‘A Joyous Service: The Clewer Sisters and Their Work’ by Valerie Bonham

– A book Review by the WLHG

Published in Windlesora 08 (1989)

© WLHG

This is the first of a trilogy of books describing the history and work of the Community of St John Baptist (the Clewer Sisters). The second volume will give a detailed account of the work of Mariquita Tennant and Harriet Monsell, the founders of the rescue work and the Community in the last century; and the third will be devoted to the work of the Community in India.

The first book covers the general history, starting in the early part of the nineteenth century when Mariquita Tennant began the work of rescuing ‘fallen women’ in her own home in Clewer, which led to the foundation of the Clewer House of Mercy. The author follows the fortunes of the House and subsequent foundation of the Community of St John Baptist; its work, both in this country and overseas in America, India and Barbados, up to the present day. She guides the reader through all the many changes which the Community has made during its long life to meet the changing needs of the society in which it is established. Two major Wars brought many changes both in the work done by the Sisters and in the numbers of vocations. In the early days rescue work, care of orphans and the sick, the foundation of schools for girls as well as parish work were the main concerns of the Community. Valerie Bonham has done an excellent job in piecing together all the multiple strands which went to make up the sum of the work undertaken by the Community in those early years. She draws a vivid picture of the House of Mercy with the women and girls working long hours in the laundry and being trained for the only job open to them in those days, namely domestic service. The work of the Sisters was of immense value in the last century when so little was done for the ‘outcasts of society’. Their work overseas, particularly that accomplished in India, is only briefly dealt with here but will be the subject of the final volume in the trilogy.

After the second World War much of the work done by the Sisters was taken over by the Welfare State, and the last chapters of the book show how the Community has adapted itself to play its role in the Church today, so that its life and work are seen as as relevant today as when it was founded.

Because of the need to deal with so much material concerning the homes, orphanages, hospitals, schools, etc. in the U.K. and overseas with which the Sisters were concerned, it is not always easy trying to follow through the fortunes of each. However, the author has dealt with what must have been an enormous amount of material with skill and understanding. The Convent in Hatch Lane has contributed much to the life of Windsor and this book is a fitting tribute to its work.

BONHAM, Valerie A Joyous Service: The Clewer Sisters & Their Work, Valerie Bonham/CSJB 1989. Paperback £7.95 155pp ISBN 09508710 1 X

Elizabeth H. Cuthbert