Society of Saint Margaret

The Sisters of St Margaret were founded in 1855 by the Reverend John Mason Neale at Rotherfield, England.

As their numbers increased, they moved first to Church Lane, next to Sackville College (where Neale was Warden), with a chapel designed by George Frederick Bodley.

The range of buildings was completed in phases, with the chapel's foundation stone laid in 1879, being opened, along with the infirmary, on 26 July 1883.

In the UK, the Society opened a home for "delicate children" in Ventnor, Isle of Wight in 1879, a nursing home at 29 North Side, Clapham Common (known as the Hostel of God[5]) in 1896 (the building now part of Royal Trinity Hospice, Clapham), and a daughter convent at Chiswick in 1910 (see SSM Chiswick below).

Independent convents of the society were established in Aberdeen (1863) and Haggerston (1866), with the Priory of Our Lady, Walsingham opening in 1955.

[2] The 66 staff were made up of: 42 "Sisters of Mercy", four "Teachers in St Agnes School", 10 servants, and a chaplain, Laughton Alison;[6] the remaining inhabitants were the gardener's family and a few visitors.

[2] The rapid growth of the order led to the development of a series of autonomous convents and priories within the SSM, originally under the direction of the Founder.

This house has outreach ministries to schools, prisons, homeless shelters, and a number of local parish churches.

The sisters were historically based in their convent in Boston, Massachusetts, whilst Duxbury was a dependent priory.

However, following re-organisation, St Margaret's Convent on Highland Park Street, Roxbury, Boston, was vacated and made available for sale.

[7] In 2012 the property, including William Lloyd Garrison House, was purchased by Emmanuel College, which operates its Notre Dame campus there.

Its chapel has a small square tower with a weather vane atop a slender conical spire; inside the chapel is a classical reredos, ceiling paintings by George Ostrehan, and a tapestry panel by Morris & Co.[14] The convent and hospital is Grade II listed.

[23] The Episcopal Church in Gallowgate, Aberdeen, retains its dedication to Saint Margaret of Scotland and celebrates its historical ties to a convent of the order.

In 2006, as there was only one sister remaining, the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney resolved to sell the convent buildings and the adjacent diocesan office which had for some time been unsuitable for purpose.

[25] Sister Columba, who had moved to a local nursing home in autumn 2022, died on Holy Saturday (8 April) 2023, aged 96.