I am a Sister of Mercy working at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland,
USA. The project I’m doing is fascinating—at least for me! My job is to write
mini-biographies (about 1300 characters-with-spaces) of all the Sisters of Mercy who have
served at our hospital since 1874 (about 290 Sisters). When possible, I’m furnishing
photos of the Sisters or photos of something connected with them.
One of the Sisters, Mary Timothy Mullen (Baptismal name, Isabel Mullen) was born in
Scotland of Derry-born natives Patrick and Bridget Mullen.
The typed community record lists Isabel’s [place of birth as “Camlenslang,
Scotland.” The closest name I’ve been able to find on the Web is
Cambuslang/Cammuslang. I’m beginning to think that what I’ve run into is a
typographical error on the record!
I’ve been using geograph.com.uk for photos of Sisters who emigrated from Ireland.
Today, I came upon your photos and writings about Cambuslang and was delighted! I think
I’m going to presume that the record before me is indeed a typo, and list this town
as Isabel’s native place.
I have two questions for you:
1. Have you ever heard of Camlenslang, Scotland?
2. If not, may I use one of your photos for my project?
These mini-bios and photos are for in-house use; our hospital has a video wall and
we’re planning on uploading our materials so that employees and visitors can enjoy a
bit of Mercy history.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you, Ed.
Sister Regina Werntz, RSM (Irish, German, and Polish—but my soul is Irish)
P.S. By the way, several years back I accompanied a group of students on a tour to
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. We only spent one day in Scotland—in Edinburgh—and
the beauty of the country made me hope that one day I’ll be able to return there for
a longer stay. We’ve had Sisters of Mercy in Scotland since the 1850s, I believe.
Sister Regina Werntz, RSM
Mercy Health Foundation
Mercy Medical Center
Shamrock Building, Fifth Floor
Phone: 410-332-9343
email: srrwerntz@mdmercy.com
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Dear Sister Regina Werntz
A worthy exercise. Perhaps you will send me a copy when it's completed?
'Camlenslang' does not exist with that name, and is most probably 'Cambuslang', Old place
names spellings varied greatly, and yes; you can use as many photos as you want.
If you provide Isabel Mullen's date of birth, I can find out exactly where she was born.
There was an Isabella Mullen born there in 1911, Could that be her?
Cambuslang is full of Irish descendent folks. My paternal grandparents and my maternal
great grandparents all came from Ireland in the 19th century. When I lived there my local
church was St Brides
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Dear Ed,
I knew from your name, of course, that you are of Irish descent! My grandmother, Sadie
Cain, whose family (Cains and Murrays) came from Co. Galway married Levi Werntz whose
ancestor, Conrad Werntz, arrived in the American colony of Pennsylvania in 1729!
Here’s the information I have on Sister Mary Timothy (Isabel Mullen):
DOB: February 1888 in Cambuslang, Scotland
Parents: Patrick and Isabel McEllhenney (or McEllhinney) Mullen (both born in Limavady,
Co. Derry—I think town’s spelling may also be incorrect; I found a Limavady)
Date of Baptism: February __ 1888; name of Church isn’t given—possibly St.
Bride’s?
Looking up the information for me is very kind of you. Thank you!
When I complete the bio I’ll be happy to send it to you.
Gratefully,
Sister Regina
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From: ED [mailto:edboyle303@tiscali.co.uk]
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 5:12 PM
To: Werntz, Sr. Regina
Subject: RE: Cambuslang, Scotland
Here's an extract of her birth certificate attached.
She was born at 74b Westburn Rows, Newton, Cambuslang. These were probably coal
miner’s houses. See att 1890 map.
Current Google location http://goo.gl/maps/bVA38
Her Baptism may have been in the nearest church - St Charles Newton
Hope this helps?
Ed
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Dear Ed,
I’m thrilled with all you sent. Thank you! I checked this email account yesterday but
your email just popped up today. I loved receiving Sister Timothy’s birth
certificate. Interestingly, her mother signed the register but the other babies’
fathers signed theirs. Perhaps she was baptized on a weekday while the others were
baptized on a Sunday when the dads could be present.
I noticed that Patrick Mullan was a Colliery Pit headman and the other two baby’s
fathers were miners. I’m originally from Shamokin, Pennsylvania and my grandfather
and great grandfathers were miners. In northeastern PA we have anthracite coal while in
western PA (Pittsburgh) they mine soft coal. Many Scottish immigrants settled in the
Pittsburgh area while we had many Welsh in the Scranton, PA area (many mines—the
Protestant Welsh were the owners and the Irish were the miners).
Ed, thank you also for the wonderful map of Westburn Rows. I am very familiar with row
houses, as many in northeastern PA were built for mining families.
I just “happened” upon your Cambuslang photo gallery and legend, Ed. Have you
done others? I’d like to see them; it’s like an armchair travelogue.
We celebrate Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, Ed. In my prayers tomorrow I’ll remember you
and yours. I also intend to tell my brother Phil and his wife of your great kindness.
God bless!
Sister Regina
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From: ED [mailto:edboyle303@tiscali.co.uk]
Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2012 6:11 AM
To: Werntz, Sr. Regina
Subject: RE: Cambuslang, Scotland
Hello again
Glad I was able to help.
I've also contacted the parish in Ireland where her parents married. A girl there is going
to do some research. I'll keep you posted on results.
The birth extract I sent only shows a summary of the birth details and is a computer
generated form edition for online viewing. It comes with 3 different peoples' birth
details to save space. There would have been an original standalone certificate for her
still held in government archives. So the other names shown may not necessarily have been
catholic.
Have you noticed the difference in years from the parent’s marriage in 1869 to her
birth in 1888? She would have been aged 42.
The British government does not concern itself with church records such as a baptism. So
she could have been baptised a couple of weeks after her birth as was and is the church
custom here. See mine attached
No idea why the mother signed the form. Maybe the husband couldn't write? As was the case
then.
You are right about employment details. The main employment in this area from the mid 1800
until about 1970 was coal mining and steel works. My grandfather was born about a mile
away in 1887 (my grandmother in 1888) and he was a coal miner. My father worked in an iron
works and I too worked in steel works when I left school.
Yesterday I carried out some research on the census information for Scotland; I found the
following on the 1891 census...
The family left Ireland sometime after 1877. The may have emigrated to USA, where daughter
Bridget was born (according to the census)
They are in Scotland in 1888 for Isabella's birth.
The 1891 census summary is as follows...
1. Father Patrick aged 50 born in Ireland (estimated year of birth is 1841)
2. Mother Bridget aged 46 born in Ireland (estimated year of birth is 1845)
3. Michael aged 18 born in Ireland (estimated year of birth is 1873)
4. Mary aged 16 born in Ireland (estimated year of birth is 1875)
5. John aged 14 born in Ireland (estimated year of birth is 1877)
6. Bridget aged 6 born in America (estimated year of birth is 1885)
7. Isabella aged 2 born in Cambuslang
That census also shows that they had moved from Westburn Rows to another part of
Cambuslang by 1901. There is no trace of the family in Scotland after 1901, so presumably,
had re-emigrated to USA by the next census taken in 1901. It interesting to see the birth
details of Bridget in America. This is unusual. Perhaps your records will shed some light
on this puzzle?
Best wishes
Edward
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Dear Ed,
Advent Blessings! Sorry it took this long to get back to you. The last 10 days at work
were hectic, and my internet/cable/phone bundle at home wasn’t functioning properly.
You sent me so much information! Thank you! It was very interesting to learn that Bridget
Mullen was born in the USA and several years later the family was back in Scotland!
That’s when I wish I could discover what was going on in a family’s life: was
there illness? A death in the family? Unemployment?
I went scoured the 1910 U.S. Federal Census looking for Bridget Mullen, since you had
wondered what had happed to her (remember? Born in the USA around 1885). Well, half way
through the 6200 women (Mullan, Mullen, Mullin, Mullins) I thought, “She must be
married at this point!) Since the census (unfortunately) didn’t include women’s
maiden names it’s a real challenge finding married women. I continued through all
6200 names but to no avail. There was no point checking the 1900 Census as the family was
still in Scotland at that date.
I spoke with a Sister who knew Sister Timothy Mullen and said that she was a really lovely
Sister with a great sense of humor. I wish I could write more than the allotted 1300
characters-with-spaces. However, all that you sent will be forwarded to our archives in
Belmont, North Carolina and placed in her file.
Ed, I’ll send you what I have written—which may change somewhat before I’m
happy with it.
Thank you again for all this work; I’m really grateful. I wish there were more time
in the day to spend on these little biographies. In the meantime, I’m going to try
and track down a photo of her.
Gratefully,
Sister Regina
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From: ED [mailto:edboyle303@tiscali.co.uk]
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 5:03 PM
To: Werntz, Sr. Regina
Subject: RE: Cambuslang, Scotland
Hello again Sister Regina
Thanks for the copy of the biography. With your permission I intend to post this (your
final rendition) on my 'Old Cambuslang' website along with my own background information.
I am sure this will add a valuable interest to all who (from worldwide) visit my site and
have an interest in local issues.
With regard to Bridget Mullan (the correct surname spelling seems to be important in
tracing the family) Mullan with an 'A'. It seems strange that they arrived in Scotland
after her birth in the US, at that time, they did not seem to have any prior connection to
Scotland, apparently went to the US directly from Limavady in Ireland. It may be that
things did not work out initially in the US; they then tried their luck in Scotland, but
found things there were not that good either, so cut their losses and returned to the US.
- Just a guess!
www.ancestry.com seems the best genealogy website for tracing the family movements. An
example here...
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=ms_r_f-2_s&gsfn=bridget&gsln=mullan&mswpn__ftp=scotland&msbdy=1885&msbpn__ftp=usa&uidh=000
I do not subscribe to this website so cannot access its details.
It would be tremendous if you could provide a photo. I'm beginning to become close to this
story, and to see her image would somehow complete the quest.
Keep in touch
Ed
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Hi Ed,
So good to hear from you again! If I ever get to Scotland (and I do hope that happens) I
hope we have a chance to meet. I’m pleased that you want to post the story of Sister
Timothy Mullan (whose name became Mullen here) on your website; wait till I have a chance
to revise it a bit, won’t you?
Re the spelling of Mullan: when I read what the U.S. census-takers have recorded, I wonder
if some of them ever learned to spell; I feel that some of them just sounded out the names
rather than asked people how they spelled them. Of course, with some immigrants here who
perhaps did not know English or spoke broken English, they may not have been able to spell
their own names correctly!
The Sisters of Mercy were, by and large, very good record-keepers. When a woman entered
the convent a century or more ago, she was given a page in a register on which were
printed all the pertinent information. During WWII, our convent in Bermondsey (designed by
Pugin and the first convent to be built as such since the Reformation) was bombed and the
Sisters were forbidden to enter it. They did anyway, to retrieve our archival treasures,
including the register and artifacts from the Crimean War, where our sisters served with
Florence Nightingale. Our annals of foundations here in the US, particularly those from
the West, are amazing!
Have a good day, Ed.
Sister Regina
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Dear Ed,
Greetings from Baltimore and Happy New Year!
I want you to have a photo of Sister Timothy Mullen and the latest version of the bio.
Please feel free to add what you know, as I was limited by the numbers of
characters-with-spaces.
Effective February 1st, I’ll have a new ministry. My community leaders have asked me
to be the Community Life Coordinator (in pre-Vatican II, the person with my job
description would have been called the Mother Superior!) at Mercy Villa, our retirement
center for Sisters of Mercy here in Baltimore. I will complete my mini-bio project on the
Sisters of Mercy, however.
This is, in a sense, a 24/7 ministry as I have been asked to reside with the retired
Sisters. Although I will begin working there on February 1st. my move-in date is February
15th.
I would like you to have my contact information:
Sister Regina Werntz, RSM
Mercy Villa
2806 Bellona Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21212
email: rwerntz@mercysc.org
Ed, I have forwarded all of your emails to me to my community email account so I
don’t lose all the information you sent me.
Please email me from time to time and let me know what you’re working on.
Thank you again, Ed, for all you have done to help me in pursuit of Sister Mary Timothy
Mullan/Mullen. I shall email all of the information you sent me to our national Sisters of
Mercy archives in Belmont, North Carolina.
Sincerely,
Sister Regina
January 2013
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Sister Timothy Mullan, RSM 1888-1962
One of the few natives of Scotland to become a Baltimore Sisters of Mercy, Isabel
Mullan was born in Cambuslang, Scotland on February 4, 1888. Her parents, Patrick and
Bridget McEllhenney Mullan (original spelling), who emigrated to Cambuslang from Limavady
in County Derry, Ireland, were probably drawn there because it was the country’s
steel manufacturing center. Isabel’s arrival date in the United States is unknown,
but she entered the Sisters of Mercy on January 6, 1906. Receiving the name Sister Mary
Timothy, she professed her religious vows on November 14, 1908. Sister Timothy was engaged
in domestic service in Mercy ministries throughout her life. She was missioned to Mercy
Hospital for nine years (1913-1915, 1926-1928, 1933-1938), serving in Mercy’s Fifth
Hall, dining room, and kitchen. Saint Catherine’s Residence in Washington, DC, was
Sister Timothy’s place of ministry for 15 years, while she spent 13 years at Mount
St. Agnes and 10 years at St. Vincent’s Male Orphan Asylum. In addition, she was
assigned for one year each to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in Port Richmond, VA;
Little Flower in Woodstock; and Villa Maria in Towson. In 1961, she received her last
assignment, to Holy Family in Randallstown, MD. Sister Timothy died at Mercy Hospital on
March 6, 1962.