{{Short description|British nun and musician (1909–1991)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Hildelith_Cumming.jpg|thumb|right|Hildelith Cumming in 1976.]] Dame '''Hildelith Cumming''' (1909 – 1991), born '''Barbara Theresa Cumming''', was a British nun, printer and musician. Cumming converted to [[Roman Catholic]]ism about the age of 30, joining [[Stanbrook Abbey]], Worcestershire. There she took over management of the printing press for many years.
==Biography== Cumming was born in [[Battersea]] on 15 December 1909. Her father, Frederick Mann Cumming, was a civil engineer's assistant and her mother was Emma Georgina Love. She attended school in [[Clapham]], before studying at the [[Royal Academy of Music]]. There she also gained teaching qualifications and was appointed a piano sub-professor in 1932, however, she moved on within a year to Wentworth's [[Bournemouth Collegiate School|Collegiate School for Girls]]<ref name=ODNB>{{cite ODNB|id=49617|title=Cumming, Barbara Theresa [name in religion Hildelith Cumming]}}</ref>
Around 1930, Cumming joined the [[Oxford Group]], falling in love with one of the members, but was not given permission to marry by the group's leader. In 1940, the Collegiate School was evacuated to [[Llangollen]], where she converted to [[Roman Catholic]]ism. On 18 December 1941, she took her vows as a [[Benedictine]] nun at [[Stanbrook Abbey]], [[Worcestershire]]. She took the name Hildelith and would remain attached to the abbey for the remainder of her life. Cumming took on a number of musical roles within the abbey, including assistant organist, director of choir and director of music.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=Obit/> While at the abbey, she was bestowed the Benedictine honorific title of "Dame".<ref name=:100/>
Cumming took over management of the [[Stanbrook Abbey Press]] in 1952, after the press was recommended for closure.<ref>{{cite news |title=Yorkshire Post: Religious order contemplates Yorkshire move |work=Yorkshire Post |date=5 April 2005}}</ref> She was taught the art of printing by [[John Dreyfus]] and [[Jan van Krimpen]] and became renowned for her book designs and printing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nuns' secret trip to polling booth |work=Daily Telegraph |date=6 December 2005 |location=London, England}}</ref><ref name="Obit">{{cite news |title=Sister Hildelith Cumming - Obituary |work=The Times |date=8 May 1991 |location=London, England}}</ref> In 1976, the press celebrated its centenary, being referred to as one of the oldest functioning private printing presses in the country.<ref name=:100>{{cite news |last1=Gosling |first1=Kenneth |title=Nuns' press celebrates 100 years |work=The Times |issue=59858 |date=11 November 1976 |location=London, England |page=5}}</ref>
She retired from printing projects in 1982, after suffering a heart attack and deteriorating health. Cumming died on 19 April 1991.<ref name=ODNB />
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumming, Hildelith}} [[Category:1909 births]] [[Category:1991 deaths]] [[Category:Benedictine nuns]] [[Category:20th-century English Roman Catholic nuns]] [[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism]] [[Category:British printers]] [[Category:Musicians from Worcestershire]] [[Category:Place of birth missing]] [[Category:Private press movement people]]