Preston Papers

This interesting letter is a vital record of the work of the SHCJ in Preston during the 19th century when Cornelia Connelly was superior of the Society. It lists both the sisters who were in the Preston community at this time and also their ministries, including the Parish schools where most of the Preston sisters taught. Given that Mother Lucy would eventually leave the SHCJ after the confusion and dispute over the Society's Rule, it is also a poignant reminder of what Cornelia and Lucy achieved together despite their differences in later years.   

This manuscript account of the Parish Schools taken on by the SHCJ community in Preston. These brief notes were probably written from living memory in an attempt to provide a record for the important work done, teaching the young children of Preston and training older girls as Pupil Teachers. 

These annals give a flavour of life at the Holy Child Convent and school of Winckley Square, Preston. They describe everything from Hockey matches with the local Park School (followed by tea and dancing) and between the fifth form and the student teachers to sermons given in the school chapel and the nuns' departure to Ladyewell, a house in the nearby countryside where the sisters went on retreat. From the annals we can learn both about the development of Winckley Square as an individual school and get an impression of education and the training of teachers in the Edwardian age. 

Mother Philomena's notes regarding her time as a superior in Preston and spanning the years 1882 to 1906, give a wonderfully detailed list of dates and events. She explains which SHCJ sisters arrived in Preston to take on specific teaching posts and ministries. There are few documents relating to the 1880s to 1900s which give such specific details about the work taken on by individual sisters and so these reminiscences are a valuable record.

This interesting account of how the school shelters were first planned and arranged was found after a research request made regarding the shelters as part of a Preston local history project. Alongside the logistics of building somewhere safe for Winckley Square pupils to go, a later entry describes the pressure on local schools during this difficult time to find ways to continue educating children whose lives were already being disrupted by the War. 

Property agreements with their attached plans - like this 1950 agreement regarding Winckley Square School - allow us a snapshot of the layout and use of the school for a particular period.