The Canossian Sisters first set
foot in Singapore in December 1894, less than 60 years after the death of our Foundress,
St Magdalene of Canossa. They had come from Macao at the request of the Portugese Mission
in Singapore to run the girls' school that the Mission had started. This was to become the
present St Anthony's Canossian Convent Primary and Secondary Schools.
In 1895 the Sisters opened the Orphanage and Boarding School with 8
boarders and 5 poor orphans. They were affectionately cared for. The younger ones attended
school while the older girls helped in the household chores and learnt sewing and
embroidery in order to become self-supporting. In 1920, Minnie Nunes, a boarder who came
to the convent when she was 12 stayed on... first working as a laboratory assistant and
later as a receptionist is still a receptionist with us today, into the third millennium.
In 1896, Sr Anna
Bennet from Hong Kong was appointed as the principal of our school St Anthony's Convent
which became a government aided school. The enrolment doubled and a new wing was added in
1898.
On 5 May 1905, four Sisters from Singapore went to Malacca
and took over the running of a co-ed school. They also started a boarding house for
girls in need. The school named Sacred Heart Canossian Convent, blossomed from Primary to
Secondary levels.
In 1930 St Anthony's Convent in Singapore was
raised to the status of a Primary House and became the headquarters for the Sisters both
Singapore and Malacca. There were 16 Sisters in Singapore and 9 in Malacca.
