The convent scandal
“Itwas the fourth day of the hearing of this extraordinary case,” reported the Huddersfield Chronicle as it covered Saurin v Starr and Kennedy. The entire country was gripped by an incredible trial involving deception, deceit and – surprisingly – nuns. Susan Saurin, or Sister Mary Scholastica as she had previously been known, was a Catholic nun. All her siblings had become either nuns or priests, and she had travelled from Ireland to join a convent near Hull some years previously. But her life there had not been happy, and her refusal to disclose what she had said in confession, as well as her continual disobedience in sending private and “tender” letters home to Ireland, which she refused to let the Mother Superior read, had led to her expulsion from the convent.
In retaliation, Saurin sued the Mother Superior, Mrs Starr, and her companion, Mrs Kennedy, for libel, claiming they had slandered her to the bishop of Beverley. Furthermore, Starr and Kennedy had also accused her of becoming “excited” whenever a certain priest visited the convent. She was determined to sue to clear her name and her honour. The verdict? Success for Saurin.