The Sisters of Charity at Prospect

In October 1876 through the efforts of Father Edmond Kennedy three sisters were sent to establish a mission at Prospect. Sister Mary Jerome (Crimmen) was Superior, along with assistants Sister Mary Cornelia (Tynan) and Sister Mary Philippa (Melanson). 

It was not long before the people of the village felt the influence of the sisters, and became greatly attached to them. The Sisters immediately took charge of the school house. The attendance gradually grew, and soon it reached well nigh one hundred children. The Children were well trained, not only in the ordinary subjects of grammar school, but also in the knowledge of their holy religion. The Sisters played an important role in the upbuilding of the faith at Prospect. Without the Sisters' training, very little about their Creator, Saviour and final Judge would have been taught to the children, as the circumstances of this parish did not permit the priest to accomplish all he would. (excerpt from "Fourteen Decades in Prospect, 1794-1929").

Sister Mary Barber (Left)

Sister Mary Barber (Left)

The Sisters of Charity would recruit a number of local Prospect girls to their ranks. The most famous of which was Sister Anne Maria (Mary Ann Barber), daughter of James Matthew and Mary Anne (Power) Barber. Mary Ann was born at Prospect 17 March 1864 and would enter the order on 20 August 1892 at the age of 28. Sister Anne Maria was a renowned artist and art teacher. She is most well known for having designed the coif and veil worn by professed sisters of the congregation from 4 January 1921 to 1968.

Sister Maura Power (1881 - 1957), daughter of Hon. Patrick Power of Halifax wasn't born at Prospect but her mother's family the Gaul's settled there before removing to Halifax. The Power family are said to have been instrumental in supporting the Convent at Prospect. 

Sisters of Charity from Prospect

  • Sister Anne Maria (Mary Ann Barber), 1864-1957
  • Sister Mary Amatus (Catherine Buchanan), 1887-1964
  • Sister Mary Thomasita (Annie Martina Buchanan), 1892-1976
  • Sister Madeline Leo (Elizabeth Buchanan), 1895-

Below is an as complete list as possible of all known Sisters of Charity to have worked at Prospect:

Sisters, October 1876

  • Sister Mary Jerome Crimmen
  • Sister Mary Cornielia Tynan
  • Sister Mary Phillipa Melanson
  • Sister Mary Berchmans Walsh (later Mother General)

Superiors, 1931-1959

  • Sister Mary Beatrix MacDonald (1931-1934, 1950-1956)
  • Sister Mary Laurentia MacNeill (1934-1940)
  • Sister Ellen Vincent McManus (1940-1944)
  • Sister Francis Cecilia McCarthy (1944-1950)
  • Sister Mary Clarita McNeil (1956-1958)
  • Sister Mary Charles McDonald (1958-1959)

Sisters, 1931-1959

  • Sister Mary Jovita Kennedy (1931-1933)
  • Sister Marie Edwina Meagher (1931-1934)
  • Sister Mary Germaine Poirier (1933-1934)
  • Sister Catherine Clare Harris (1934-1936)
  • Sister Mary Rene Vienneau (1934-1939)
  • Sister Mary Geraldina Spray (1936-1941, 1956-1959)
  • Sister Mary Thomasita Buchanan (1939-1940)
  • Sister Mary Almida Desmond (1940-1942)
  • Sister Rose Genevieve Alsop (1941-1943)
  • Sister Mary Lydia Gillis (1941-1943)
  • Sister Maria Carmel Shaughnessy (1942-1943, 1957-1959)
  • Sister Mary Georgiana Connors (1943-1944, 1945, 1948)
  • Sister Agnes Columba Geohegan (1943-1947)
  • Sister Mary Aeneas McMullen (1943-1949)
  • Sister Mary Winifred Dalton (1944-1945)
  • Sister Maria Mercedes O'Donnell (1946-1947)
  • Sister Mary Claudina Donnellon (1947-1949)
  • Sister Mary Teresa Mailloux (1947-1948)
  • Sister Agnes Josephine McDonald (1948-1957)
  • Sister Agnes Mercedes O'Regan (1948-1955)
  • Sister Maria de Pizzi Keilty (1949-1951)
  • Sister Maria Agatha Walker (1949-1951)
  • Sister Celilia Anna Alder (1950--1954)
  • Sister Marion Florence McSweene (1951-1952)
  • Sister Leo Stephan Addicott (1953-1956)
  • Sister Mary Ancilla MacEachern (1954-1957)
  • Sister Mary Lucille Miles (1955-1956)
  • Sister Teresa Loretta Doucet (1956-1957)
  • Sister Mary Edna McDonald (1958-1959)
  • Sister Mary Dorothea McIntyre (1958-1959)

Sisters of Charity who taught at Atlantic Memorial School from December 1959 to 1976

  • Sister Mary Ellen Murray
  • Sister Leo Alice McCraith
  • Sister Catherine Celine Hector
  • Sister Anne Benedict Lancaster
  • Sister Sophie O'Neill
  • Sister Agnes Louise Mahar
  • Sister Helen Balch
  • Sister Angela do Lourdes Macdonald
  • Sister Noreen Trainor
  • Sister Mary Ida McInnis
  • Sister Anita Gagnon
  • Sister Leo Kevin Fahey
  • Sister Francis Josephine Kelly
  • Sister Patricia Kelly
  • Sister Cecile d'Entremont
  • Sister Joan O'Keefe
  • Sister Madeleine Keating 1
  • Sister Mary O'Neill
  1. Sister Madeleine Keating, who retired in 1976, was the last sister to teach, thus ending Apostolate of the Sisters of Charity in the Prospect area.