Margaret Mary Cunningham was better known as Sister Henrietta Marie. She served the Maryknoll Sisters and was sent to China in October 1936 to the Kongmoon (Jiangmen) mission, Guangdong for language study. However, in January 1937 likely due to her teaching background, she was quickly reassigned duties as a kindergarten and primary school teacher in the Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloon Tong.
After the fall of Hong Kong, she was at Maryknoll Convent School. On 8 February 1942, eighteen Sisters of the school including Sister Henrietta Marie were interned at Stanley Camp. During internment, she worked as secretary in the diet kitchen. In September 1942, Sister Henrietta Marie and other Maryknoll missionaries were released from confinement (see here). After gaining permission from the Japanese authorities, she left Hong Kong and worked in the inland missions of China.
At the end of the Pacific war, she returned to Hong Kong to continue her work in the field of education. Sister Henrietta left Hong Kong in 1968.
Source
1. Maryknoll Mission Archives: https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-sisters/sister-henrietta-marie-cunningham-mm/
2. The Diaries of the Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong, 1921-1966. See here
3. The Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong. See here
4. Catholic News Service - Newsfeeds dated 1 March 1943. See here
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Comments
Maryknoll Sisters Interned at Stanley Camp
Moddsey, I was pleasantly surprised to recognize the names of several of the Maryknoll Convent sisters who were interned at Stanley Camp as per your posts. I studied at Maryknoll Convent School from kindergarten through primary and secondary school. Sister Henrietta Marie taught us Biology and was well liked by all her students.
In primary school, Sister Matthew Marie and Sister Santa Maria were two of my favorite teachers. Sister Santa Maria died in 1982 and was buried at St. Michael's Cemetery in Happy Valley. On a visit back to Hong Kong, I visited her grave in a section of the cemetery where several Maryknoll nuns were buried, not far from my maternal grandmother's grave.
Sister Mary Dorothy was a tall nun with a great sense of humor. When asked if she was six feet tall, she would reply, "I'm only five feet twelve inches tall"! She taught at Maryknoll Convent for eight years before she was interned. After her mission work in China and India, she returned to Hong Kong until 1982.
During the war, the Japanese used the school building as a hospital. In 1945, when the building was then under British Military Authorities, it was still functioning as a hospital. In September and October of 1945, a small group of seven nuns were living in a small bungalow at 331 Prince Edward Road. Through the efforts of Sister Mary Paul and Lt. General F.W. Festing, a portion of the building was released in December 1945, and the sisters were able to return, sharing the building with 600 Japanese until May of 1946. The building was in bad need of renovation, and a squad of Japanese prisoners of war was assigned each day to work on the building and the grounds.
Sister Ann Mary left for Hong Kong in the summer of 1928 where her teaching skills were much appreciated at Maryknoll Convent. After being interned and caring for the orphans in Macau with two other nuns, she returned to Hong Kong to reopen the school on January 8, 1946, as Headmistress. She held that position for several years.
Sister Mary Paul was instrumental in overseeing the plans and construction of the school building. She returned to the Motherhouse and was elected to the office of Assistant Mother General in early 1946, but continued to help with the rehabilitation of the school.
Sister Mary de Ricci, who was one of the interned nuns, became the headmistress in later years. My kindergarten teacher, Sister Rosemary, was not interned. She was assigned to Hong Kong in 1931 where she remained for sixty years, until 1991, with the exception of the wartime years and short periods spent at Maryknoll in New York.
Moddsey, thanks for your research and posts of the 18 Maryknoll nuns and the other Americans and priests who were interned during the war at Stanley Camp.