// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Mary Charles Walker? She's a-walk-er above the rest.
Mary Charles Walker | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Margaret Mary Angela Walker 16 March 1881 Brighton, Sussex, England |
| Died | 27 February 1966 (aged 84) Chikuni, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) |
| Education | St Mary's College, 1912 |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Institute | Religious Sisters of Charity |
| Profession | 26 May 1904 |
Sr. Mary Charles Magdalen Walker RSC (née Margaret Mary Angela Walker; 16 March 1881 – 27 February 1966), was an English religious sister, teacher, missionary and founder of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus in Calabar.
Early life
[edit]Walker was born Margaret Mary Angela Walker on 16 March 1881 in Brighton, Sussex to Col Edward Walker, an Army Colonel, and Mary Josephine Walker (née Woodhead).[1][2] The fifth of six siblings, Walker was raised in a Catholic household and was educated at Mayfield School.[1][2]
On 21 November 1901, Walker entered the Dublin congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity (RSC) with the intention of serving a mission.[1][3] Taking the name "Sister Mary Charles" at her reception on 19 May 1902, Walker professed on 26 May 1904.[1][2][3] By the time of Walker's profession the RSC was no longer a missionary congregation, having severed ties with its former Australian congregation.[3]
Career
[edit]Following her profession, Walker's first assignment was as a teacher in Dublin at St. James's Primary School.[1][3] During this period Walker studied teaching at St Mary's College in Dublin, graduating with honours in 1912.[a][1][3] Walker was subsequently transferred to St Vincent's Convent School in Cork in July 1912, and to a school in Foxford, County Mayo in September 1915.[1][3] In 1914, Bishop Joseph Shanahan appealed to the superior general, Mother Agnes Gertrude, for a foundation to be founded in southern Nigeria.[1][3] In a response to a circular letter written by Mother Agnes Gertrude about such a foundation, Walker was one of the first to volunteer for a mission.[1] Whilst in Foxford, Walker authored The Catechism Notes which was subsequently used in schools across Ireland, Australia, England and Wales.[1][3] During this period Walker befriended Mother Mary Arsenius, to whom she confided her aspiration to serve a mission in Africa.[1][3]
From August 1920 to April 1921, Walker taught at Ravenswell Primary School in Bray.[1][3] Walker published her second work Caritas Christi Urget Nos in 1922.[1][3] On 11th June 1923, Walker received permission from Pope Pius XI to live outside her congregation and to work with Bishop Shanahan in Calabar in Colonial Nigeria.[1][3] Arriving in Calabar on 3 October 1923, Walker's primary apostolate was providing education.[1][4] On 15 January 1931, Walker founded The Congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus in Calabar.[4]
In 1956, Walker was sent to Chikuni, Northern Rhodesia (present-day, Zambia) to take charge of the formation of the African Sisters, the Handmaids of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1][3]
Legacy
[edit]The playwright James Ene Henshaw wrote A song to Mary Charles (Irish Sister of Charity): A play in five acts in 1984.[5] A centenary celebration marking Walker's arrival in Nigeria was held on 18 November 2023 by the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus.[6]
Bibliography
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 O'Leary, Marie (October 2009). "Walker, Margaret". Dictionary of Irish Biography (online ed.). Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.008847.v1. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Mbonu, Caroline N. (2010). "Mother Mary Charles Walker, RSC and the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus". Handmaid: The Power of Names in Theology and Society. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Biography of Mother Mary Charles Magdalen Walker". The Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus. Ikot Ekpene: The Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus Foundation. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Opara, Eucharia Ugochi (2024). "A Prophetic Women Religious in Nigeria: Mother Mary Charles Walker, RSC". AMAMIHE: Journal of Applied Philosophy. 22 (6). Owerri, Nigeria: Imo State University. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.30371.98087. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ Henshaw, James Ene (1984). A Song to Mary Charles (Irish Sister of Charity): A Play in Five Acts. Etewa.
- ↑ "Sr. Mary Charles Walker RSC – Her Astounding Legacy". Religious Sisters of Charity. Dublin. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
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