‘No One Seems to Notice the Dress’: Three Benedictines at Large in Hastings, 1897

Abstract

In 1897, after several nasty bouts of bronchitis, the Abbess of St Mary’s, East Bergholt, Lady Gertrude Lescher, was recommended a change of air, and, since her last attack, her physician, Dr Carey, now insisted that it was imperative for her to convalesce in clearer air. Mother Prioress, Dame Margaret Mary Lescher, laid the matter before the Bishop, who at once agreed that the Doctor’s orders should be obeyed. Carey recommended that Hastings would be the most suitable place and plans were into place. This article is based on the diaries and letters of the Dames during their stay in Hastings which are preserved in the Haslemere Collection at Downside Abbey Library and Archive.