Nuns, guns and nursing : an Anglican sisterhood and imperial wars in South Africa 1879-1902

Abstract

The Community of St Michael and All Angels, an Anglican religious community of women, was established in Bloemfontein the Orange Free State in 1874. The sisterhood was established firstly in the context of the midnineteenth century catholic revival within Anglicanism, and secondly in the context of changing roles for women which saw their increased engagement in public philanthropy. This article focuses on the work of sisters and associates of the community as military nurses in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879, the Transvaal war of 1880-1881 and the South African war of 1899-1902, and examines the extent to which community life allowed the sisters a degree of independence within a patriarchal church; analyses women’s role in the colonial and imperial enterprise in southern Africa; and explores the extent to which the sisters’ role as military nurses contributed to increased official and public recognition of a professional role for women.