The convent was founded in November 1731 by the order of Mère Jeanne Lestonnac from Bordeaux in France: the order had connections to the Jesuits, and the members in the colony were referred to as jesuitine.
The convent had an obligation to give refuge to every female in need, usually separated and divorced women.
The convent also housed the only confirmed school for girls in the colony, which offered reading, writing and arithmetic.
In accordance with the wishes of the abbess Marie de Cambolas (1697-1757), it accepted students of all races.
The convent was likely destroyed during the Pillage of Cap-Français in 20-26 June 1793, when most of the city was burnt and the white population took refuge in the ships of the harbour and departed with them.