This work spans nearly four centuries of apostolic endeavour. It is tempting to describe it succinctly as a biographical dictionary of the English Province, I.B.V.M., but the word Province would be anachronistic. For three hundred years there was no organisation in England that merited the term Province, and not until 1929 was the title bestowed on the English houses. The early history of the Institute in this country is played on a stage where transient actors come and go, some speaking significant lines, others - shadowy supernumeraries - making brief, silent appearances. This book records the individual history of those members whose religious -life was spent in England though some had made their noviceship on the continent, and some few died abroad. Taken together, the entries relate the fortunes of the Institute in England, but by their very nature only in a fragmentary way, so that a cohesive summary seems called for, and is therefore attempted in this introduction.
