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Beginnings Early Education in BC

Mother Mary Providence

                Easily seen as the guiding force of the Order in Victoria during its formative years, Mother Mary Providence was 22 when she arrived in Victoria on October 26, 1859 and was appointed as the Superior at that point.[1]  She was born in Sligo, Ireland and was instructed by tutors in many areas of education including Philosophy, Literature, Mathematics, History and French and attended a finishing school.  Her family had immigrated to Quebec from Ireland where she answered a call she felt to enter the life of a nun and duty towards others.  Mother Mary Providence was instrumental in developing the curriculum of the school and in the expansion of the convent in Victoria and the order throughout Vancouver Island.   She died on May 28, 1904 in Victoria



[1] Sister Mary Margaret Down, S.S.A., Ph.D., A Century of Service 1858-1958 (Victoria: Moriss Printing Company, 1966), 46-47.