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| Bournemouth Church History |
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In 1879 Divine Providence sent to the little English Colony one who was destined to guide it during the next eventful years - this was Reverend Mother Louise Poulin, whose initials can still be seen, carved on one of the stones of the beautiful Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Convent garden. It was she who, as local superioress, brought the little Community from Bournemouth to Boscombe, where they finally settled in 1887.
One of her first acts was to dedicate the new Convent to the Sacred Heart, and when in 1926 the ceremony of the Enthronement was performed by Fr. Redman, S.J., it was but the renewal of the consecration made by our first Boscombe Mothers thirty-eight years before. So, when each year the anniversary day comes, and we sing our own special Enthronement Hymn " Heart of Jesus l bless this place," our memory goes back to that hour long ago when the Sacred Heart was solemnly proclaimed for the first time King and Master of our House. As soon as the nuns had taken possession of their new dwelling, Reverend Mother, with the able help of Mother Catherine Bower, one of her earliest companions, began to build a large Calvary in the grounds. They could be seen at all hours of the day, wheeling heavy loads of earth and stones to the appointed spot; here also they planted the 200 ferns brought from their old garden at Bournemouth for that very purpose. Hardly was their self-appointed task finished, when Reverend Mother had a number of pine trees removed and the beautiful grotto, previously alluded to, was erected according to a plan she herself had designed. The devotional shrine to the Sacred Heart and to Saint Margaret Mary, is but another lasting memorial of her love and piety. After thirteen years of strenuous labours, Mother Poulin's health began to fail, and she was recalled to France in 1892, but God spared her to us for many more years, and it was only in the fateful year of 1914 that He called her to Himself. Mother Anne Biggin and Mother Marie Hustler were likewise among the pioneers who helped to plant the Cross on English soil. For ten years they had taught in the Bournemouth Catholic Elementary School, leaving the Convent at an early hour in the morning and unable to return before nightfall on account of the great distance which separated the scene of their labours from their Convent home. How overjoyed these good Mothers were, when, in 1889, the Holy Cross Elementary School was built on a plot of ground adjoining the Convent. In 1879 Divine Providence sent to the little English Colony one who was destined to guide it during the next eventful years - this was Reverend Mother Louise Poulin, whose initials can still be seen, carved on one of the stones of the beautiful Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Convent garden. It was she who, as local superioress, brought the little Community from Bournemouth to Boscombe, where they finally settled in 1887. One of her first acts was to dedicate the new Convent to the Sacred Heart, and when in 1926 the ceremony of the Enthronement was performed by Fr. Redman, S.J., it was but the renewal of the consecration made by our first Boscombe Mothers thirty-eight years before. So, when each year the anniversary day comes, and we sing our own special Enthronement Hymn " Heart of Jesus l bless this place," our memory goes back to that hour long ago when the Sacred Heart was solemnly proclaimed for the first time King and Master of our House. As soon as the nuns had taken possession of their new dwelling, Reverend Mother, with the able help of Mother Catherine Bower, one of her earliest companions, began to build a large Calvary in the grounds. They could be seen at all hours of the day, wheeling heavy loads of earth and stones to the appointed spot; here also they planted the 200 ferns brought from their old garden at Bournemouth for that very purpose. Hardly was their self-appointed task finished, when Reverend Mother had a number of pine trees removed and the beautiful grotto, previously alluded to, was erected according to a plan she herself had designed. The devotional shrine to the Sacred Heart and to Saint Margaret Mary, is but another lasting memorial of her love and piety. After thirteen years of strenuous labours, Mother Poulin's health began to fail, and she was recalled to France in 1892, but God spared her to us for many more years, and it was only in the fateful year of 1914 that He called her to Himself. Mother Anne Biggin and Mother Marie Hustler were likewise among the pioneers who helped to plant the Cross on English soil. For ten years they had taught in the Bournemouth Catholic Elementary School, leaving the Convent at an early hour in the morning and unable to return before nightfall on account of the great distance which separated the scene of their labours from their Convent home. How overjoyed these good Mothers were, when, in 1889, the Holy Cross Elementary School was built on a plot of ground adjoining the Convent. But are there none left of the pioneers who lived in the early days of our dear Convent, and to whom we can express the gratitude of our hearts in this Golden Jubilee Year? Surely yes! We still have in our midst two Golden Jubilarians - Mother Tholen, who has spent a life-time labouring in God's vineyard, and Mother Crofton, whose love for God in the person of His poor needs no comment. The following passage appears in the Corpus Christi Book of 1934. "The first attempt at forming a Guild for young girls were made by Baroness Pauline Von Hugel and Mother Tholen who, between the years 1891 and 1901, assembled them in one of the classrooms at the Holy Cross School on Sunday afternoons for short talks and instructive reading. The Baroness died in 1901 and Mother Tholen left Boscombe for Ryde, where she had been appointed Reverend Mother of the new foundation. Subsequently, Mother Crofton inaugurated the Guild as it now exists, as a weekly social gathering for girls, under the title 'Guild of the Cross.' Mother Crofton went to Ryde in 19122, and Mother Tholen returned to Boscombe and again took up the work which still flourishes strongly "under her devoted care. Before ending this short chapter of memories, we send fond greetings to another Golden Jubilarian - Mother Costello in Southsea. May her prayers continue to draw down God's blessing on this house in which she laboured so devotedly and with such marked success during forty long years. We also send our greetings beyond the sea to good Sister Louisa, one of our " Foundation stones " as we love to call her, and to our dear Irish octogenarian, Sister Margarita. We know full well that their years of loving toil have helped to bring many blessings to this house of ours. And now, in the name of all past and present pupils of Boscombe, we wish to voice our love and gratitude to our present Reverend Mother General, who knows and loves all her English children, but who surely must have a specially warm corner for this house where she was Reverend Mother for so many years. The sands of the Jubilee year have nearly run out. What may the future have in store for us? That is God's secret. We can but hope that our children of to-day may ever be true to our old traditions of lovalty to the Cross, and that in the words of our School Song they may "win God's Crown of Victory at last!" |
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