Mary Ward was a member of a Roman Catholic family during the period of persecution of Catholics in
Tudor England. Originally attempting a life of contemplation in the
Spanish Netherlands, she became convinced that she was called to serve in a more active way, especially in her native country. She saw education as the best way for women to further their own gifts and was joined in this vision by a small band of other English women. Under her leadership, they established a religious community in
Saint-Omer in 1609 which soon opened a school to educate the daughters of English Catholic families. The community was founded in the spirit of the
Society of Jesus, envisioning a life in which the Sisters would not be confined to a cloister and would be free to meet the various needs of the people they served as needed. This, however, quickly met criticism and opposition from church authorities. The Council of Trent had forbidden new religious congregations and confined religious women to enclosure. Ward's response was, "There is no such difference between men and women... as we have seen by example of many saints who have done great things." She founded houses and schools in Liège, Cologne, Rome, Naples, Munich, Vienna, Pressburg and other places, often at the request of the local rulers and bishops, but papal approval eluded her. In 1631 Mary Ward’s institute was suppressed by
Pope Urban VIII. Summoned to Rome in 1632 Mary was forbidden to leave the city Rome or to live in community. In 1637 for reasons of health Mary was allowed to travel to Spa and then on to England. She died just outside York, during the English Civil War, on 30 January 1645.
Bar Convent Frances Bedingfeld (who would go by the alias of "Mrs. Long", due to the continued persecution), was the leader of the community Ward had founded in
London, which had been leading a discrete community life since their establishment. In 1686 she received a request by a leader of the Catholic community in York,
Sir Thomas Gascoigne to provide education for the daughters of their community there. A group of sisters went there in 1686 and opened
Bar Convent, where they operated a boarding school for girls. ==Current status==