Clara Jane (Mother Berchams) McLaughlin (1856 - 1931), by Dorothea Hanly, courtesy of Campbelltown City Library. 002918, with the permission of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan Archives, Sydney. .Image Details

McLAUGHLIN, CLARA JANE (1856-1931), Sister of the Good Samaritan, was born on 25 January 1856 at Sodwalls, New South Wales, sixth daughter of John McLaughlin, innkeeper, and his wife Mary Clare, née Loftus, both from Ballina, Mayo, Ireland. Clara was educated by the Sisters of Mercy at Bathurst and entered the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict at the House of the Good Shepherd, Pitt Street, Sydney, on 2 February 1876, taking the religious name Mary Berchmans. The congregation had been founded in 1857 by Archbishop Polding to assist needy women but its members soon became involved in education. Sister Berchmans was professed on 25 March 1879 and taught at various schools in New South ...

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Source:

Australian Dictionary of Biography