Father Gallwey

Father Gallwey, from Co. Kerry, Ireland, was the Rector of Farm Street Jesuit Mission. His greatest concern was the dire condition of the poor who suffered and died in the disease-ridden east end of London. He wanted to have a place for them where they could die in peace. He was aware of the hospitals, hospices and schools founded in Ireland by the Sisters of Charity, so over thirty years, he sent several requests for Sisters to work along side the poor in the east end.

As the years went by, Cardinal Vaughan, Archbishop of Westminster, sent two invitations as well. But the funds at his command were very low and he could only offer support. At the end of 1899, the catalyst appeared in the person of Miss Grace Goldsmith. She was the second daughter of Jewish parents. She had desired to become a Catholic since childhood. Introduced to Father Gallwey by Signora Paula, she was instructed and received into the Church.

In thanksgiving for the gift of faith, Miss Grace offered to provide £300 a year for his long cherished dream for the dying. This was all that was needed to establish a viable foundation from which the Sisters could start their work.

Father Gallwey’s prayers were about to be answered. Cardinal Vaughan again sent an invitation to the Mother General of the Sisters of Charity. She responded positively, saying that there were now sufficient Sisters available to accept the challenge. Preparations were quickly made for the Sisters to arrive the following year.

The arrival and all that happened afterwards are recorded by the Sisters themselves. Their journals tell of great courage, generosity, faith and good humour. As they were very much alone in a strange place, they needed all of these in abundance. “The difficulties of the work,” writes one, “can only be realised by those who endure it. To describe the situations encountered would fill volumes”.

Mare Street, Hackney, c1890


Kingsland Road, Hackney, c1900

At the turn of the century, the concentrated population of Hackney and Hoxton was twice that of the whole city of Dublin, and had all the problems of 19th Century life. Living conditions were grim in the crowded tenements of Hackney were grim. Contagious diseases and malnutrition were rife among the badly housed poor. Tuberculosis at that time was fatal, relentlessly claiming the lives of the young. Hospitals could not cope with hopeless cases. They had barely enough room for those they could cure. The incurable had only two options: they could either die in deplorable institutions of the day, which they dreaded, or without proper care in the dire poverty of their own crowded homes. This was why the Sisters had been called. But there was so much to be done by so few, and where could they start?

The visitations began in Hackney on 9th July 1900, a week after their arrival in London, and in Hoxton four days later. They could not afford the fares of the horse drawn trams, so they walked for miles every day, quite often in vain as families who were too poor to pay the rent tended to flit from one place to another without trace.

It was a hard start, but the Sisters never flinched from their task. Imbued as they were by the spirit of their motto, “The love of Christ urges us on”, their driving force was their commitment to Christ.

When their numbers increased to seven, the Sisters took on other duties in the parishes. Their weekends were dedicated to the religious education of the children. The rapid transformation of these groups widened the pathway of friendship with parents. Mothers gained new skills, accustomed for so long to being useless as handwork, they quickly became proud of their skills. The £300 funding per year did not stretch far enough to meet the endless needs, but those who visited the convent never went away hungry. The diarist writes “The providence of God watched over the little community, so we did not feel the loss of what we gave”.

It was at this stage that vital public support for the cause of the Sisters began. Groups of friends organised boxing tournaments, concerts and dances at various venues throughout the east end. Local factories and shops sent money and goods. Influenced by Father Gallwey, the rich and famous in fashionable Knightsbridge helped also with a sale of work at St. George’s Hall at which £400 was raised – a magnificent sum at that time.

In the spring of 1903, eight Sisters were working from the King Edward Road Convent. They were in the final months of their three year rental term. With little space and no garden their conditions were extremely cramped. From an upstairs back window they could see a beautiful garden nearby. It lay to the front of Cambridge Lodge just around the corner by Mare Street.

The landlord of the lodge was also the owner of the cul-de-sac terrace of six rented villas by the side of his garden. The Sisters were attracted to it by the tranquil scene which this combination of garden and buildings presented. They prayed that a property would become available in the area to meet their needs.

After nine weeks, a Sister spotted a “to let” sign outside the sixth villa. They went to view the house at once but found it to be “small, stuffy, and unpromising”. They wondered whether it was worthwhile moving at all. However, it had a garden and this was the deciding factor. They rented the house and on 25th March 1903, a very significant day for them, the Feast of the Annunciation, they moved into the new premises, and they were never to move again. It took two weeks for the house to be made habitable.

During that time, an annalist wrote “We were dependant upon the kindness of Mrs Arthur of No. 4 for almost all the necessities of life. It was truly providential to have such a good person living so near. Her house was entirely at our disposal for a whole fortnight”.

The weeks went by, and the work of the Sisters flourished, enhanced by peaceful surroundings in which they now lived. However, they still longed for a hospice where the dying could receive care. Nobody could have foreseen how soon it would happen.

Within nine months the entire estate of Cambridge Lodge, including the six villas, was put up for sale. But the price was well out of the Sisters’ reach. They could only pray, and their prayers were miraculously answered. On 4th December 1903, the estate was sold to an anonymous buyer for £10,000. Two days later, Father Gallwey came to give the good tidings that the buyer, a woman who remained anonymous, had presented the entire estate freehold to the Sisters of Charity for use as a hospice for the dying.

Four months passed by before the property was handed over to the Sisters on 25th March 1904. A further six months had to pass before Cambridge Lodge became vacant. It was a quaint old house. However, the ancient rooms behind the creeper-covered veranda had suffered from years of neglect and a vast amount of repairs were required. The transformation began in September, and the work dragged tediously on until January 1905. Finally, unable to wait one more day, a man and a woman, the first of thousands to follow, were admitted to the new hospice. A tram driver was carried in on the back of a priest and a tailoress was brought in by a friend. They were already comfortable in fresh warm beds when the Hospice was officially opened next day.

St. Joseph's Hospice was opened very quietly on Sunday 15th January 1905. The seed was sown at last. It was a day of profound joyful thanksgiving. After so much hardship and so many problems the faith of the Sisters and those who accompanied them during the first give years of the century had reaped its reward. The east end of London at last had a home in which people could die in peace, while the Sisters working outside in the parishes continued to serve those ensnared by the overwhelming poverty of the time.

The Sisters were inspired by the words of their Foundress, Mary Aikenhead, who expressed her desire that “the poor be given for love which the rich obtain for money”. For her, the suffering poor had been God’s nobility.