The story of St Mary’s Convent starts in 1840, with Bishop Thomas Walsh discussing with Catherine McAuley and authorising the foundation in Birmingham of a convent for the Sisters of Mercy. This was to help meet the needs of a rapidly increasing industrial population facing spiritual and economic dearth.
To plan and fund the construction of a convent required strong support, which brought together some of the greatest names in post-Emancipation Catholic Life. Bishop Walsh introduced Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, to the Catholic businessman and benefactor John Hardman, whose daughter Juliana was to become first Mother Superior at St Mary’s. John Hardman agreed to fund the construction of the convent. He donated a site near his home in Hunters Road, Handsworth and this resulted in St Mary’s Convent being established in what was then a semi-rural location. John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury provided funds to endow the convent and encouraged the architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin to be commissioned for the new building. Bishop Nicholas Wiseman welcomed Birmingham's first post-Reformation religious community to its new home in August 1841 and almost immediately afterwards, the new community launched into delivering the Mercy charism through caring for orphans and serving the poor, sick and disenfranchised.
Soon known informally as the 'Walking Sisters', their frequent visits to people at home brought a new sight to Victorian Birmingham - women in religious habits in the town's most deprived streets providing visible solidarity with the poor, and at a time when Roman Catholics still tended to be circumspect about their religious affiliations.
Whilst in Birmingham, Catherine McAuley had observed a need to care for orphans and these were addressed at St Mary’s, initially within the main convent building, until such time as dedicated accommodation could be funded. This arrived in 1844, when a House of Mercy was constructed behind the main convent. Part of this was allocated to orphans, the remainder being provided for the care of vulnerable girls and young women.
In 1850, classrooms were established for a school for children from poor families and in 1858, St Joseph's Boarding School was constructed next to the House of Mercy. Throughout the 19th and for most of the 20th century there have been Sisters of Mercy teaching in schools throughout the Diocese as well as in the Convent grounds. In 1934 the schools here at St Mary’s became known as St Mary’s High School and St Mary’s Elementary School. In 1942 a bomb fell on the Church, Training Home and School. In 1953 the remains of St Mary’s Church were demolished and the site of the Church, the Training Home and some of the gardens were handed over to the Diocesan Charitable Trust for the benefit of St Francis’ Parish. Two classrooms were built on the site of the Church and the remaining ground was used as a playground.
The St Mary’s Convent school closed in the late 1960s and in 1970 the former Convent School and commercial laundry were demolished. December 1997 saw the end of St Mary's direct involvement with teaching in the area, when the last Sister left St Francis School. From then, the community began to discern how St Mary's might develop in the future, now that the Sisters had all retired from formal education. A plan was developed which saw St Mary's Convent close for refurbishment in 2003 and in 2005, the Mercy Centre officially re-opened at St Mary's Convent, with a focus on Spirituality, Heritage and Outreach Work. The Sisters are directly involved with or even lead the activities of some groups (such as school or parish groups) while in other cases St Mary’s just provides a base for activities or place for spiritual contemplation or quiet time. Sisters also undertake pastoral and liturgical work of the Sisters within St Francis Parish. It is true to say that Mercy is still very much alive here at St Mary’s Convent.