Hellmuth Ladies' College

Updated on Nov 22, 2024

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Motto Get Wisdom		Type Private

Active 1869 (1869)–1899 (1899) Affiliation Anglican Church of CanadaDiocese of Huron President Right Rev. Isaac Hellmuth (1819–1901)Rev. Theodore Irving, LL.D. (1809–1880) Principal Rev. Edward Noble English (1851–1918)Rev. Henry Faulkner Darnell (1831–1915)

Hellmuth Ladies' College (founded September 1869; closed 1899) was a private college for women in London, Ontario. The college was founded by Reverend Isaac Hellmuth and was inaugurated by HRH Prince Arthur. The college had no official connection with a church; but under the patronage of its founder and namesake, it was thoroughly Anglican. HRH The Princes Louise became its patroness on her visit in 1878. The college was devoted to the study of arts and sciences. It was located on Richmond Street North, just south of Windermere Road on the hill overlooking the Thames River. Hellmuth Ladies' College was complemented by Hellmuth College — for young men, founded 1865 — also of London, Ontario. Hellmuth Ladies' College closed sometime between 1899 and 1901. The properties were acquired by the Sisters of St. Joseph and transformed into Mount St. Joseph Orphanage.

Property

The land

In 1867, Isaac Hellmuth purchased 150 acres with a hill overlooking the Thames River, and commissioned the design and construction of Hellmuth Ladies’ College.

The main building

The main building was designed by Gundry & Langley, a Toronto-based architectural firm headed by Thomas Gundry (1830–1869) and Henry Langley (1836–1907). Since the closing of the college in 1899, the building served as a convent and orphanage. It stood until 1976, when it was demolished. Mount St. Joseph Academy for girls continued in that location until 1985. As of 2011, the building and its grounds are the official home of Windermere On The Mount, a retirement residence operated by Revera.

The main building took on a new role in 1899, when it was purchased by the Sisters of St. Joseph, a Roman Catholic order of sisters dedicated to caring for orphans and the elderly, educating young girls, and ministering to the poor. Under its new name, Mount St. Joseph Mother House, the building and property served as both an orphanage and a convent for the sisters.

The chapel

Isaac Hellmuth erected a small chapel, just a short walk from the main building, and named it St. Anne’s Chapel, in honor of the then Lady Principal, Anne Mills.

Norwood House

Residence of Bishop Hellmuth.

Diplimas, certificates, medals

Hellmuth Ladies' College conferred diplomas, certificates of standing, and medals. Silver medals were awarded for general proficiency; silver and gold medals were awarded for proficiency in special subjects, including divinity, mathematics, science, and languages.

Notable alumnae

1870–1876: Kate Sara Chittenden, piano; she received the Dufferin Bronze Medal for Art in 1873, and, at age 17, began to teaching there

Evelyn Johnson (1856–1937), poet

Mabel Anna Gray (1869–1949), pianist — graduated with honors in 1887; 1890 marriage to Ernest Lachmund (1865–1954), 1907 marriage to Stewart Woodford Young (1869–1931); Mabel became first music teacher in Carmel, California

Pauline Lye, pianist

May Hamilton, pianist

Louis Hall, pianist

Ephie Labatt, pianist

Ethel Strub, pianist

Anna M. Diller (born 1868; married Edwin D. Starbuck), pianist

Ruby Howe, pianist

Marian Osborne (née Marian Georgina Francis; 1871–1931), poet, 1893 marriage to Charles Lambert Bath (1858–1899), 1902 marriage to Henry Campbell Osborne (1874–1949)

C. Lucile Dora, M.A., Professor of the Romance Languages and Literature, University of Oklahoma

Madge Macbeth (née Madge Hamilton Lyons; 1878–1965), prolific Canadian author; first woman president of the Canadian Authors Association

Minnie Isabel Rogers (1857–1945), became Superintendent of Public Schools, Appleton, Wisconsin; 1878 marriage to Rush Winslow, M.D. (1843–1902)

Maggie Langdell (née Margaret Ellen Huson; 1856–1907), 1875 diploma from Hellmuth, 1880 marriage to Christopher Columbus Langdell (1826–1926), Dean of Harvard Law School

Lucy Morrow (born 1875), earned a diploma in elocution from Hellmuth in 1895, became an actress in New York City; married E. J. Hudson

Publications

The Hellmuth World, the newspaper of Hellmuth Ladies' College

Notable contributors:

Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe (1819–1906)

"Our Summer In The Valley of the Moon," successive issues, beginning May 28, 1881; OCLC 58856350
"The Lennox Library," April 2, 1881
"Unconscious Plagiarisms," June 18, 1881

Student organizations

Chi Omega, a U.S. based sorority, chartered its Phi chapter at Hellmuth Ladies' College in 1899. Its one-year presence at Hellmuth stands as Chi Omega's only international expansion in the sorority's one hundred and thirty-one years of existence. and Hellmuth's only Greek sorority.

References

Hellmuth Ladies' College Wikipedia

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