The Faithful Companions of Jesus in England
Marie Madeleine’s foundation in 1830 in
Somers Town, London, was the first of these
new post-Emancipation foundations.
Very soon the Society was well established in West London, in North West England and in Ireland;
other foundations would follow later in the century. By the beginning of the twentieth century FCJ
schools had spread to many parts of Britain from Scotland in the north to the Channel Islands in
the south and in 1903 Sedgley Park College for the training of teachers was opened in Salford.
In the years that followed and as the statutory framework for education changed, FCJ sisters could be
found in education at all levels– in Parish Primary schools, in state maintained Grammar Schools and
Secondary Modern schools, in Independent Boarding and Day schools as well as in teacher training.
These establishments became known for high standards
6
and for the use of innovative
educational methods
7
. The standards set by so many FCJ sisters and the wisdom accrued by
them is the proud heritage of FCJ schools in the twenty-first century.
The Polygon, Clarendon Square, 1850.
The building was demolished in 1891 and
the site was redeveloped. On the right can
be seen the original St Aloysius’ Church built
in 1808. That part of Clarendon Square was
renamed as part of Phoenix Road. The first
FCJ schools in England were located here,
adjacent to the church.
9
Marie Madeleine was aware of
and respected diversity;
she recognised that
different people had to be led,
challenged, in different ways
to different things.
1.
Memoirs
pp. 80, 84, 87
2. See e.g. Mary Campion McCarren fcJ,
A Mine of Gold
p. 6
3.
Memoirs
p. 80
4. Ibid p. 19
5. Ibid p. 84
6. Annals of the Somers Town community, 1912 p. 122
7.
Sacred Heart Review
1914
After the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829, religious orders from continental
Europe and from Ireland began to make new foundations in England.
