Edith Renouf: The Woman Who Made the Beginning Possible

Born into privilege, Edith Renouf chose a life of service. Her generosity brought the Sisters Hospitallers to London and helped lay the foundations of St Teresa’s Home.

Behind the foundation of St Teresa’s Home stands a woman whose name deserves to be remembered: Edith Renouf. Long before the first resident crossed the threshold of 46 Roland Gardens, Edith had made a decision that would change the course of the Hospitaller mission in England. By placing her property and resources at the service of the Sisters Hospitallers, she opened the way for a new Home in London.

Yet her contribution to St Teresa’s was only one chapter in a life shaped by a profound concern for people experiencing poverty, illness and vulnerability.

A life shaped by generosity
Born in London in 1864 into a wealthy family, Edith could have lived comfortably within the privileges of her upbringing. Instead, she gradually chose a different path, dedicating her resources to the care of others.

Her relationship with the Sisters Hospitallers began in Guernsey, where she entrusted her home and the work she had established there to the Congregation. It was the beginning of a lasting connection, rooted in a shared commitment to caring for those most in need.

In 1925, that relationship took another important step when Edith offered properties in London to the Sisters. Her generosity created the opportunity to establish a new Hospitaller presence in the capital, one that would eventually become St Teresa’s Home.

She was not simply donating a building. She was making it possible for the Sisters to bring their mission of Hospitality to a new community.

“I was born rich, I lived poor…”

Edith’s understanding of wealth was inseparable from the way she chose to live.

Although born into privilege, she believed that what she possessed should serve a greater purpose. Her personal commitment was reflected in the words associated with her:

“I was born rich, I lived poor, and poor is how I wish to die.”

These words offer a glimpse of the woman behind the generosity. For Edith, helping others was not an occasional act of charity, but a conviction that guided her life.

She died at Le Platon Home in Guernsey in 1956. In keeping with the simplicity she had embraced, she asked to be buried alongside the people who had lived there.

From her generosity to a Home in London
When the seven founding Sisters arrived at 46 Roland Gardens in 1925, the property was far from ready to welcome residents. The house had been unoccupied for some time and required considerable work before it could become a Home.

The Sisters set about transforming it, drawing on their determination, faith and experience of caring for others. What Edith had made possible through her generosity gradually took shape through their daily work.

On 14 August 1926, St Teresa’s welcomed its first resident.

That day marked the beginning of a story that would continue through generations of Sisters, residents, staff and families.

Remembering Edith in our centenary year
As St Teresa’s celebrates 100 years of Hospitality, we remember Edith Renouf as an essential part of its beginnings.

Her decision to share what she had made it possible for the Sisters to establish a Home in London. The care that began within its walls in 1926 has continued and evolved over the following century, sustained by the commitment of all those who have become part of its history.

Edith did not live to see everything that St Teresa’s would become. Yet the Home remains a lasting expression of the purpose to which she devoted her life: placing what she had at the service of people who needed care.

A century after its foundation, her generosity remains part of the story of St Teresa’s, and of the Hospitaller mission in England.