2017 Journal

Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society Volume 38 2017 1 Cover image: Detail of a window in the northern wall of St James’ Church, Glebe, dedicated by the then Parish Priest Father Hugh Callachor OSB to the memory of Rev Myles Athy OSB. The image depicts St Benedict of Nursia experiencing a vision of heaven. He is being embraced by an angel. In the background (not seen in this photo) is the Madonna holding an infant Jesus. Due to its opacity, black is uncommon in stained glass work, blue or grey often being substituted. Here the craftsmen have remained true to the traditional black of the Benedictine habit.1 The window may have come from the studios of Falconer and Ashwin, Sydney. Several other windows in the same part of the church and thought to have been installed at the same time are considered to have come from that atelier. The date of installation is unknown, but is believed to have been in the early 1890’s.2 Journal of a Voyage to Australia 1855-56 by Myles Athy, is reviewed by Michael Hogan on page 138. Photo credit: Giovanni Portelli. Endnotes 1 Guidance from Fr C Fowler OP. 2 Giedraityte, Danute Stained and Painted Glass in the Sydney Area, MA Thesis, Sydney University, 1982, Section A 2 Journal Editor: James Franklin ISSN: 0084-7259 Contact General Correspondence, including membership applications and renewals, should be addressed to The Secretary ACHS PO Box A621 Sydney South, NSW, 1235 Enquiries may also be directed to: [email protected] Executive members of the Society President: Dr John Carmody Vice Presidents: Prof James Franklin Mr Geoffrey Hogan Secretary: Ms Helen Scanlon Treasurer: Dr Lesley Hughes ACHS Chaplain: Sr Helen Simpson 3 Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society vol 38 2017 Contents Colin Fowler, An early Catholic household at Pyrmont: the family of Sydney’s first Town Clerk. 6 James McDonald, Henry Curran, bushrangers, and a Boorowa dream .....................................20 Roderick O’Brien, Saigon, Cholon and Julian Tenison Woods. 34 Colin Fowler, NSW Catholic clergy and the Boer War: for and against. 43 David Hilliard, The Sisters of St Joseph: recent historical publications. 59 Bernadette (Santamaria) Tobin, B A Santamaria: his contribution to Australian politics . 68 Patrick Morgan, The parallel careers of Arthur Calwell and Archbishop Simonds . 74 Jose Cerda, Warrane College: The difficult beginnings of an Opus Dei university residence in Sydney . 84 Chris Geraghty, A pathway into the tradition of Christian misogyny. 104 Garry Trompf, Was the Reformation providential? .................118 Book reviews Paul Collins, A Very Contrary Irishman: The life and journeys of Jeremiah O’Flynn, reviewed by Janice Garaty . 136 Anne Wark, Journal of a Voyage to Australia 1855-56 by Myles Athy, reviewed by Michael Hogan. 138 Brian J Sweeney, Bishop Matthew Quinn and the Development of Catholic Education in New South Wales 1865-1885, reviewed by Anne Wenham ................................141 Val Noone, Nicholas O’Donnell’s Autobiography, reviewed by Pamela O’Neill ............................... 145 Report of Rosendo Salvado to Propaganda Fide 1900, reviewed by Irene Franklin ................................ 148 Jeff Kildea, Hugh Mahon: Patriot, Pressman, Politician. Volume 1, reviewed by John Luttrell ................................. 150 4 Damian Gleeson, Faith, Hospitality and Service: St Martha’s Parish, Strathfield, reviewed by Edmund Campion ................... 152 Damian Gleeson, The Rock of St George, reviewed by Moira O’Sullivan ............................. 154 M T Crowley, A priceless treasure: Sister Teresa McDonald, Pioneer Sister of St Joseph 1838-1876, reviewed by Robyn Dunlop ....... 156 Race Mathews, Of Labour and Liberty: Distributism in Victoria 1891-1966, reviewed by Michael Easson. 158 John Luttrell, Norman Thomas Gilroy: An obedient life, reviewed by Michael Costigan ............................. 163 Hilton Deakin, Bonded through Tragedy, United in Hope – The Catholic Church and East Timor’s Struggle for Independence: A Memoir John D’Arcy May, Imagining the Ecumenical: A Personal Journey reviewed by Michael Costigan ............................. 171 Robyn Dunlop, Planted in Congenial Soil: The Diocesan Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar, 1883–1917, Part 1, reviewed by Janice Garaty ................................ 181 Robin Jensen, The Cross: History, art and controversy, reviewed by Lawrence Qummou ........................... 184 Paul Casey, ed. Where Did All the Young Men Go? Kevin Peoples, Trapped in a Closed World: Catholic culture and sexual abuse, Victor Michniewicz, St. Columba’s College Springwood – The Story of a Local Landmark: A History of the Seminary Years and Beyond, reviewed by Michael Costigan ...................... 187 Gerard Windsor, The Tempest-Tossed Church, reviewed by Chris Geraghty . 195 Alan Hogan Enjoy the Good News: A New Testament Guide, reviewed by Helen Scanlon ................................ 199 Book notes Margaret Muller, Father Paul Gardiner SJ, note by James Franklin 201 Warren Mundine, In Black + White: Race, Politics and Changing Australia, note by Irene and James Franklin ..................202 Louise Milligan, Cardinal: The rise and fall of George Pell, note by James Franklin . 204 Obituary: Paul Bernard Gardiner (1924-2017), by Roderick O’Brien 205 5 An early Catholic household at Pyrmont: the family of Sydney’s first Town Clerk Colin Fowler* The story of the family of Charles Henry Chambers, resident in Pyrmont from 1843 to 1854, provides interesting insights into the development of Sydney’s Catholic community. Charles, a graduate of the King’s Inns in Dublin and a member of the Protestant Church of Ireland, arrived in Sydney from England with other free settlers aboard the barque Britomart on 8 March 1822. Within a few days of disembarking, he was admitted and sworn as an attorney and solicitor of the ‘several Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction in the Colony’.1 Initially he took up a position in the Provost Marshal’s department, but soon indicated his preference for private practice, placing an advertisement in the Gazette on January 1823: ‘Mr Charles Henry Chambers, of Hunter Street, Attorney at Law, Solicitor, and Proctor, requests us to state, that he intends, henceforward, to pursue his professional practice, upon all occasions, wherein the Public may be pleased to favour him with employment.’2 His career in Sydney was now underway. Charles quickly established what would become a lifelong pattern of generous giving of time and money to worthy causes. His first recorded benefaction was interestingly towards the building of St Mary’s Church at the eastern edge of Sydney town. The Gazette in June 1823 published a ‘Supplementary Subscription List of the Roman Catholic Chapel, Hyde Park, under the Patronage of His Majesty’s Colonial Government’. Fifth on the list of 39 subscribers was C H Chambers Esq. He donated two guineas towards the slow progress of the building whose foundation stone had been laid in 1821. At that inaugural event the list of benefactors had been significant, beginning with Governor Macquarie’s subscription of £21. Exceeding His Excellency in generosity were three emancipated Irish convicts transported because of involvement in the 1798 rebellion: William Davis and his wife, £100; James Dempsey, a stonemason who became the 1 Sydney Gazette, 22 March 1822. 2 Sydney Gazette, 23 March 1823. * Colin Fowler is a member of the Australian Province of the Dominicans. He has a doctorate in the history of 17th century philosophy from Deakin University. He recently published a history of the Sydney parish of Pyrmont (1867-2017), where he was parish priest from 2004 to 2013. His book 150 Years on Pyrmont Peninsula: The Catholic Community of Saint Bede 1867–2017, was reviewed in JACHS 37 (2). 6 Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 38 2017, 6-19 An early Catholic household at Pyrmont: the family of Sydney’s first Town Clerk church’s builder, £30, and James Meehan, the government surveyor who chose the site of the church, £30. Following the Governor’s example there were many members of the government and military administration and Protestant establishment who subscribed. The support of the building of St Mary’s was an early example of an ecumenism that would become rarer as sectarianism came to dominate relations between the churches. In May 1824 Chambers was among the first solicitors admitted to practice in the newly established Supreme Court of New South Wales by Chief Justice Francis Forbes.3 With the establishment of the Supreme Court, military control of law and justice in the colony had finally been eliminated. Six days after the admission, Charles welcomed his wife Lucinda to the Colony. The first of the Chambers children, Margaret Elizabeth, was born on 19 April 1825 and baptised on 16 May at St James Church of England by the Reverend Richard Hill. The choice of church for baptism could have been made at the insistence of the Protestant father and compliance of his Catholic wife, or because of a preference for an elegant church and gentlemanly clergyman. The newly completed and fashionable church of St James with its refined English minister was in contrast to the nearby roofless St Mary’s and its irascible Irish priest John Joseph Therry. That Lucinda was not at ease with the Anglican baptism was evidenced by Margaret Elizabeth’s appearance in the baptismal register at St Mary’s eighteen months later, 29 November 1826, together with her brother Lawrence David. The officiating priest was Father Therry. Lawrence’s godparents were James Dempsey and Mary Dwyer, widow of Michael, the ‘Wicklow Chief’. Both James and Mary would have been conveniently close at hand; Mary was housekeeper to Father Therry and James was supervisor of works at the still incomplete St Mary’s. Adding further to evidence of religious confusion in the Chambers household were the baptismal records of the last two children: Charles Henry junior, born in 1829, was baptised by Rev Richard Hill at St James; Henry John Joseph born on 7 June 1831 was baptised by John Joseph Therry at St Mary’s on 29 June.

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