125 years in Streatham

The magnificent Church of the English Martyrs, Streatham celebrated the 125^th  anniversary of its opening on 4^th May.  Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Smith, Southwark.  The parish plans a year of thanksgiving celebrations.

SMG Sisters went to work in Streatham in 1888. Mother Magdalen Taylor had long desired a home where poor homeless girls could be moved from their dangerous surroundings in Soho. Russell House, Streatham was such a place. The Sisters visited the poor in the parish and Catechism classes were held in the convent. Interestingly, on the feast of the English Martyrs 1888 the drawing room of Russell House was prepared as a chapel and the first Mass since the reformation was celebrated there. The chapel was open to the public and in fact became too small for the growing Catholic population. So the foundation stone of the beautiful parish church of The English Martyrs was laid in 1892 thanks to the generosity of Robert and Mary Measures. SMG Sisters continue to minister in the parish.

Sisters Mary Hogan, Mary Coughlan, Eleanor Wiseman, Lily O’ Sullivan, Margaret Cashman, Kathleen Coleman, Mary Kenefick and Meki Ngemu at the 125^th celebration .