Janet Erskine Stuart

Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ (11 November 1857, Cottesmore, Rutland – 21 October 1914, Roehampton), also known as Mother Janet Stuart, was an English religious sister in the Roman Catholic Church. She founded a number of schools.

Stuart left the Church of England and converted to the Catholic Church in 1879. She joined the Society of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton three years later and, in 1911, became Superior General of the Society.

Biography Early life Stuart was born on 11 November 1857 in Cottesmore, Rutland, where her father, Andrew Godfrey Stuart, a son of Earl Castle Stewart, was the rector. Her mother, his second wife, was Mary Penelope Noel, a relative of the Earl of Gainsborough.

Janet was the youngest of thirteen children in the family. She lost her mother at the age of 3, and was raised by her elder sister. By the age of 6 Janet had become well acquainted with the Bible and would often look at theological questions with her brother. She lived in rural Rutland and would often explore the land around her, developing a love of flora and fauna, as well as an ability to find comfort and relief in nature. Stuart was named Mistress of novices on 12 February 1889, She also visited convents from Europe to Egypt, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. Stuart directed the Society’s administration from their main office in Ixelles, Brussels until 1914, when she had to return to Roehampton due to the German occupation of Brussels that began in August 1914. Janet Erskine Stuart died on 21 October 1914.

A source for the life of Stuart is the Life and Letters of Janet Erskine Stuart (1922) by Maud Monahan.

Beatification process A cause for Stuart's beatification was opened , and she was granted the title of a Servant of God. Theologians approved her spiritual writings in the 1950s.

Legacy Digby Stuart College, a constituent college of the University of Roehampton, England, is named after her. Doane Stuart School. Rensselaer, New York, US Erskine College, Wellington, New Zealand, is named after her Stuart Country Day School, Princeton, New Jersey, US Stuart Hall for Boys, a K-8 school and Stuart Hall High School, a high school for boys, both in San Francisco, California, US Stuart Hall School for Boys, New Orleans, US Stuartholme School, a Catholic day and boarding school for girls aged 12–17 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia