Annie Cecile Ramsbottom Isherwood (1862, in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

, England - 20 February 1906) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

nun and founder of the Community of the Resurrection of our Lord in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

. She was known as Mother Cecile CR (pronounced Cecil).

Early life

Annie Isherwood was born in

, Middlesex, England on 14 November 1862 to Richard Ramsbottom-Isherwood and Anna Clarendon (born Cox). One of her older siblings was future England rugby international and cricketer

Francis Isherwood Francis William Ramsbottom Isherwood (16 October 1851 – 30 April 1888) was an English sportsman who played international rugby union for England and first-class cricket. Francis Isherwood was the third son of Richard Ramsbottom Isherwood of C ...

. Annie was educated privately and with the death of her mother in 1870 and father in 1875 she was orphaned by the age of 12. She was brought up by relatives in London where she attended

St Peter's Church, Eaton Square St. Peter's Church, Eaton Square, is a Church of England parish church at the east end of Eaton Square, Belgravia, London. It is a neoclassical building designed by the architect Henry Hakewill with a hexastyle portico with Ionic columns and ...

Founding of the Community of the Resurrection of Our Lord

Isherwood was 21 when

Allan Becher Webb Allan Becher Webb (also spelled "Alan"; 1839–1907) was the second Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein, afterward Bishop of Grahamstown and, later, Dean of Salisbury. Early years Webb was born in 1839 in Calcutta, India, the son of Allan Webb, a ...

Bishop of Grahamstown The Bishop of Grahamstown is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Grahamstown in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The Bishop's residence is Bishopsbourne, Grahamstown List of Bishops of Grahamstown Diocesan bishops # John Armstrong, D ...

, came to preach in St Peter's on the text "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision", it was at this service she felt called to leave England and undertake work in his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

. It was agreed that she would start an order of sisters to be known as the

Community of the Resurrection of our Lord A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

(not to be confused with the

Community of the Resurrection The Community of the Resurrection (CR) is an Anglican religious community for men in England. It is based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and has 13 members as of February 2021. The community reflects Anglicanism in its broad nature and is strong ...

). She was clothed as a novice on St Mark’s Day, 25 April 1884, and made her final profession on 14 November 1887. Isherwood became the mother superior of the order and was styled Mother Cecile CR. The Sisters of the Community of the Resurrection of Our Lord opened St Peter's School, the Good Shepherd School a boarding house for the children of railway workers and an orphanage. Mother Cecile CR died at 43 of cancer exacerbated by overwork. In 1894 the Community founded the Grahamstown Training College, an institution which played a valuable part in the development of education in southern Africa, it was forced to close down in 1975.

Commemoration

Mother Cecile CR is commemorated in the

Calendar of saints (Anglican Church of Southern Africa) The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has its own calendar of saints. History The calendar of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa was published in 1989 in the book ''An Anglican Prayer Book 1989''. Characteristics See also * Anglic ...

on 20 February. Her image is featured in a stained glass window in

St George's Cathedral, Cape Town St George's Cathedral (also referred to as The Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr) is the anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, and the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop of Cape Town. St. Geor ...

and in

All Saints' Church, Cambridge All Saints' is a church on Jesus Lane in central Cambridge, England, which was built by the architect George Frederick Bodley. The church was constructed in stages between 1863 and 1870 and is a notable example of English Gothic Revival style. ...

and in a stained-glass window on the staircase to the Lady Chapel in

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in the ...

Notes and references

* * * *

External links

History of Allan Webb Hall

Dictionary of African Christian Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isherwood, Annie Cecilia Ramsbottom South African Anglicans 1862 births 1906 deaths British emigrants to South Africa