The community was founded in Clerkenwell, London, by Etheldreda Anna Benett (1824 – 1913) in 1866.The Religious Communities of the Church of England (1918); Allan T. Cameron Mother Etheldreda had been associated for some years with the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor, and finally joined that Order as a novice in 1864. In 1866 she took simple vows as a professed sister, and immediately left to found the new Order, the Society of the Sisters of Bethany.Details recorded in the Bournemouth Daily Echo newspaper. In the early days there was encouragement from founder members of the Oxford Movement including Edward Bouverie Pusey and Richard Meux Benson.See reference on SSB timeline.
