Community of St Michael and All Angels

The Community of St Michael and All Angels is an Anglican religious order of nuns in South Africa. The Community was founded by the Rt Revd Alan Becher Webb, the second Bishop of Bloemfontein in 1874 – although the idea was first mooted by Becher’s predecessor, Bishop Edward Twells. In a letter he’d written in 1868, Twells highlighted the need for a Sisterhood to set up schools for girls in Bloemfontein.Karel Schoeman, 1986. The Free State Mission: The Anglican Church in the OFS, 1863-1883, pages 18-19.

Three novices and three lay helpers under a Superior, Mother Emma, traveled from England to Bloemfontein via Port Elizabeth, arriving towards the end of April 1874. They immediately opened a boarding school, St Michael's, and a day school.Karel Schoeman, 1986. The Free State Mission: The Anglican Church in the OFS, 1863-1883, page 42-53. St Michael’s School exists to this day as one of the leading schools in South Africa.

In 1877 the Community established the St George's Cottage Hospital in Bloemfontein, the first hospital in the Orange Free State.Karel Schoeman, 1986. The Free State Mission: The Anglican Church in the OFS, 1863-1883, page 54.

The Community’s work was extended to the nearby mining town of Kimberley, from 1876, where Sister Henrietta Stockdale pioneered the training of nurses at the Carnarvon Hospital. She was later influential in securing the first state registration of nurses in the...
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