Dates:
Occupation: religious
Known for: founding first Episcopalian religious order for women
About Anne Ayres :
Anne Ayres, born in England, emigrated to New York City in 1836 with her family. She tutored daughters of the city's wealthier citizens, until in 1845 she decided to follow a life of religious service.
There were no orders for women in either the Episcopal Church in America or the Church of England, but she gathered other women as teachers in a parish school and as charity workers. They formally organized as the Sisterhood of the Holy Communion in 1852, with Sister Anne as First Sister. The next year, the sisters opened an infirmary, which later moved to St. Luke's Hospital. In 1865 she helped open St. Johnland on Long Island, as a charitable refuge. She published a history of her own work.
