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Canon Peter John Maes was moved by the suffering of the mentally ill and wanted them to be cared for, so he founded the Sisters
of St Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus in Bruges, Belgium in 1842.
They arrived in England at Burgess Hill in 1866, where Mother Mary Raphael became the first Superior.
The original convent and care home was called St Georges Retreat. Sometimes it is still referred to by that name.
They separated from the community in Bruges in 1887 and were recognised as an English Diocesan Institute in 1900.
The name "St Georges" was taken from the Catholic Cathedral of Southwark, which was the first one built in England
after the restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy in 1850.
At the time the sisters arrived, Burgess Hill was in the Catholic diocese of Southwark, until the Diocese of Arundel and
Brighton was created in 1965.
The Sisters chapel was the original Catholic Parish church for the whole area, until St Wilfrid's church was built.
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