Sr Ellen Faith

Finding the background of our Sisters can be complicated, and this is especially true for our Third Order, for whom we do not have a record of surnames. Established for those women who had been at the House of Mercy and wished to dedicate their lives to God through the Community, each Third Order Sister took ‘Faith’ as their second name. Thankfully, most used their birth names, and they appear in the census, which means I have managed to identify them. Sr Ellen Faith is first found at Ditchingham in the 1891 Census, where she is living in Holy Cross House, which was built for the Third Order, and is registered as Ellen George, aged 26, born in Norwich; in 1901, she was working at the Norwich Mission House, age 37, the only Third Order Sister there. By 1911, aged 48, she is at the Community House, with several other Third Order Sisters. By 1921, aged 58, she is at the House of Mercy, and it is this census that proved most helpful. Not only did it state that she was doing laundry work with the House of Mercy girls, under Sr Margaret Elizabeth, but it also gave her full name: Ellen Lusher George. This was to prove crucial in finding her background.

The Third Order was very much of its’ time, and was always fairly small, and the last Third Order Sisters died in the 1950s. Whether they had all been at the Ditchingham House of Mercy, or whether some had been at similar institutions elsewhere, I am not certain. I cannot find them all in the House of Mercy registers. However, I did find two entries for Ellen George. The first says that she entered on August 10^th 1880, aged 18, having spent two months in the refuge [St Augustine’s Lodge, in Norwich]. Her mother was alive, and she had been confirmed. A later entry has Ellen George entering on December 28^th 1884; there is no age and no comments are made. The words ‘3^d O’ are written there in blue pencil, implying that this Ellen George is the one that entered the Third Order. Do the two entries refer to the same person, or were they different? It is complicated by the fact that Sr Ellen Faith would not have been 18 in 1880. There also seems to be no reference to her in the 1881 census for the House of Mercy; girls normally stayed for two years, although some did leave early, for a variety of reasons.

However, there seems to be no reference to Ellen Lusher George in the 1881 census anywhere – or, indeed, in 1871. I could find no trace of her background, except for her birth record. Ellen Lusher George was born in the 2^nd quarter of 1863, in Norwich; her mother’s maiden name was George, implying that she may have been illegitimate. This information fits with what we know from the Census: Ellen George was born in Norwich, and, except for 1891, her age is correct. Still, I could find no other reference, until Sr Ellen Faith’s unusual middle name struck me. Was it possible that this was her father’s surname, and could her parents possibly have married after her birth? I was lucky: the answer to both was yes. Sarah Ann George married Thomas Lusher in December 1864, in Norwich. Sadly, Thomas died in 1865, only in his mid-20s. Sarah Ann Lusher was as elusive in the census as her daughter, meaning I could not prove that Ellen Lusher George was their daughter. I did find Sarah Ann in the 1851 census, where she is living in Norwich, with her mother, grandmother, her older sister and another older child who may be a sister or cousin.

The breakthrough came when I discovered that Sarah Ann Lusher had married again in 1868, this time to Peter Austin. About 12 years older than Sarah, Peter worked as a pattern maker. They had several children, the oldest of whom is registered as ‘Ellen G. Austin’, and was right age to be Ellen George, except for the surname, and the fact that she is registered as Peter’s daughter, not stepdaughter. She is with Peter and Sarah in 1871 (age 7) and 1881 (age 17, and working as a General Servant domestic).  There is no proof, but it seems likely that Ellen Lusher George was registered as Ellen G. Austin, for reasons on which I can only speculate. Ellen is no longer living there in 1891, although several other children are. Peter died in 1892, and Sarah continued to live in Norwich until sometime after the 1911 census, when she moved to Gorleston to live with her youngest daughter, Annie, and her husband. She died in 1925, and is buried in Gorleston.

Sr Ellen Faith died on the 19^th November 1927, aged 65, having spent around 40 years in the Third Order. We know something of the work she did through the Census records, but we do not have the date on which she entered the Third Order, nor do we know what brought her to the House of Mercy, although something must have gone astray in her life for her to be there. I write this blog partly to honour the work Sr Ellen Faith, and her fellow Third Order Sisters, did for God through the Community, but also to show the possibilities of life when people are given the opportunity to change, as Ellen George was at the House of Mercy.

young girl - possible 'penitent' late 1800s