence to and from the Sisters’ Council, of two newsclippings, and one agenda with hymns and prayers, and correspondence related to the Diocese of London’s 150th anniversary, of the treasurer’s report presented to the Sisters’ Council, of a study on the use of Chapels of Reservation, of membership lists for the Sisters’ Council, of newsletters created by the Council as well as by the Sisters’ Committee of the Essex Deanery, of questionnaires and correspondence related to the planning of the Study Days planned by the Sisters’ Council, and of the minutes, agendas, and surveys and questionnaires to aid event planning during the Sisters’ Council’s meetings.
The records were transferred from the Congregation to the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada - London site archives.
No further accruals are expected.
May 22, 2023
The records are located at The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives.
The Archives reserves the right to restrict access to the collection depending on the condition of the archival material, the amount of material requested, and the purpose of the research. The use of certain materials may also be restricted for reasons of privacy or sensitivity, or under a donor agreement. Access restrictions will be applied equally to all researchers and reviewed periodically. No researcher will be given access to any materials that contain a personal information bank such as donor agreements or personnel records, or to other proprietary information such as appraisals, insurance valuations, or condition reports.
Permission to study archival records does not extend to publication or display rights. The researcher must request this permission in writing from the Archives.
There is a series and file list.
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The subseries consists of two reports by the Religious Education Program’s committees outlining the objectives of each committee, areas of work, outlining tasks to be completed, long-term goals, and recommendations. The Religious Education Program’s committees were: the Committee on Catholic Children in Public Elementary School, the Committee for the Preparation of Teachers for Catholic Elementary, the Committee on Adult Education, the Committee on Catholic Children in Public High Schools, and the Committee on Catholic Children in Catholic High Schools.
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The subseries consists of constitutions for the Sisters’ Council, notes on discussions about revisions to constitutions, and correspondence regarding the Ad Hoc Committee studying the constitutions, committee membership, as well as correspondence seeking feedback from members about changes to constitution.
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The subseries consists of correspondence to and from the Sisters’ Council concerning donations, descriptions of local causes, the initial funding to form the Council, and other correspondence related to the Council’s work. The subseries also includes one newsclipping describing the Council’s work.
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The subseries consists of two newsclippings, and one agenda with hymns and prayers, along with correspondence relating to the celebration of the Diocese of London’s 150th anniversary.
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The subseries consists of treasurer’s reports presented to the Sisters’ Council, detailing account balances, expenditures, and disbursements.
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The subseries consists of one copy of the “Study on Chapels of Reservation in Smaller Religious Houses” authored by the Sisters’ Council. There is also one letter in the subseries which states that a copy of the study is attached and that this study was used by Father O’Brien in his presentation to the Superiors. The study concludes with approval for the erection of chapels of reservation. Mount St. Joseph in London, St. Clare’s Parish of Windsor and Holy Name Parish of North Bay are acknowledged in this study.
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The subseries consists of advertisements for workshops, a program for the visit of the Archbishop of Detroit, notices for meetings, agendas, minutes, a morning prayer book from 1972, programs for events, membership lists, a constitution and correspondence confirming registration for workshops and to announce events. The subseries also consists of an article about the House of Sophrosyne which was a residential treatment centre and detoxification unit for alcoholic women in the Windsor and Essex County area. There is also an article describing the Council celebration of 1980 held for for the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Religious Conference. The subseries also contains reports at the request of Bishop Carter on surveys and discussions carried on by the Sisters’ Council and the Priests’ Senate.
The records are arranged in chronological order.
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The subseries consists of a list of representatives present at a meeting of the London Diocese Sisters’ Council, memberships lists of 1972-1982, and correspondence concerning council members from 1969-1973. It also consists of the “Directory of Communities of Religious Women of the Diocese of London” produced by the Sisters’ Council in 1975. There are nomination forms for the executive positions of the Sisters’ Council and results from the 1972 nominations. There is also a list of members eligible for election to the Executive Committee and of new members accepting their position on the Council.
The records are arranged in chronological order.
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The subseries consists of the Sisters’ Council report for the community newsletter written in 1974, as well as newsletters by the Sisters’ Council from 1970-1974. There is a report of the Board of Governors of the Diocesan Council meeting in March 1974, a list of members of the Executive Committee of the Sisters’ Council of 1971-1972, and a membership list for the Sisters’ Council. There is also the first newsletter published by the Sisters’ Committee of the Essex Deanery in January 1966.
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The subseries consists of a brochure on the Archdiocese of Detroit’s accomplishments for 1967. There are also newspaper clippings about Bishop Breitenbeck and the Archdiocese of Detroit. There is correspondence from Bishop Breitenbeck to the Sisters about the Study Days of 1968, which was an occasion for the Sisters to ask questions, to hear about topics that interest them, and to discuss ways to improve community living, as a result of the surveys and questionnaires they were asked to complete. This correspondence includes survey results, a questionnaire, and the results of ballot voting. There is also the schedule for the Study Days.
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