| AdminHistory | It seems certain that this volume was located at Syon Abbey in Lisbon in the mid-eighteenth century, if not also part of the nineteenth century; however, it is not clear whether the book was the personal property of Sister Kitty or whether it was part of the wider Syon Abbey Library. Other books from the Library also contain Sister Kitty's inscriptions and a designation of 'her book'. Previous to the ownership by the depositor, the book was in the possession of the English Benedictine Monastery of the Glorious Assumption of Our Blessed Lady at Haslemere, which closed in 1975. The depositor's brother, Edmund McIlvenna, a local parishioner, assisted the community in clearing their property. The remaining nuns dispersed to Stanbrook Abbey, Warwick abbey, Oulton Abbey and St Scolastica's Abbey. The last member of the community died in 1995. Edmund McIlvenna saved a few items which he subsequently gave to his brother, Richard. This included a volume with inscriptions by Sister Kitty Witham. Exactly how the book came to leave Syon Abbey and end up in Haslemere is unclear, though the inscription by Sister Mary Margaret O.S.B. indicates it was in possession by a member of a Benedictine community (possibly East Bergholt Abbey) as early as 1861, the same year that the community of Syon Abbey moved from Lisbon in Portugal to Spetisbury in Dorset, England. The book was donated to Special Collections by Richard McIlvenna and the owner, Oliver McIlvenna.
Syon Abbey was a monastic house of the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, also known as the Bridgettine Order. The house was founded at Twickenham in 1415, and the community followed the Rule of St Bridget of Sweden. This enclosed Bridgettine community - comprising both monks and nuns and governed by an abbess - was known for its dedication to reading, meditation and contemplation. In addition, it was unusual in being the only English Catholic community of religious to have continued existing without interruption through the Reformation period. In the wake of Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, the community dispersed into smaller groups in which they continued their religious practice, with some remaining in England whilst others sought refuge abroad. Syon Abbey was restored for a short period in England under the Catholic rule of Mary I; however, following the accession of Elizabeth I and the return to Protestantism, the community left England and went into exile. The community spent over half a century migrating through the Low Countries (Antwerp, Dendermonde, Haamstede, Mishagen, Mechelen) and France (Rouen), before eventually finding a new home in Lisbon, Portugal in 1594. In Lisbon, the community survived a convent fire in 1651 and the Lisbon Earthquake in 1755, but both events presumably resulted in the loss of many of Syon's early records. The last brother of Syon Abbey died in 1695. In 1809, at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the community - with the exception of three sisters, who remained in Lisbon - attempted a return to England; however, by 1815, they were struggling financially, and eventually they relinquished many of their ancient treasures to the Earl of Shrewsbury in exchange for financial support (many of these treasures were auctioned at the The Great Sale of 1857 at Alton Towers). One sister returned to the community in Lisbon, whilst the last of the nuns in England died in 1837. Following the arrival of new postulants in the early nineteenth century, the community in Lisbon recovered and regained its strength. In 1861, amid rising religious tensions in Portugal, the community successfully returned to England, where they initially resided in Spetisbury, Dorset. Following a further relocation to Chudleigh, Devon, in 1887, the community finally settled in South Brent, Devon, in 1925. On account of dwindling numbers and the age of the remaining nuns, the decision was made to close Syon Abbey in 2011. In the same year, the archive was transferred to the University of Exeter, where it joined other previously deposited collections relating to Syon Abbey, including printed books and manuscripts from the Syon Abbey library. The community attracts considerable research interests throughout the world.
In 1749, at the age of about 32, Sister Catherine 'Kitty' Witham made her vow of profession as a choir nun at Syon Abbey in Lisbon. She died at the monastery 44 years later in 1793. |