A brief history of our mission in England.
Our mission in England began at the end of the XIX Century. The Sisters came to England at the invitation of the Cardinal Vaughan, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, who was anxious to do something for the abounded Polish immigrants in Despite her sickness Mother Foundress herself made her first visit to England in 1893. She found immigrant children who were baptised but knew nothing of their faith. She found many sick people dying in utmost poverty and with no one to offer a word of consolation in their native language.
The first Nazareth house was established in London in 1895 at 313 Mille End Road. In 1902 the Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster invited sisters to Enfield to help with work in the Parish in Ponders End and to found a school.
In 1907 the Community moved closer to the present location. Both before the war and after Sisters were running schools –started with a private, small one, which eventually evolved in a big complex, known as a Holy Family College. In 1940 part the Sisters’ convent was bombed and they had to build a new one, which was accomplished in 1955 and exist till today.
In the meantime the Enfield Sisters purchased Pitsford Hall, North of London, near Northampton for the convent and school for the Polish children– the victims of War. 13 Sisters from Africa entered Great Britain in 1945 and began their ministry, which lasted till June 1984. Majority of Polish Sisters moved from Pitsford to Northampton when the school was closed.
In 1957 the houses in England became a separate Holy Family Province.
In later Seventies of the XX century the convents England became part of Generalate Region.
In 2003 two houses in Great Britain became part of Jesus the Good Shepherd Province. In late ninetieth the Holy Family College in Enfield was handed over to the Westminster Diocese and became the present St. Anne’s School. The Sisters were more engaged in the Parish ministry and continued to run a private preschool.
In 2011 a new Parish of the Polish Mission for Northern London was established in the Holy Family Convent in Enfield .
In 2013 the house in Northampton ceased to exist. The remaining Community, comprising of 4 Sisters, moved to Enfield and became a part of the Enfield community, known as Holy Family Convent.
Today the local Community in Enfield is the largest in the Province and the oldest one at the same time. Apart from 16 permanently living Sisters in Enfield, the Community is the home for one Sister preparing herself for Ghana. It also boasts the true international composition. The Sisters represent four nationalities and cultures: Irish, English, American and Polish, five of which left the country as children or teenagers.
