The story of the first Penitents at Clewer House of Mercy.
One of the most fascinating documents displayed in our exciting new exhibition Fallen (from 26 March) is a volume entitled ‘History of the Penitents’, which also forms part of the Berkshire Record Society’s new publication (coming soon). As a sneak peek to both, it forms our March highlight.
Page from D/EX1675/2/11
It contains the firsthand testimonies of half a dozen of the earliest women admitted to Clewer House of Mercy in the mid 19th century. They talk about their previous lives and their experiences in the home of Mariquita Tennant, the Spanish born widow whose work with young ‘fallen women’ - prostitutes and those at risk of falling into such a life - was to become the House of Mercy.
They reveal the shocking deprivation and degradation suffered by these young women. The first inmate, Mary Ann or Marianne George, had had several illegitimate children by the time she was 24, believed to have been fathered by her stepfather, and lived with her family in the most acute poverty in the slums of Clewer. Several of the other girls had been enticed into a brothel in Peascod Street in Windsor. One girl went there after an exhausting walk of 40 odd miles and testified:
“I thought it a most dreadful place, a perfect Hell, there, that it was - there was not one modest woman there, & of course when I got there, I was like that wretched lot.”
They also talk about their memories of the early days in the home of Mrs Tennant. One young woman remembered her first meeting with Mariquita: “The Lady told me she was very happy to see me, & hoped I should have a very comfortable home & true enough I’ve found it so.” Another girl remembered Mrs Tennant “took me in as a wandering sinner, from the snares of Satan. I liked her, directly, the minute as [sic] she spoke; she kept me a month at needlework, & then I asked her if I might not help wash & she wouldn’t let me wash then, not until the next week, & the first thing she gave me to wash was her white bed dimity - & Lady saw it & praised it & said it was beautiful.”
Image from D/EX1675/1/10/29, an illustrated sales catalogue of the House of Mercy, Clewer.
This document offers a rare chance to experience the voices of the women who entered the House of Mercy in its earliest days. There is much more to discover at our exhibition, Fallen, from 26 March.