Sr Eliza

Unlike many of our Sisters, Sr Eliza came from a local family. Originally from Bungay, her parents were living in Ditchingham by the time she was born in 1856, and it is here she was brought up. In 1851 Abraham Bull (born Bungay) and his wife Harriet (born Beccles), were living at Factory Cottages, Ditchingham, with their six children: Abraham (age 14), Sarah Ann (age 12?) and Eliza (age 10), all of whom were born in Bungay, and Mary Ann (age 3), Edward (age 2) and Charles (age 0), all born in Ditchingham. They also have 2 lodgers, so it must have been a crowded household. Abraham was a bricklayer. It was a couple of years later, in 1853, that Eliza died, after her clothes caught fire while she was dusting. While the fire was extinguished, she was too severely injured to survive. Sadly, the account of the inquest into her death says that another child had also been severely burnt a few weeks before, and was still ill; I do not know the outcome of this.

In 1860, the baptism took place of Mary Ann Eliza Bull and Mary Ann Jane Bull, both daughters of Abraham and Harriet. The 1861 census shows them to be aged 3 and 2; the picture that year is very different from that in 1851. Living ‘near factory’ in Ditchingham, Harriet is a widow, working as a silk weaver (in the nearby factory, I assume); Abraham had died earlier that year.  With her are five children: Edward, Charles, Robert, Eliza and Mary Ann. Apart from the older Eliza, I have not traced the other children in the 1851 census. It seems that Harriet’s wages were the only ones supporting the family (although I have not noted the occupations of the children, but I think none were old enough to work). By 1871, Harriet, still a silk weaver, is living on Norwich Road, Ditchingham (which may or may not be the cottages near the factory); with her are Edward (bookmaker), Robert (bricklayer’s labourer), Eliza (silk weaver) and Mary Ann (still at school). Sadly, an Edward Bull died in 1873; he would have been about the correct age for Eliza’s brother. By 1881, still on Norwich Road, Harriet is no longer working, but her daughter (Eliza J) is with her working as a silk weaver. Who exactly Eliza J was, I’m not sure; none of the children have that name with that initial. It may be a mistake on the census, and unfortunately I did not note that age of this Eliza, whom I suspect is Mary Ann Eliza.

By 1891, Harriet has left Ditchingham and is living with her daughter and son-in-law near Loddon; which daughter I frustratingly did not note. At the time, my focus was on Eliza, who by 1891 had not joined the Community of All Hallows. She is working as Matron at the Lodge of the Good Shepherd in Ipswich, under a Lady Superintendent, Anna Jeffes. Both Eliza and Anna are registered as married, but neither appear to be, from other documents I have traced. I am fairly sure that Eliza Bull is our Eliza; she is the correct age, and was born in Ditchingham. But how did she move from silk weaver in Ditchingham to the Lodge in Ipswich? In 1868, the Community formed the Guild of St Agnes for children and young women; part of this was to work with those who worked at the factory, silk weavers like the Bull family, to teach them the Christian faith, and encourage them. We do not have a list of members, so I cannot prove this, but I wonder if Eliza was a member? If this was her first contact with the Community? Was it this contact which led her to the Lodge of the Good Shepherd?

Opened in November 1888, the Lodge was a refuge for girls whose lives had gone astray; given the date of opening I am wondering if Anna Jeffes and Eliza Bull started work then. In 1891, Annie Gregory is also working there as Laundress, and there are three inmates, aged between 14 and 21. Another refuge, St Saviour’s Lodge, was opened in Ipswich in 1893; whether due to this, or other reasons, the Lodge of the Good Shepherd closed in 1895, with the work transferred to St Saviour’s. It is now that the picture gets a little confusing. Professed as a lay Sister in the Community of All Hallows in 1900, her clothing should have been about 4 years before. We do not have the records for Clothings, but the death records of Sisters state their ‘years in religion’, dating from their Clothing. Sr Eliza died in 1942, having been in religion 43 years. This seems unlikely, as it would give her a Noviciate of around a year, less than for choir Sisters. Have we got the information wrong? Or is there another explanation? When the Lodge of the Good Shepherd closed, did Eliza transfer to St Saviour’s Lodge? Had some time spent working alongside the Sisters there formed her, so that her actual Noviciate was shorter than normal? Any of these explanations could be possible.

What is fact is that she was professed on St Thomas Day in 1900, and by 1901 was working at St Augustine’s Lodge, in Norwich, which did similar work to the Lodge of the Good Shepherd. Sr Eliza was to spend the majority of her life in Community at St Augustine’s: she is there in 1901, 1911, 1921 and 1939. Each time, she is with a different group of Sisters; it was Sr Eliza who maintained the continuity. How easy this was, I do not know. The girls and women who came to St Augustine’s were never there for long; it was a half-way house before they moved onto another institution, normally for 2 years. They spent only weeks or months at St Augustine’s. Nevertheless, it was Sr Eliza who would have known the history and workings of the lodge, and it was Sr Eliza whom past inmates would have known if they visited. Exactly what work she did there is not stated, although it might be possible that I will find more in our archives. She would not have been Sister-in-Charge, as that was reserved for a choir Sister; nevertheless, I wonder if she took on more responsibility than a lay Sister might have at Ditchingham. She was usually one of only two of three Sisters working there.

What strikes me about Sr Eliza is her commitment to one type of work, and that not an easy one. Throughout all the changes, and there must have been many between 1900 and 1939, she stayed steadfast, working with whichever Sister was with her. We do not know how many girls she helped throughout her time there, but her presence must have provided a stability that was much needed.

Unknown lay Sister, 1892