Originally founded in Sussex, England in 1855 to care for the poor and ill in the surrounding countryside, this Episcopalian religious community came to Boston in 1873 to act as superintendents of a children’s hospital. The sisters moved to three townhouses on Louisburg Square in 1883 which they used as a convent, chapel, and small hospital. Here, they expanded their nursing and evangelical teachings to reach the sick and poor on Beacon Hill and its environs. They ran St. Monica’s Home, a nursing home for Black women and children, on Joy Street and later in Roxbury until 1988. In 2012, the St. Margaret’s Community moved the Motherhouse to Duxbury although the Sisters continue to have a presence in Boston. Several Sisters live in a small residence in the city and maintain urban ministries with St. Stephens church in the South End and the Be Safe program. Additionally, there are mission houses in New York City (Manhattan) and Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
