Note on this edition: to facilitate understanding by a modern audience, the text has been re-punctuated; occasionally an extra letter has been supplied in square brackets to make the meaning more immediately obvious. The original spellings are retained, except that ‘I’ is replaced as appropriate by modern ‘j’, and ‘u’ by ‘v’. Originally published in Obituary Notices of the Nuns of the English Benedictine Abbey of Ghent in Flanders 1627-1811, contributed by Lady Abbess and Community, Catholic Record Society, Misc. XI, Vol. 19, 1917. Page numbers correspond to this volume. OBITUARY NOTICES OF THE NUNS OF THE ENGLISH BENEDICTINE ABBEY OF GHENT IN FLANDERS. 1627-1811. CONTRIBUTED BY THE LADY ABBESS AND COMMUNITY OF ST. MARY’S BENEDICTINE ABBEY, OULTON, STONE, STAFFORDSHIRE. The Benedictine Abbey of the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Lady was founded at Ghent A.D. 1624 for English subjects. It was a filiation of the monastery at Brussels established in 1598 by Lady Mary Percy, daughter of the Earl of Northumberland, and was colonised by four professed nuns of Brussels, namely Dame Lucy Knatchbull, Dame Magdalen Digby, Dame Eugenia Poulton, and Dame Mary Roper. The community at Ghent prospered and increased, and in time sent out filiations to Boulogne, Dunkirk and Ypres. When the French Revolutionary army invaded Flanders in 1794 the community fled to England and settled at Preston in Lancashire; then (in 1811) it was transferred to Caverswall Castle in Staffordshire, and finally in 1853 to Oulton near Stone, in the same county, where it still exists. The following obituary notices comprise all that have been preserved from the foundation in 1624 to the removal to Caverswall Castle in 1811. The constitutions of the house lay down the following rule: "Let a Register be made in which are to be sett downe all the names of such Religious as in the Monastery departed this life, and in the same also is to bee written if anything of noate hapned to them, either in their life or at their death, that it may serve as an Example to Posteritie, and lett these things be reade the day before their yeares yndes or Annyversaryes, that peculiar care and memory may bee had of them." (Statutes; Ghent edition of 1632.) It is in consequence of this rule that an obituary notice of each member of the convent is drawn up after her death, and read aloud in the Refectory on the eve of her anniversary to this day. The first thirty-seven of the following notices compose the First Book of Obituaries, which ends with the death of the last of the four foundresses in 1659. The next book was unfortunately lost in the hurried flight to England in 1794. We have filled up the gap to some extent by inserting a collection of "Death Chapters" belonging to the period between 1741 and 1759, which by good fortune were preserved on loose sheets of paper. It may be well to explain that the "Death Chapters" are exhortations made to the Community by the Abbess on the thirtieth day after the decease of a member, when the religious assemble in the Chapter-house to recite the Seven Penitential Psalms for the departed, and the Superior gives an exhortation on the lessons to be drawn from the life and death of the deceased sister. At the present day the obituary-notice and the death-chapter are habitually blended into one. 2 The later paper on the Lady Abbess Mary Baptist Phillips (died 1781) is copied from an undated document bearing the appearance of the beginning of the nineteenth century, which seems to be a translation of a Latin circular that was sent out at the Lady Abbess’s death, and of which we have a copy. Finally the third batch consists of the obituaries of the nuns who died at Preston, where WHO WERE THE NUNS? PROJECT 2009 the community was located from 1795 to 1811. The style and orthography of the papers will, of course, be found to vary according to the period in which they were written. Those belonging to the period 1741 to 1759 have had the spelling modernised, the originals being in such wretched preservation that they were destroyed when copied, now many years ago. The style of all, however, remains untouched, and may afford interest to many readers. A. L. W. PART I. Mortuary Notices from A.D. 1627 to 1659. [From an old MS. of 83 pages, apparently of the seventeenth century, preserved at St. Mary’s Abbey, Oulton.] A Commemoration of the Deceas’d Religious who were profest In the Monastry of the Immaculate Conception of the Glorious Virgin Mother of God of the holy Order of St Benedict. In Ghent. Nimis Honorificati Sunt Amici tui Deus. Thy friends O God are Very much Honour’d. psl. 138. And in St Matth. C. 26 we read how our Saviour defended the Penitent Magd., saying to those who murmur’d at the effusion of her precious oyntment upon him: Why do Ye molest this woman for she hath wrought a Good Work upon me. &c. Amen I say to you wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done shall be reported, for a memory of her; these, with many Other Warrants in holy Scripture, as also the continual practice of our holy Mother the Catholick Church doth authorise, the exhibiting of all due respect, to the true servants of God Almighty by Recording their Good works. ‘Tis then both Just and reasonable we honour the consecrated spouses of our Saviour who lived and Dy’d so happily amongst us, having as many wittnesses of their pious Good examples as there were Religeous then alive in this holy Monastry, confident t’will be the more pleasing to God; because t’is conform to our Statutes, and profitable to posterity, by noteing down a Collection of some of their virtues and religious practices, Desiring most humbly the Divine Spirit of Truth to direct the begining proceeding & ending of this work according to the pure and sincere truth sith where is fallacy nothing can edify. May the Eternall God who ever lov’d these hapy souls with an Eternal Charity, drawing them by a holy vocation in time Convenient to his especiall service, have the Sole honour praise & Glory now and through out all succeeding ages World without End. Amen. 3 A Cathalogue of their names and the pages wherein their virtues are Described. Of Dame Mary Knatchbull. Anno 1627. On the 15 of August Departed Most hapily this life our Dear beloved Sister in Christ, Dame Mary Knachbull, profest on the Visitation of our Blessed Lady 1626. Her most notable Vertues amongst many others was obedience, silence, Punctuality in all observances and charity. She Dyed att the age of 19 Deservedly esteem’d the first Saint of our house. Dame Mary Knatchbull, Daughter to Thomas Knatchbull Esquire of Kent, was born in Irland. After her Parents Death God call’d her very young to Religion. Being att an Uncles house, She ineured herself before she come over, to do what practices she thought nuns did use, as Riseing in the night to pray and the like. She come hither about the age of sixteen and Inter’d into the Practice of holy Religion with great fervor. She Received the holy habit on Low Sunday & made her vowes a twelve month after In July. She was of a most pure Conscience and Innocent life. She ever Retain’d a great esteem of the Least Rule, exactly observing each in their Due time. She was noted to be one of the first in all observances & faithfully complying with all her obediences, which in her was eminent. She was a Lover and practicer of Silence. She had an Extraordinary aptness to mentall prayer, And God was pleas’d to lead her unto him by the way of sweetness. She had quickly attained to Great progress in Spirituality by a Good understanding & diligence in spirituall things; and in other matters she was never seen to loose time, having also a Good tallant to do things both well and with a Quick WHO WERE THE NUNS? PROJECT 2009 dispatch. She gave herself much to interior recollection, Retaining the presence of God so constantly, that as She confess’d herself to those that had authority to Examine her she never lost it from her profession to her Death, being very sincere & candid in manifestation, both to Superiors & spirituall Fathers. She was never hear’d to speak the Least defect of any and in the absence of a 3rd person she allways had a feavourable excuse to cover their defects, taking occasion to rehearse their workes, having a most sweet disposition. And being so young and of a Sanguine complexion she suffred very much In the extremity of her mortifications, couragiously bearing an indisposition of a feverish heat a great while before she would speak of it that Tongue was sometimes even patch’d [parched?] up. At last she was confin’d to her bed which brought her to her Death, in the flourishing Growth [of] youthfull vigour. Her life amongst us was full of fervour & consequently full of Days, having compleated much in short time to the Glory of the Divine Majesty. She Dy’d like a True child of our holy father St Benedict of a sharp and 4 short fever Armed with all rites of the holy church, leaving a sad House full of the odour of her vertues; but the Resentment of her sister novices was exceeding Great, saying Now we have Lost the light of her Dayly Good Example.