Administrative/biographical history

In September 1990, at the OutRage! Kiss-in against homophobia in Piccadilly Circus, Australian missionary nun, Mother Ethel Dreads-a-Flashback (aka. Sister Mary Anna-Lingus) met a group of activist friends. By the end of the year, the group had formed their own chapter of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence. This collection, the first of its kind in the UK, brings a wide range of material detailing the early years of the group, including fliers and publicity material, hymn sheets and orders of service, photography, minutes of meetings and internal communications.

Alongside the London House, the archive also contains material detailing the Sydney, Australia House from the mid-1980s through to the mid-1990s, an Australian “blessed relic” (FIG 1) of the order, and material relating to the Canterbury, Oxford, and Edinburgh Houses. Material donated by Mark Spencer also includes material and correspondence relating to the San Francisco House. Together, the wealth of material from chapters of the order outside of London and the UK provides a fascinating resource for individuals interested in exploring the similarities between the orders worldwide, as well as differences, in presentation, organisation, and outlook.

An order of gay male nuns whose stated mission was “the Promulgation of Universal Joy and the Expiation of Stigmatic Guilt through Habitual Perpetration and Public Manifestation”, the Sisters were an eye-catching presence at protests, demos and zaps across London and the wider country. The group would become key figures in the fight against AIDS/HIV, playing their part in education, fundraising, and awareness raising, and producing their own safe-sex guide (FIG 2).

Not only involved in queer and LGBT causes, they also took part in wider activism, including the demonstrations against the Gulf War (FIG 3). Alongside direct action, the Sisters sought ‘to bring to the gay community rituals and events that sponsored a sense of belonging, tradition, and spirituality’ (Lucas: 1997). They ran community events, took part in fundraisers for queer causes, and worked with groups including Outrage, Act Up. Photography in the collection documents many of these activities, including a charity football game between the Sisters and the Stonewall team, at which the Sisters cannot be said to have played fair! (FIG 4)

The order is perhaps best known today for their high-profile canonisations – ceremonies through which the group publicly recognised the work of individuals on behalf of the LGBTQ community by declaring them to be living queer saints. These ceremonies were wittily subversive and critical of the continued marginalisation of queer people, whilst remaining joyful celebrations of resilience, community and resistance. The canonisation of Derek Jarman, declared a saint in 1991 on the beach outside of his cottage at Dungeness, remains one of the most famous, and the collection contains copies of orders of service, hymn sheets, and photographs from the day (FIG 5).

Scope and content

Initially formed from donations made by some of the order’s founding members, including Kell w Farshéa, aka Mother Mandragora Salacious in Purple, Mark Spencer, aka Sister Belladonna in Gloire de Marengo, Glenn Palmer, aka Mother Ethel Dreads-a-Flashback and Adam Jeanes, aka Sister Sic Transit Gloria Swanson. The collection also contains material relating to the life of Simon Kennedy, aka. Sister Jack Off All Trade Master Of Nuns (1968 – 1997), and has subsequently grown to include material donated by two of the order’s living Saints, Derek Cohen, Saint Derek of Human Bondage and Bobby Pickering, Saint Bobby of All Shapes and Sizes.

Further donations include oral history interviews and material relating to the filming of Saintmaking (2021), by director Marco Alessi, as well as images donated by photographer Sandra Wong Geroux, who documented her friendship with the Sisters during her time in London in the early 1990s. The collection has been accompanied by the acquisition of the writings of Ian Lucas, aka Sister Frigidity of the Nocturnal Emission, by the Bishopsgate Library, which can be found by searching the library collections and are listed at the end of the archival list. The Bishopsgate also holds a number of photographs of the Sisters at various events and demos as part of the Gordan Rainsford photographic archive.

A generous donation from filmmaker Marco Alessi of digital material relating to Jarman’s canonisation can be found in the collection, including oral history interviews conducted during the filming of his documentary Saintmaking (2021). The archive also contains material relating to other saints recognised by the Order, including digitised footage of the canonisation of Bobby Pickering as St. Bobby of All Shapes and Sizes and Derek Cohen as Saint Derek of Human Bondage.

Designed to be an ongoing project, the archive is eager to build on its core collection and to expand to include donations from other Sisters, past and present. We are keen to acquire material relating to the history of the order as it expanded outside of London, and to better represent the diverse members of the London chapter. Should you be interested in the project or would like to donate Sisters related materials, please contact the Bishopsgate Archive team.

This project was made possible by the generous support of the University of Sussex Art History Department and funding provided by CHASE DTP. It has been, and will continue to be, overseen by Thomas Elliott, PhD candidate at the University of Sussex.

Quantity

5 Boxes and oversize items