Série F01-S057 - Annals St. Peter’s Seminary, London, Ont. series

These records were accumulated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of London, Ontario.

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On December 14, 1909, Reverend Father Michael Francis Fallon was appointed the Bishop of the Diocese of London, Ontario. Bishop Fallon strongly believed in the value of education and founded St. Peter’s Seminary in London. The school officially opened on September 14, 1912, with thirty seminarians who began their studies in theology. The first group of Sisters of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of London, Ontario, appointed to work at St. Peter’s Seminary were Sister Aloysia (Rebecca) Nigh (Superior), Sister Baptist Lysaght, Sister Josephine Fallon, and Sister Laurentia Malloy. The original construction plans for St. Peter’s Seminary were delayed for thirteen years due to the outbreak of World War I. As a result, the students and faculty resided at Bishop Fallon’s home, which was then the rectory at St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica in London. Sister Aloysia Nigh oversaw the maintenance at the Seminary, as well as she directed the building and remodeling of the Sacred Heart Convent, in London, Ontario, which later became the headquarters of the Community in 1914. On May 31, 1925, Bishop Fallon laid the cornerstone for St. Peter’s Seminary on Waterloo Street. The land was donated by Sir Philip Pocock, a prominent member of a London Catholic family. Sister Aloysia Nigh had an active role in the construction process and was instrumental in the building design and layout plans for St. Peter’s Seminary. Sister Aloysia Nigh communicated with architects and builders and had practical knowledge and foresight in planning religious houses. The stone decoration and the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas inside St. Peter’s Seminary are recognized for its design features and gothic collegiate architecture.

The official opening ceremony and dedication of St. Peter’s Seminary was on September 29, 1926. It was concurrent with the Catholic Centennial Week (September 26 to October 3) celebration of St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica and the growth of the parishes and schools within the London Diocese, and with the Centennial Year of the historic founding of the City of London, Ontario. The group of Sisters of St. Joseph assigned to ministries at the new St. Peter’s Seminary were Sister Aloysia (Rebecca) Night, who returned to serve as Superior, Sister Bernadette Kerrigan, Sister Carmelita White, Sister Demetrial Heeney, Sister Francis Borgia Ducharme, and Sister Ida Casey. The Sisters resided at St. Peter’s Seminary and helped students prepare for priesthood. The Sisters cultivated an executive level of household management. The Sisters were employed to maintain and preserve sacred artifacts that held deep symbolism for veneration. They were also responsible for the mending of liturgical vestments and holy garments, as well as performing professional domestic duties of religious significance inside the chapel, priests’ suites, and visitors’ suites. The Sisters also spent time in culinary planning, running an industrial kitchen and cafeteria dining room, and organizing the storeroom and conducting inventory.

At St. Peter’s Seminary, the Sisters also helped a Japanese youth named Katsu Iguchi who arrived from British Columbia to work in the kitchen and dining room from 1944 to 1945. Katsu Iguchi was born in Vancouver in 1923 and passed away in Toronto in 2024. Katsu Iguchi had just finished high school when, in February 1942, at the start of World War Two, the Japanese population was labeled an enemy alien and considered a national security risk by the Canadian government. The Japanese population in western Canada, including Katsu Iguchi, were dispossessed and detained at Japanese internment camps in the interior of British Columbia. The camps had no electricity, no running water, and were enclosed by double barbed wire fencing. Upon his release after several years, Katsu Iguchi was sent to Ontario and worked under the care and guidance of Sister Julien Hinchberger who oversaw the dining room, Sister Leocadia Lowes who oversaw the kitchen, and was mentored by Father Fergus Joseph Laverty, the Seminary Bursar, and Father Anthony Joseph Durand. Katsu Iguchi eventually became a chartered accountant, and never forgot the help from the Fathers and the Sisters at St. Peter’s Seminary during a difficult period of the war years. At the age of 95 years, Katsu Iguchi gifted chocolates and sent handwritten letters of deep appreciation to the Sisters of St. Joseph.

In 1973, the Sisters of St. Joseph transferred to their new residence, Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse, in London, Ontario. The Sisters continued to serve at St. Peter’s Seminary and commuted daily from Monday to Friday until 1980. Since 1912, many Sisters had worked at St. Peter’s Seminary, such as Sister Virginia Lobban who gave 22 years of service from 1958 to 1980. On November 20, 1980, a banquet event was held in honour and remembrance of the Sisters of St. Joseph and their years of service at St. Peter’s Seminary. The Sisters were gifted an engraved plaque that read, “In gratitude and deep appreciation for your generous service to St. Peter’s Seminary Community.” St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ontario is situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron Nations, and land specific to Treaty 2 (McKee Purchase of 1790), Treaty 6 (London Township Purchase of 1796), Treaty 21 (Long Woods Purchase of 1819), Treaty 29 (Huron Tract Purchase of 1827), Nanfan Treaty of 1701, Two Row Wampum Belt Treaty of 1613, and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum of 1701.

Some content within this record group contains language that is offensive, derogatory, or harmful. This language does not reflect the values of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada.
By Lyllie Sue, December 2024.

G. Robinson, “Internment of Japanese Canadians,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/internment-of-japanese-canadians, accessed 2024/12/30.

City of London, Ontario, “City of London Land Acknowledgement,” https://london.ca/city-london-land-acknowledgement, accessed 2024/10/10.

Government of Ontario, “Map of Ontario treaties and reserves,” https://www.ontario.ca/page/map-ontario-treaties-and-reserves#, accessed 2024/10/10.

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, “1939 to 1945 – World War II and the Japanese Internment,” https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn/discover-your-legislature/1939-to-1945-world-war-ii-and-the-japanese-internment, accessed 2024/12/30.

P. Fiorino, “Fallon, Michael Francis,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fallon_michael_francis_16E.html, accessed 2024/12/30.

Pine Hills Funeral Centre, “Toronto Star Obituaries – Katsu Iguchi,” https://obituaries.thestar.com/obituary/katsu-iguchi-1089560126, accessed 2024/12/30.

St. Peter's Seminary, “History of St. Peter's Seminary,” https://www.stpetersseminary.ca/About-Us/History-of-St.-Peters-Seminary/279#, accessed 2024/12/30.

St. Peter's Seminary, “Mission and History,” https://www.stpetersseminary.ca/About-Us/Mission-and-History/8, accessed 2024/12/30.

T. U. Nakano, Within the Barbed Wire Fence - A Japanese Man's Account of his Internment in Canada, Toronto, 2012.