Missionaries of the Assumption of Grahamstown. — They originated from the Institute of the Sisters of the Assumption, founded in France by Eugenia Milleret de Brou under the direction of Fr. Combalot. Bishop Devereux, then Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, requested and obtained from the French Institute some sisters for his mission. In December 1849, Maria Geltrude and four sisters disembarked at Port Elizabeth; on 12 January 1850 they settled in Grahamstown and formed a new Congregation suited to the local needs.
Three years later, the Vicar Apostolic erected the Institute and gave the sisters the first text of the Constitutions. On 2 July 1937 they obtained the decree of praise and temporary approval of the Constitutions, which were definitively approved on 28 April 1947. In 1946 the sisters numbered 152, with 6 novices, distributed across 13 houses.
The special purpose of the Institute is the education and instruction of young women and, in the missions, all works of Christian charity as requested by the Ordinaries.