Every month, the inside front cover of the magazine reminds us of Mrs Castleman, the benefactor from Missouri, whose generosity allowed St Ursula's to be built. I have been searching out old records to try and throw light on our history in preparation for our centenary in 2006, but Mrs Castleman has me stumped.
Think back to 1904. For the past sixteen years, the English community have been holding their Sunday service in the hall of the Lerberschule, in Nägeligasse. Their young chaplain, Herbert MacDonald, supported partly by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, lodges at one of the pensions in town. A chance arises of acquiring the prime site in Kirchenfeld used for the jubilee display in 1891. The English-Berne Land Company, who own it, will sell it for a token sum, as long as the English community can find the money to build a church by the end of 1905.
The sums involved are trivial in today's terms. A thousand pounds - or 25,000 francs (the exchange rate was a bit different then!). But in 1904, a pound a week was regarded as a good wage (a pint of bread was 2d and a 2 lb loaf of bread cost 3¾d; in Berne, potatoes were 7 rappen a kilo and a working man might expect 25 rappen per hour). Despite a contribution of Fr 10,000 from the Gasthofverein, the committee in charge of the appeal are way short of their target.
In 1905, another young chaplain takes over - Gilbert Sissons. The fund is still way below its goal. Gilbert's father is Medical Officer of Health for North Lincolnshire, Gilbert's 65-year-old mother is suffering from a goitre. Providence takes over. The Sissons have heard of the world-famous Professor Kocher, who has perfected a life-saving operation to cure this condition. (The operation will earn him a Nobel Prize in 1909.) Gilbert's mother comes to Berne, and her operation is completely successful.
At the same time, Mrs John Castleman comes to Berne. She has an adopted daughter, Ursula Postlethwaite, who also has a goitre. She is from St Louis, Missouri, and may well have heard Professor Kocher address a congress there in 1904. Ursula's operation is also a complete success. The two mothers talk, and in gratitude, Mrs Castleman donates the money needed to reach the Fr 25,000.
In 2006, it would be nice to get in contact with any descendants of Mrs Castleman, or of Ursula Postlethwaite. But neither the 1900 U.S. census nor the 1901 British census record any Ursula Postlethwaite. Ursula is said to have come from Yorkshire, but a search of the birth indexes has drawn a blank. There were several John Castlemans in Missouri in 1900, but all in humble circumstances. The pair are a mystery waiting to be solved. Perhaps by you?
HD