Born:  Teresa Newcomen was born Teresa Vansittart in London in 1813. Her parents were Henry Vansittart of Kirkleatham and Teresa Newcomen.

Educated:

Married: Teresa Vansittart married her cousin Arthur Newcomen on 11th July 1841. Her husband died in 1848 and Teresa never re-married.

Family:  Teresa and Arthur had four children: Arthur, Charles, Teresa Alice and Eveleen.

Home: In the 1840s Teresa and her husband lived at Kirkleatham Hall. Later she lived in Coatham Hall. In 1875, the Community of the Holy Rood that she founded opened a sisters’ home in North Ormesby, which was where she died.

Known for: Teresa Newcomen built churches, hospitals and convalescent homes. Christ Church, Coatham, built in 1854, was founded and endowed by Mrs. Newcomen and she was the patron of the living. In 1861 she gave £4,500 to build the Coatham Convalescent Home, which was run by the Sisters of the House of the Good Samaritan. It was demolished in 1951. Teresa Newcomen was the Mother Foundress of the Community of the Holy Rood and she supplied the funding for the establishment of the cottage hospital in North Ormesby and later in Middlesbrough.

Died: Teresa Newcomen died on 29th April 1887 at North Ormesby.

Further Information:  “The History of North Ormesby Hospital” Geoffrey Stout (1989)

“The Religious Communities of the Church of England” by Allan T. Cameron (1918)

“The Call of the Cloister: Religious Communities and Kindred Bodies in the Anglican Communion” Peter F. Anson (1964)