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 apostolic vicar of the Cape of Good Hope, requested and obtained from the French Institute some sisters for his mission. In Dec. 1849 Maria Geltrude and four sisters landed at Port Elisabeth; on 12 Jan. 1850 they settled in Grahamstown and formed a new Congregation suited to local needs.
Three years later the apostolic vicar canonically erected the Institute and gave the sisters the first text of the Constitutions. On 2 July 1937 it obtained the decree of praise and the temporary approval of the Constitutions, which were then definitively approved on 28 Apr. 1947. In 1946 the sisters numbered 152, with 6 novices, distributed among 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 at the request of the Ordinaries.