Sr Louisa

How does a woman whose family seem very focussed on Leominster, in Herefordshire, end up at a Convent in rural Norfolk? The answer to this question is lost in the midst of time, although, to be fair, few of her siblings seem to have remained in Leominster. But this was where Sarah Louisa Daggs, one of the younger daughters of William and Elizabeth Daggs, grew up; William was a banker, who also had links to one of the local rail companies. I think he and Elizabeth had eight children who lived to adulthood, plus another three who died young. Tragically, two died within days of each other in 1857; another died as a toddler in 1861. Sarah Louisa knew none of these siblings, as she was born after their deaths, in 1865.  By then, her father was manager of the Worcester County and City bank, and her two oldest brothers were already teenagers; neither were registered with the family in the 1871 census. However, Sarah Louisa did have siblings nearer her own age, and there were five children at home in that Census. By 1881, William had retired, and was a JP, some indication of his status. I’m not sure when he died, but it was before the marriage of his oldest daughter, Catherine, in 1886. His wife died two years after this, and by 1891 Sarah Louisa is living on independent means with an older sister, Elizabeth, who married later that year, presumably leaving Sarah Louisa living alone until she joined the Community, probably sometime in 1892

Professed on the feast of Epiphany 1895, Sarah Louisa used her second name, I assume because there was already a Sr Sara in the Community. Sr Louisa seems to have started by working at the Orphanage, before moving to the Hospital during 1898. She was one of those women eligible to vote in local elections, so is on the electoral register for this year, giving us firmer knowledge of where she was. In 1901, she was registered at St Saviour’s Lodge in Ipswich, working with Sr Harriet and four lay helpers. This would have been a change in focus from her previous work: St Saviour’s was a rescue home, and it would have involved working with a very different set of people. St Saviour’s closed in 1909, although Sr Louisa had left this work the previous year to join our house in Canada, where she was working with four other Sisters. By 1921, she was back in England, living in the Community House, and it was at this point that her life was to change again. By now in her 50s, she was made Novice Mistress in 1923 by M. Ann Mary. By taking this role, she became an office Holder, one of the three in the Community. It also meant she had responsibility for training and guiding the Community’s novices, a vital role, not only for the Community’s present but also for its’ future. The foundations of a Sister’s life are laid during those years in the Novitiate. In 1926, Sr Louisa was elected Reverend Mother in succession to M. Ann Mary, who seems to have returned to the Norwich Mission House, where most of her life was spent, and where she died in 1929, after a short illness.

But what of M. Louisa? How was her time as Superior lived? It is always difficult to tell. M. Louisa was superior for nine years, retiring in 1937. I’m not sure how she guided the Community during those nine years. All I have is a reference in a sermon for Christmas Day, shortly after her death: ‘she by her simplicity adorned the office of Superior’. It seems that no major changes took place during those years, but that can give the opportunity for laying firm foundations for the future. M. Louisa’s successor, M. Flora, held office for 30 years, and was also Novice Mistress for most of M. Louisa’s time as Superior. That M. Flora wished to be buried next to M. Louisa is probably a testament to their relationship, and I wonder how much M. Louisa may have contributed to M. Flora’s work as Superior. We do have two other tributes to her time in office: most Sisters, on laying down the role of Reverend Mother, revert back to being called ‘Sister’. M. Lavinia and M. Adele, our foundresses, our obvious exceptions. M. Louisa was also allowed to keep the title of ‘Mother’, and I can only think that this acknowledges her work. The other tribute is a comment in the Community Diary after her death: a pillar of the Community has gone but the foundation remains.

After stepping down as Superior, M. Louisa was not left long out of office: in 1939, she again became Novice Mistress until 1943, then became Assistant Superior in 1945, until 1949. She gave the last years of her life to these roles, presumably another testament to the strength of her relationship with M. Flora. After several months of illness, including some severe heart attacks, she died peacefully on December 21st 1949, in the presence of M. Flora and Sr Muriel. She was buried on December 23rd, the first Sister to be buried in the new Community cemetery in the Convent grounds. A pillar of the Community had gone, as pillars do go, but the foundation on which the Community was built always remains. That foundation is the foundation of all our lives, our rock, our Lord Jesus, and it is one we can depend upon to hold us throughout shifting circumstances, however distant or uncertain it may seem.