Phyllis Evelyn Stubbs 1892-1978, our Great Aunt, Missionary

Phyllis in Salonika, Greece ( right ) ,1918 as a nurse in WW1

http://www.1914-1918.net/salonika.htm ( a description of the fighting at Salonika)

Phyllis was one of two daughters of our Great Great Grandfather, Charles Stubbs, born 5/6/1892 at East Molsey, Surrey.  Phyllis was an art student in 1911, became a nurse in WW1 with the Red Cross, a teacher and missionary nun( Sister Bridget) .  She stayed unmarried.According to the letter below, she was at the Convent of East Hanningfield in the 1960’s. Which was a leper colony and isolation hospital in Essex. We assume she stayed there until she died in 1978.

Leper Colony, The Hospital and Homes of St.Giles, Bicknacre, Essex

Click to access archiveDownload

In  approx.1867 a farmhouse and 27 acres of land was purchased outside of East Hanningfield for 1500 pounds . This was for a colony for lepers named St. Giles, it took its name for the patron saint of the crippled and afflicted. Lord Strathacona , a personal friend of John Burns donated 5,400 pounds and died the following day !  Father William’s order : The Society of the Divine Compassion took responsibility for running the colony. By 1914 there were two sisters from Guy’s hospital and two monks . ( I wonder if Phylis was one of them , although she went to war as a nurse). There were letters of complaint from the neighbourhood at this time. With time, the colony became accepted.

the hospital and homes of st giles Moor lane, Bicknacre, Essex, 1974 the Nuns meeting the Queen mother and the St. Mary’s bungalow

Click to access essexcou1-58818_1.pdf

The Second Miracle, by Peter Greave

See the book by Peter Greave regards life at St Giles in the 1950’s . The time in which Phyllis would have been attending.

The Community of the Sacred Passion: The mother house of this community was based in the then Tanganyika , Africa, ( according to Dad, they were kicked out of Africa – by the government ?). St. Giles became a rest house for the sisters coming home to recuperate. ( of which Phylis would have been one ). Well done Phylis!

The hospital and homes were established in 1914 by the community of Church of England monks and nuns: The Society of the Divine Compassion and the Sisterhood of St. Giles. A charitable institution, the nuns and monks freely gave their time to treat British subjects resident in the British Isles who in almost all cases had caught leprosy in Europe. Initially the work was centred at Moor House, ( used by the monks and nuns who administered the facility )the converted farm, and St. Mary’s bungalow, the forerunner of the main hospital that still stands in the grounds.

Moor Hall, as it was known from 20th century maps , Block C, is the oldest building to survive .

By 1921 ( Phyllis would have come back from the war), the hospital was established on the present site. According to a Times article, (1921)there had been 15 patients taken since 1914 five of which were married men living with their wives ( who were not affected ). St. Giles was the only isolation leprosy colony in  Britain. It is now a residential unit for adults with learning disabilities.

HISTORY OF ST GILES re phyllis stubbs

Thanks to Gil,  we have a history of St. Giles hospital above.

There is a small woodland cemetery sited along the road( Moor Hall Road ),  to the north, and I am trying to find out if Phylis is buried there.

email re phyllis stubbs

St Giles church yard, Moor Hall Rd. East Hanningfield/ Bicknacre, Essex – leper cemetery. ( Now a wildlife trust nature reserve)

hbooks.google.ca/books?id=15U9YIr1masC&pg=PA214&lpg=PA214&dq=leper+colony+in+east+hanningfield&source=bl&ots=rOJTct7tbN&sig=6Rbfz1zs95ZUAUGRzuH4TICFsLY&hl=en&ei=_He3TeakDsnV0QGI1ZzdDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=sister%20bridget%20&f=false

http://communities.anglicancommunion.org/communities/detail.cfm?ID=50&types=byname

Above: About the community of the sacred passion above

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Hanningfield

East Hanningfield above

Phyllis Stubbs possibly taken during the war when she was with the Red Cross

Child Hood : Phyllis was living at Stoneleigh , Epsom as an 8 year old in 1901 with her father Charles ( 50) and mother Frances (47) with a house maid , Elizabeth Barnes and a cook, Alice Palmer. The parish was S. Martin .

Phyllis aged 6

phyllis stubbs aged 6

1925, Phylis left with Mary ( peggy ) Haslam

Peggy Haslam was the daughter of Francis Stubbs( Phyllis’s sister) and the Rev. William Haslam

1957_aunt_phyllis_essex with Joan Stubbs, Joan and John would visit her for lunch, according to Dad, a very humble lunch !

1966 letter from Phylis Stubbs

phyllis death certificate

Phyllis died of heart failure, 10th November, 1978 at St. John’s Hospital, Chelmsford.

St Giles Sisters’ quarters photo 2015

grave yard at St Giles.
two stones for sisters remaining and crosses for patients
Photo : 2015