painter, illuminator and embroiderer, was born in Liverpool, England on 9 August 1850, a descendant of Thomas More and a niece of the Benedictine monk William Bernard Ullathorne, former Australian missioner and scourge of the convict system, later Roman Catholic archbishop of Birmingham. She was one of three sisters to enter the English Congregation of the Third Order of St Dominic, founded in 1844 by Mother Margaret Hallahan with the assistance of the then Father Ullathorne. Mary Emma was clothed as a novice at the mother house in Stone, Staffordshire, on 5 November 1867, taking the name in religion of Francis Philomena; she was professed on 9 November 1868.

Transferred to the order’s convent in St Marychurch, on the outskirts of Torquay, her artistic talents were recognised. She was one of several nuns who provided designs to a terra-cotta works at Watcombe near Torquay. On the occasion of the silver jubilee of the consecration of the Bishop of Plymouth she illuminated an address to the designs of the prioress, Mother Rose Columba Adams, a work that was much admired and which included a number of miniature paintings.

Francis Philomena Ullathorne was one of the founding members of the community which came to North Adelaide in 1883 with Rose Columba Adams as prioress. In addition to her widely recognised talent for illumination, she was a particularly creative and skilful embroiderer, designing and executing a number of outstanding vestments as well as developing and directing the efforts of other embroiderers in the community. Several excellent examples of her creativity and talent in illumination and embroidery are held in the convent’s museum.

Mother Francis Philomena held the offices of sub-prioress and prioress at North Adelaide, dying in the sixtieth year of her religious profession, on 5 October 1928.

Writers:

Andrews, Brian

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2011