THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS IN TASMANIA: A PORTRAIT 1911-1988 by SEAN T. McMANUS B.A., Dip.T. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Humanities at the University of Tasmania. February 1996 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to acknowledge the following people for their invaluable assistance and support during the preparation of this thesis: * Professor Austin Gough for his enduring patience, advice and encouragement as supervisor. * Professor Michael Roe for his forbearance and consideration. * Brothers associated with the Christian Brothers' Archives in Parkville, Victoria and Balmain NSW : Linus Kelty for his advice and depth of knowledge about the Brothers in Tasmania and elsewhere, Eamon O'Brien for helping Linus Kelty compile lists of entrants to the Brothers' Australian Juniorates, Ed O'Donnell and Bill Greening. *Tony Le Clerc for sharing the fruits of his research on Archbishop Murphy in the Catholic Archives at the University of Tasmania. *Sr. Carmel Hall at the Tasmanian Catholic Museum and Archives, Mt. St Canice, Sandy Bay. *Various Christian Brothers who provided first hand accounts of their time in Tasmania, especially Jack Higgins who was a willing point of reference and check for accuracy. *The Superiors of the Launceston and Hobart Brothers' Communities who let me have an extended loan of. the House Annals and the Flood Diary. *Kevin Delaney for encouragement in slow moments. *Robert Zehmeister for advice on technical difficulties. *Peter McManus and Jack Higgins for proof-reading. *The Christian Brothers of the Moonah Community, Peter and Mary McManus, and Brendan and Simone McManus, who at various times provided space in which to undertake and complete this thesis. This work is humbly dedicated to the memory of the 400 or so Christian Brothers described herein, who following the spirit of Edmund Rice, laboured in Tasmania in splendid isolation. Sean T. McManus TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS page CHAPTER 1 CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' INVOLVEMENT IN TASMANIA,1911-1988 1 CHAPTER 2 WHO WERE THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS IN TASMANIA? 8 CHAPTER 3 COMMUNITY LIFE 20 CHAPTER 4 CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' STUDIES 53 CHAPTER 5 CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND THE OFFICIAL CHURCH 62 CHAPTER 6 TRANSFERS AND DEPARTURES 72 CHAPTER 7 WHAT PORTRAIT EMERGES? 83 GLOSSARY APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION This thesis seeks to paint a portrait of the members of the communities of Christian Brothers who taught and worked in Tasmania from 1911-1988. It examines some aspects of the Brothers: their backgrounds, their style of community life in Tasmania, their studies and their relationships with the official Catholic Church. It does not examine their work as educators, nor their schools. This has been partially done by others, James Brophy in his history, St. Patrick's College, Launceston, 1919-1991 and Tim Jetson, St. Virgil's College, 1911-1994. The sources used for this thesis have almost entirely been of Christian Brothers' origin. These have been biographies of Brothers, Annals of the Brothers' Houses, a diary of a Brother in Launceston, letters in the Brothers' Archives in Perky'Ile and Balmain (formerly at Strathfield, NSW) as well as some secondary sources written by Brothers about different aspects of their life in Australia. The use of such sources exclusively has its limitations. The view is always from the "inside." These sources are often sanitised, and written knowing that some of the people involved will be reading the material. Thus there is a lack of critical comment, a tendency to state facts rather than causes or reasons, and a lack of mention of controversy, failure or other unsavoury aspects of life in the Brothers in Tasmania. It is therefore sometimes difficult to be objective about the Brothers, or to view them from the "outside". At the same time, the very personal responses are also missing. To some extent this thesis includes the personal element, conveyed through interviews with Brothers who taught in Tasmania and who are still alive. Despite these limitations, there is still an abundance of material to enable us to explore the Brothers' life in Tasmania over three quarters of a century. Because the Brothers were not isolated in Tasmania, but came from and went back to other Australian states, we are virtually examining the typical experience of Christian Brothers in most parts of Australia during the Twentieth Century. Christian Brothers in Tasmania Abbreviations and Conventions (i) ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS: Names of Communities: Given that there have been several Christian Brothers' communities in each of Launceston and Hobart, the following will be adopted as standard names: BARRACK ST (for the original St. Virgil's College Community in (or sometimes Hobart) Barrack St ,Hobart, 1911) AUSTINS FERRY (for the second St. Virgil's College at Austins Ferry near Hobart, 1962) GAGEBROOK (for the Bridgewater-Gagebrook community about 20 km from Hobart, 1985) WARWICK ST (for the new Community in Warwick St. Hobart formed in 1988.) LAUNCESTON (for the original St. Patrick's College Community in York St, Launceston, 1919.) PROSPECT (for the community formed at the new St. Patrick's College, Prospect Vale outside Launceston, 1958/59.) CYGNET (1944-75) DEVONPORT (1960) Names of Brothers: Unless stated otherwise, any name given is that of a Christian Brother (or of someone who was an aspirant.) so "Mark McCarthy' = Brother Mark McCarthy. The word "Brother(s)" with a capital "B" will also indicate that Christian Brothers (as distinct from siblings) are being referred to. Many Brothers have been known by two names, their Christian name, and their Religious name(gvl ). In this work, they will be identified by the name they were most usually called (as in Mark McCarthy, even though his Christian name was William). Brothers who were known for a long time by a religious name and who then reverted to their Christian name, will have the religious name included in brackets: Jack (Cyril) Higgins signifies that Jack Higgins had the religious name Cyril, was known by it for some time but then reverted to Jack. Currenc In the absence of a Sterling symbol, Pounds Sterling will be denoted by the word "Pounds" after the numeral. 1 (qv) refers to a term explained in the Glossary at the end of this work. Christian Brothers in Tasmania Abbreviations and Conventions (ii) References: "Jetson" refers to a history of St, Virgil's College: Tim Jetson, St. Virgil's College, 1911-1994,-Conducted by the Christian Brothers Published by St. Virgil's College, 1994 "Brophy" refers to a history of St. Patrick's College, Launceston James Brophy, St. Patrick's College, Launceston, 1919- 1991 Published by St. Patrick's College, Launceston, 1991 "Necrology 19..." refers to a short biography of the Brother in question. An account of the life of each Christian Brother who dies in the Order is written by a fellow Brother. Since about 1892, these lives have been collated and published annually in a volume entitled Necrology. Sometimes they have been published as part of the Christian Brothers Educational Record (qv) but more usually since the 1970's, they have been published as a separate volume. See APPENDIX Al " Annals" refers to a book required to be kept in each Christian Brothers Community. The Superior for the time being of the community (or some other delegated person) writes an ongoing account of significant events in the life of the community. The Annals are not always kept methodically, and in some communities, there are gaps of several years. The Annals are kept in the community house (or at Provincial Archives if the community has closed) and a photocopy of the Annals is kept and updated in the Provincial Archives. See APPENDIX A2 "Flood Diary" refers to a diary kept in an exercise book by Brother Baptist Flood. The Diary covers his period in Launceston from 1920 till his death in 1941. The Diary is kept in the Christian Brothers' Community, York St., Launceston. See APPENDIX A3 Chapter 1 Christian Brothers' Involvement in Tasmania 1 CHAPTER 1 CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' INVOLVEMENT IN TASMANIA 1911-1988 ORIGINS The Christian Brothers are a religious order of men in the Catholic Church. They were founded in 1802 in Ireland by Edmund Rice, a wealthy Catholic merchant in the port city of Waterford. He founded the group as a response to the plight of poor uneducated youngsters in the cities and towns of Ireland . The chief way in which the group worked, was by establishing schools for the Christian education of youth (boys only). The Brothers lived in a house (often referred to as a "monastery") which sometimes was incorporated into the school building The Brothers are non-clerical, i.e. are not priests. They are equivalent to monks but are not enclosed or confined within a monastery. By 1822 the group was an approved religious order of papal jurisdiction (qv) under vows, with Edmund Rice (Brother Ignatius) as first Superior-General (qv). The order had also spread to England, soon to Gibraltar and before Edmund's death in 1844, three of his companions had sailed for Australia. 1 AUSTRALIA The first mission to Australia lasted but three years 1844-47. The three Brothers in Sydney feared for their autonomy under the Benedictinising policies of Archbishop Bede Folding and returned to Ireland after four years. 2 In 1868, Brother Ambrose Treacy established a second and enduring mission based in Melbourne which rapidly spread to Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Dunedin and back to Sydney by the early 1890's. In each of these cities, primary and secondary schools were set up, typically on the pattern of a large feepaying College (with classes from mid-primary to pre-University) surrounded by one or more poorer free "branch" schools, usually primary. A typical example would have been the College at Victoria Parade East Melbourne (later known as Parade College) with its branch schools at Fitzroy, St.