Early History of St Rita’s

1885 - 1960

Version 1 – 2013

PART IV – coming to Australia and the establishment of St Rita’s College, Clayfield.

AUSTRALIA

In 1866 a group of four professed sisters and five came from in Ireland to Richmond in to establish the first presentation convent and school in the southern hemisphere.

The first Presentation school in Australia, located at Richmond, Tasmania In 1874 four sisters from Kildare volunteered for the new mission in http://presentationsociety.org.au/about/our- WAGGA WAGGA, New South Wales, at the request of the Bishop of history/ Goulbourn. Wagga means crow. And Wagga Wagga means plenty of crows! The journey was long and hazardous. They sailed in a steamship called The Northumberland. Five beech trees were planted to their memory in the grounds of the Convent, Kildare. Two of these still stand.

KILDARE to WAGGA WAGGA

In the early 1870s Father McAlroy was commissioned by Bishop Lanigan of Goulburn to recruit teaching nuns from Ireland for the schools in the Diocese of Goulburn, which then included Wagga Wagga. Father McAlroy visited the Presentation Sisters in Kildare, where they spoke so eloquently on behalf of the Catholic population of the Riverina that some volunteers offered their services for the distant mission. Five Sisters were chosen to bring Christian education to the children of the early settlers, many of whom had left their native oppressed land, so that they might be free to bring up their children in the Catholic faith.

M M John Byrne Sr M Xavier Byrne Sr M Paul Fay Sr M Evangelist Sr Stanislaus Kelly Dunne

Before leaving for the colony of New South Wales, the Sisters sought an indult (a dispensation granted by the Pope for a deviation in church law) from the Pope to teach not only the poor, but also the children of the wealthier classes. In the country districts of New South Wales the children of the pioneering landowners were often far removed from Catholic, or any education.

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On 10 March 1874 the five Sisters left Kildare, Ireland. They travelled to Georges Hill Convent, , where they stayed a couple of days. From Dublin they set off for London to embark from Gravesend on the SS Northumberland for Melbourne and then to Wagga Wagga. On 12 March 1874 they sailed along with some 85 saloon passengers and a little over two hundred second and third class passengers. It was reported that the voyage was “rapid and prosperous”. Some 6500 of the 19,000 km were under sail, so good was the weather. The Northumberland arrived at Sandridge Pier, Melbourne on 6 May 1874.

The Sisters spent some time at the Presentation Convent Windsor in Melbourne. The five Sisters left for Albury on 16 May 1874 and whilst there stayed with the for a rest period. On 28 May, they departed in Mr John Cox’s horse carriage for his Mangoplah station home, a journey of some 60 miles. At Mangoplah they were greeted by the Cox family with hearty Irish welcome.

Leaving the next morning, 29 May, the Sisters headed for Wagga. They were met twenty miles out of town by a large number of the leading inhabitants of the district, together with the first parish priest, who escorted them into town. They went to St Michael’s Church where the Te Deum was sung and God fervently thanked for the Sisters’ safe arrival.

In 1870 Wagga Wagga had been established as a municipality. There were some 2,500 people within its boundaries and about 7,000 in the surrounding districts with about 7,000 acres under agriculture. Initially the five Sisters lived in the presbytery, two small, ill-ventilated cramped rooms, vacated for their use by the priests. The priests found temporary lodging in a hotel until a very kind protestant lady, Mrs Jackson, placed at their disposal, rent free, a house which 2 later became the first Calvary Hospital, Wagga Wagga.

The stables were converted into a school for over 130 children. Each day a horse-drawn cab took the Sisters to the stable school where they first taught. This school became known as Saint Mary’s. After many years of persistent ongoing requests from the people of the area, the Bishop finally gave approval for a boarding school to be built. It was ready for its first boarders on 26 January 1890. Applications for admission to the boarding school soon exceeded the accommodation available. New additions were completed and opened in 1892.

As part of this extension the High School was named St Eugene’s in place of St Brigid’s as it had formerly been known. (Children of the more affluent citizens attended St Brigid’s upstairs above the original St Mary’s to make it possible for those less well-off to attend school.)With the growth in numbers and requirements of modern facilities, e.g. library and science, the new Mount Erin High School was opened and blessed on 12 September 1938 and extended in 1962 and again in 1972. (http://www.presentation- sisters.ie/content/view/96/121/)

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WAGGA WAGGA TO QUEENSLAND

Foundations in Queensland First in Longreach in 1900

Foundations in Brisbane

Herston 1924 Clayfield 1925 Graceville 1937 Manly 1941 Cannon Hill 1947 Norman Park 1948 Wavell Heights 1950 Northgate 1952 Ekibin 1958 Wishart 1973 Rochedale 1975

LONGREACH

The Sisters in Wagga were soon known as excellent educators, not only in primary schools but also in the convent high schools they were asked to establish. In 1899 Bishop Higgins from the Rockhampton diocese in Central Queensland, asked the Wagga Sisters to staff a parish school and open a high school, as well as a boarding, school in Longreach. This small town, as it then was, situated 700 km inland and was not marked on any map available to the Wagga community. It was, however, the centre of a very large grazing district at a time when wool was Australia’s chief export. Longreach was developing as a local capital and this new Presentation foundation, independent of its founding house in Wagga, was seen as a Catholic venture both needed and appropriate on the pioneering frontier. Bales of wool drawn by a team of bullocks on dirt road

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The archives of the Presentation Sisters regarding this venture read as follows:

In the late 1800s, the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton covered a large area of Central and Western Queensland. A railway line was being built out from Rockhampton and those building it, along with their families, would live in tents near where they were working. As the line grew longer, they would move their tents further inland. Sometimes other people would settle near the railway line, set up businesses and a town would spring up. This happened when the line reached a place they named Longreach, and a town grew up near the Thompson River. At that time there were about two thousand people in the town, but many more lived on the stations in the surrounding countryside.

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There were not many Catholic Priests in Western Queensland in those days and most of them spent a lot of time riding through the countryside on their horses, visiting the people wherever they could find them, saying Mass, celebrating Weddings and Baptising children. In 1898 the Bishop of the Diocese of Rockhampton died and Rev Joseph Higgins was chosen to take his place. At that time there was a Priest stationed in Longreach, Father Hanley and a very active group of Parishioners who helped raise funds to build first a small Church and then a Presbytery. After that they started planning for a school but wanted a community of Sisters who would come to teach the children.

Father Hanley contacted Bishop Higgins and he contacted the Bishop of Goulburn who suggested the Presentation Sisters of Wagga Wagga. In 1899 a letter was sent to the Wagga Wagga Congregation, asking if any sisters would volunteer to go to Longreach. From those, five were chosen to go. They tried to find Longreach in the Atlas but it was not marked as it was still quite a new town, just thirteen years old.

The five sisters who had volunteered to go to Longreach, left Wagga Wagga on February 1, 1900. The Parish Priest, Father Slattery, accompanied the sisters to help in any way he could. They were farewelled by the other sisters and by the children they had been teaching. While they may have been excited to be going to those who needed them, they knew they would not come back to visit Wagga for a very long time, if at all. They would become Presentation Sisters of Queensland.

The journey of about three thousand kilometres began by coal train from Wagga Wagga to Sydney. In Sydney they had to wait for a few days until the steamer was ready to leave. Then on February 5, 1900 they left Sydney in the “Arawatta” and headed for Brisbane. They had to wait in Brisbane for a few hours so a carriage was made available to take them to All Hallows, where the Sisters of Mercy made them welcome.

The railway line between Brisbane and Rockhampton was not completed at that time, so the sisters continued their journey up the Queensland coast on the “Arawatta”. On the afternoon of February 11, 1900 they reached Keppel Bay w here they were transferred to a smaller boat for the forty mile journey up the Fitzroy River to Rockhampton. Each passenger was given a cushion as they had to sit on benches for the entire journey. It was a long and very warm night but at 4am the next morning they reached Rockhampton. Bishop Higgins had sent a carriage to meet them and this took them to the Range Convent which had opened in 1873. There for some hours, they enjoyed the hospitality of the Sisters of Mercy.

Later that day, February 12, the sisters caught the train to Longreach. Bishop Higgins joined the group so as to be present for the welcome. The train stopped at many little towns along the way, picking up and dropping off passengers and goods. The sisters of Mercy, who had been teaching in Barcaldine since 1896, were waiting at that station with very welcome cups of tea and something to eat. The Parish Priest of Barcaldine, Father Lorretucci, boarded the train to join in welcoming the sisters. Longreach was reached some two hours later. Tuesday, February 13, 1900 had arrived, a day for which the people of Longreach and those travelling from Wagga had been waiting. This has been the story of those travelling. What about the people in Longreach?

Once Father Hanley and the Parishioners heard the news that five sisters from Wagga Wagga would come to Longreach, they formed a Committee to plan a ‘right royal welcome’. After much discussion and debate, it was finally decided to have a public reception to which the whole district would be welcome and in which all groups in the town could be involved. They decided on a procession from the Railway Station to St Brigid’s . This would be led by the Town Band. There had been no time to build a Convent for the sisters to live in, but Father Hanley moved out of the small cottage which was the Presbytery, until that could happen and the Committee arranged for the addition of a couple of rooms. (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Longreach&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1024&bih=628&wrapid=tlif135908197628211&safe=images&complete=0&um=1&ie=UTF- 8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=c_IBUeShKuSiigeu54GoBg#um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&complete=0&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Longreach+1900&oq=Longreach+1900&gs_l=img.3...286 85.30917.0.31264.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.HKZQA05NHOc&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41524429,d.dGI&fp=3df818c8452e778f&biw=1024&bih=628)

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As the Western Mail steamed into the Longreach Railway Station on February 13, 1900, Father Hanley, the Parishioners, the children and a large group of people from town and district, were there to welcome the five Presentation Sisters from Wagga Wagga. Bishop Higgins and the sisters were escorted to their carriages and the procession from the Railway Station, moved off – through Eagle Street, Swan Street and Emu Street, to St Brigid’s Church. The order in which they went had been carefully planned and everyone knew what they h ad to do. First came the town Band; then the different Societies each group dressed in their Regalia, the people marching two by two; then the horse drawn carriages; then the children, the parishioners and finally the general public.

When they arrived at the Church, there were speeches of welcome by representatives of the Parishioners, the children and other Parish groups, followed by speeches of thanks by Father Slattery and Bishop Higgins. The welcome ended with a time of prayer and Benediction. Though the people knew their welcome had been a very special one and though the sisters could tell everyone was very pleased they had come, yet these hours must have seemed a very long time for everyone, as they were all dressed up in their best clothes, it was the middle of a summer day and the thermometer reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius). There was no electricity so no fans, no ice, no cold drinks and no breeze. As well the sisters had come from a cold climate and their dresses were made of heavy black serge. The five sisters who came to Longreach were Sister Agatha Collins, Sister Alphonsus Burke, Sister Francis Hayes, Sister Patrick Madden, Sister Ursula Kennedy.

The sisters began classes for Primary School children on February 19, 1900 teaching in St Brigid’s Church. This was used as a Church for Sunday Masses and as a school for the rest of the week. There were eighty-nine pupils on the first day and there were only six desks and one blackboard. It took some time to build up more resources. In the next few weeks this number of students increased to 150.

The sisters had come to Longreach in the middle of a very severe drought, which was to continue for a couple more years; the summer was an extremely long and hot on; there was a scarcity of drinking water and an abundance of flies. Sister Alphonsus Burke became very ill and had to return to Wagga Wagga in April 1900. Sister Berchmans Dunn came from Wagga Wagga to Longreach to take her place. (Presentation sisters Archives)

Sr M Ursula Kennedy who before many years had passed became the loved leader of the community and, until her death in 1960, its centre of unity and tower of strength. She was supported by many generous and gifted women as these made the journey to Longreach over the years to enter the Presentation novitiate there. These entrants, joined from the early 1920s by a succession of young women from Ireland, enabled the spread of the Congregation as illustrated in the map above.

Although born in Daylesford Victoria, Alice Kennedy at nineteen years of age entered the Presentation Sisters in Wagga Wagga, NSW. She trained as a teacher and became known as Sister Mary Ursula. In 1900 she was a member of the first group of Sisters to go to Longreach from Wagga Wagga. In 1912 Sister Ursula was elected to the position of Superior General of the Queensland Congregation, a position she held for the remainder of her life.

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“The arrival of the Sisters was something new to the West. We all just wanted to see what manner of woman would come out here and pioneer their Order. We saw and were not disappointed.” (The Longreach Leader, 17th March 1950, Jubilee Issue)

Early in her life in Queensland Mother Ursula fell and shattered her hip. She overcame any setback, despite pessimistic opinions regarding her mobility, and became a familiar figure walking in her built-up shoe with the aid of a walking stick. Education of children was her sole mission in life and many requests were made for Sisters to staff schools in various Queensland centres. Mother Ursula complied with as many requests as she had Sisters to staff the schools. She encouraged, cajoled, rewarded and urged all her pupils to aim high.

In 1956 Mother Ursula was awarded the Order of the British Empire. This award was given as a token of appreciation for all her efforts in education in the last 60 years. She accepted on behalf of all her Presentation Sisters who laboured in Queensland.

Longreach Convent

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The Sisters were ready to adapt and change with changing conditions in Queensland and the Church. In 1953 their novitiate was transferred to Manly in Brisbane and, in 1960, the centre of administration was also transferred from Longreach to Brisbane. From the 1960s on, as new schools were opened, some older ones began to be closed because of population changes. The 1960s also brought the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) which challenged all religious institutes to renew and adapt in response to new needs of a rapidly changing world. This the Queensland Presentation Sisters did with careful preparation. There were changes in dress, in long-standing practices such as adopting religious names, and in practical areas of service. From being teachers, many of the Sisters undertook new ministries in new areas of need.

A number of Queensland Sisters over the years have volunteered for the Presentation Papua New Guinea mission. It was begun in 1966 as a combined commitment of the various independent Presentation congregations in Australia to mark the centenary of their establishment in Australia (1866). The Presentation Sisters have actively adopted the contemporary motto to “act locally, but think globally”. In this, they echo telling words of Nano herself: “If I could be of service … in any part of the globe, I would willingly do all in my power.” (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Longreach&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1024&bih=628&wrapid=tlif135908197628211&safe=images&complete=0&um=1&ie=UTF- 8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=c_IBUeShKuSiigeu54GoBg#um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&complete=0&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Presentati on+sisters+PNG&oq=Presentation+sisters+PNG&gs_l=img.3...2999.11572.0.12206.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.haVQK0oK42s&bav=on.

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SR GABRIEL HOGAN PBVM

When Mother Ursula Kennedy died in 1960, Mother Gabriel Hogan was elected to succeed her as Mother General of the Queensland Presentation Congregation. She was born in Ireland as Gertrude Elizabeth Hogan on the 2nd October in 1912. Like many Irish families after World War I they came to Australia in search of a better life. Gabriel enrolled at St Agatha’s School in 1925 in its first year. When St Rita’s was established in the following year in 1926 she transferred there. Hence, Mother Gabriel Hogan was one of the first students to enrol at St Rita’s.

After she finished school, Gabriel worked for a brief period before she joined the Presentation Novitiate in Longreach in 1931. Mother Gabriel taught at St Rita’s from 1938 to 1945. She was Mistress of Novices from 1949 until1960 when she was elected as Mother General of the Presentation Sisters, a position which she held for three successive terms.

It was Mother Gabriel who ensured that the Sisters all had tertiary degrees. St Rita’s had its first major “face lifts” under her leadership, when the grounds were landscaped, the chapel was built as was the Sacred Heart Centre. It was under her leadership that the Sisters moved into the 20th century in the social,

9 religious and educational spheres. Mother Gabriel was held in the highest regard by the Sisters. She served as President of the Australian Presentation Society from 1964 to 1976. She passed away on the 14th May 2003.The House of Hogan is named after Sr Gabriel Hogan.

ST RITA’S COLLEGE

In 1925 St Agatha’s parish school was opened and the Presentation Sisters were entrusted with its care. Father Frank O’Connell, the first pastor of Clayfield, vacated his presbytery for the use of the Sisters while he moved into a rented house. The next work of the parish was to be the building of the convent. As nothing seemed to be happening for this building, the Sisters looked to heaven for assistance. As the months of 1926 were passing by, the Sisters (still occupying Father O’Connell’s presbytery) often wondered if the adjoining property, owned by a Mr Charlton and situated on the summit of the hill, would ever be offered for sale.

As well as casting envious eyes on this ideal site they also cast medals of St Joseph across the fence, trusting that this great saint would come to their aid in the securing of land - land which would be needed if their work was to expand.

Also adjoining the Catholic property on the Eastern side was a still more valuable property than Charlton’s – one that contained five acres of land and a palatial residence called ‘Stanley Hall’. It was certainly an answer to the Sisters’ prayers when Mr Blume put up this magnificent property for sale in the month of August 1926. … Mother Ursula Kennedy and Mother Patrick Madden entered into negotiations with Mr Blume and finally accepted his figure of £22,000 for the property. Not having anything like this enormous sum, these Superiors applied to the Bank of New South Wales for a loan. Before agreeing to the loan of such a large amount, the Bank authorities insisted on the names of a guarantor or guarantors. Securing these was no easy matter and after applying to some individuals and firms in Brisbane without success, Rev Mother thought of the Martin Brothers, graziers in the Emerald district, who were always very well disposed towards the Sisters. These good friends agreed to stand guarantors and so the transaction took place and on August 8, 1926, final arrangements were made, the deposit money being paid with £1000 donated by Mr Fred Martin, the father of Sister Rita Martin.

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When the Blumes moved out from Stanley Hall in September 1926, the Sisters began the work of moving in.

Old carpets, linos, curtains, etc. were discarded, leaving behind countless nails and tacks of every description. The task of removing these was undertaken by the ever energetic Mother Ursula Kennedy, Sister Angela Murtagh and a few lads from the primary school. Accordingly the new College, called St Rita’s, was blessed and began in a humble way in the heritage room. The writer uses the word ‘humble’ as the number of students enrolled was only fourteen and the school room lacked many amenities on account of the enormous debt involved in the purchase of the property. (Convent Annals)

Although the school was opened in 1926, it was not until 1927 that approval was granted by the Department of Public Instruction that the College was brought into line with other Queensland secondary schools. There was one theory that the College was named after Sr Rita Martin whose brothers had gone as guarantors for the borrowing

of £22000 from the bank. As well, it was thought that the College was named after St Rita of Cascia, who had just been canonized in 1900. She was a woman who was known as the saint of the hopeless causes. At this time devotion to St Rita was very strong. What better role model to have for the young women in their care, especially when the Sisters seemed to have an impossible debt to clear?

Stanley Hall became the home of the Sisters, the boarders and also functioned as class rooms for the new school. The original pine floors had many ink stains where the ink bottles had occasionally been spilt. The grounds had many more trees than there are there today. Many had been cut to make way for the buildings 11 over the years; others had been struck by lightning. As is seen in the prospectus the syllabus offered Mathematics and Latin – subjects that were not usually available for female students. From the very beginning, St Rita’s believed that girls were able to master all subjects.

The College began in its first year with 14 students aged 6 to 15 years. With the Great Depression of the 1930s times were hard for the struggling school and with no government funding the College was unable to build facilities. It was not until 1938 that the first building was erected, the Kennedy Centre. The Convent Annals reported: there was a time when our worried superiors were very seriously thinking of selling the Stanley Hall property.

From these very difficult times a sense of solidarity in the school community developed. During the early 1930s a Kindergarten was opened which secured future enrolments.

After the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, several Sisters and the boarders were evacuated to the convent school in Murgon until 1943. After the war, Science was introduced as a subject. Music, Art and Drama played a major role in the College curriculum. Boarders’ life was taken up not just with studies and the cocurriculum. There were also cleaning chores to be done as well as participation in secret midnight feasts.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, St Rita’s was known for its high academic standards, its culture in music and drama and the sense that girls could achieve anything.

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