Sister Christabel was born Lily Bourchier Emery at Smiths Falls, Ontario, daughter of Rev. Charles Philip Emery.  She attended Trinity College, Toronto and although  academically qualified, she was refused a scholarship in 1894 because she was a woman.  She became a nun in the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, a member of the Corporation of Trinity College and was the librarian at St. John’s Convent, Toronto from approx. 1920-1959.  In 1956, Trinity College granted Sister Christabel an honorary degree of D.D., making her the first woman scholar of theology to be so honored by the Anglican Church of Canada.

Fonds consists of letters and notes concerning the Oxford Movement, biographical sketches of clergymen and churches written for articles in the St. John’s Messenger.

Title based on contents of fonds.

Papers brittle.

Handwritten and typewritten.

Folder 2 missing.