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Timeline of Loreto in Australia

1868-1869

The house on the edge of Lake Wendouree that was to become Loreto Convent, Mary’s Mount, had been built by Edward Agar Wynne, Ballarat business man and politician in the 1860s. It was on three acres of land “well planted and well fenced”.

1872

The Education Act proclaimed in 1872 made provision for education in Victoria to be free, compulsory and secular but also the withdrawal of funding from denominational schools. A dual system of State and Catholic education developed; the Catholic sector staffed by nuns and brothers of religious orders.

1875

Dr. Michael O’Connor, First Bishop of Ballarat,1874-1883, asked the Loreto Sisters to come to Ballarat.

1875

The pioneer sisters arrived in Melbourne on 19th July from Rathfarnham. Mother Gonzaga Barry (1834-1915), M. Aloysius Macken (1840-1917), M. Gertrude Quinn (c.1820-1882), M. Xavier Yourelle (1849-1924), M. Boniface Volcker (1847-1912), M. Berchmans Stafford (1851-1907), M. Dorothea Frizelle (1852-1935), Sr. Bruno McCabe (1845-1936), Helen Hughes (1857-1939) (later M. Margaret Mary), Margaret O’Brien (c.1857-1914) (later Sr. Joseph).

1875

The Sisters purchased a house in West Ballarat and took possession on 23rd September. 1st Mass was held 24th Sept. Mary’s Mount Boarding School opened 29th Sept.

1875

The original House purchased to be Loreto Convent Dawson Street was this two storey brick residence on approximately one acre of land at No.5 Dawson Street purchased for a day school. Loreto Dawson Street opened on 4th November, 1875 just 4 months after the sisters had arrived from Ireland. A community of sisters lived and worked at Dawson Street from 1882 until 1982.

1877

The first parish school administered by Loreto in Australia, St. Joseph’s, opened in Lyons Street in March 1877. M. Gonzaga Barry built a new school on the Lyons Street side of the Dawson Street land. M. Hilda Benson was first Principal and trainees from the Teachers' Training College did their teaching practice there. In 1985 St. Joseph’s amalgamated with the Christian Brothers’ Primary School becoming St. Patrick's Primary School.

1878

M. Josephine Bolger is in the back row 3rd from the left in this photo of the Mary’s Mount community. Mother Josephine Bolger (1858-1901), Ellen Bolger, was born in Meredith in 1858 and entered Loreto in 1878 as the first Australian to do so. She spent most of her religious life in Albert Park.

1879

Annie Mornane joined the Loreto Sisters in March 1879 at the age of twenty one, the first Australian Loreto past pupil to enter. She was given the religious name of Joseph Stanislaus. Anastasia Mornane (1857-1943),or Annie, was enrolled at Mary’s Mount in 1876.

1882

St. Aloysius School began in the goldfields of Ballarat. On 24th May 1882 a new school for girls was opened in Redan and in 1882 the Loreto Sisters were asked to take over the running of this school. The new school was destroyed by fire four years later and was replaced by a brick building in 1886. The present school building was built in 1924. In 1998 the sisters withdrew after 116 years.

1884

In 1884 M. Gonzaga Barry established the Catholic Training College for Teachers at Dawson Street, Ballarat. It is the wing on the left of this photo. Directed by Mother Hilda Benson, students were admitted at 14 years old for a 5 year course. The Training College in Dawson Street was closed in 1906 when the Archbishop encouraged a centralised Melbourne college.

1884

Mother Gonzaga Barry founded a school at Portland in December 1884. A community moved into a cottage in Bentinck Street, ‘Bayview Cottage’, which had been used by Mary Mackillop and family. Later ‘Seaview Cottage’ next door was purchased which became a boys' college, St. Aloysius. In 1900 the front of the Convent was built and in 1903 the wing with the spire was added.

1885

All Saints’ Parish School opened in Portland in 27th March 1849. In 1861 Mary Mackillop and her sister, Annie, were teaching in the school. The Loreto Sisters took over All Saints' in late January 1885 after moving to Portland in 1884. In 1934 a brick school room was built and in 1963 a double storey building was built. In 2003 All Saints' amalgamated with the new Mary Mackillop Primary School.

1886

The first edition of the Loreto school magazine, “Eucalyptus Blossoms”, was published in June, 1886. The magazine appears to have been edited and possibly initiated by Bella Guerin, the first female graduate from an Australian University, feminist, political activist and teacher at Mary’s Mount.

1888

A Loreto foundation was made in Melbourne when a Loreto community moved into a small house in Merton Crescent, Albert Park in 1888. In November the community moved to "Mononia" and by 21st January 1889 they had opened a school. The new Loreto Convent Albert Park was opened on 1st August 1890. In 1924 the Albert Park Day School was closed and the students and community moved to Loreto Mandeville Hall in Toorak.

1891

S.S. Peter & Paul’s Parish Primary School South Melbourne opened in 1890 and on 26th September 1891 Loreto took over this parish school with Mother Hilda Benson as Principal. At the opening of the 1892 school year 457 pupils were enrolled.

1892

St. Michael’s Novitiate was built at Mary’s Mount in 1892. This building continued to be the novitiate for the Loreto Sisters in Australia until the building of the new novitiate at Loreto Convent Normanhurst in Sydney in 1956. The novices’ cells can still be seen in the top storey. The roof had a deck where novices could have some private recreation and where the school telescope lived.

1892

A Loreto day school at Randwick in Sydney was established in 1892. The school began in a house called ‘Selbourne’ before the community and school moved to the rented ‘Aston Hall’. ‘Aston Hall’ was sold about the time that this photograph was taken. As nothing was available in Randwick the community and school crossed the Harbour to the North Shore.

1894

In 1822 Mother Teresa Ball opened the first house of the Institute in Ireland, in Rathfarnham House, four miles from Dublin. In 1875 the Australian mission was established with M. Gonzaga Barry and nine other sisters arriving in Ballarat. In 1894 the Australian foundation officially became a Province, or affiliation, of Loreto in Ireland formalising traditional ties to Ireland. M. Gonzaga Barry became the first Provincial of the IBVM Australia.

1897

Loreto Normanhurst, north of Sydney, was opened in 1897 following the opening of Loreto Randwick in 1892 to fulfil a need for a separate boarding school in rural surroundings. Sisters and boarders moved from Loreto Randwick into the unfinished convent on 11th October 1897. Normanhurst remained primarily a boarding school up until World War II by which time Normanhurst had become a suburb and a day school was viable.

1897

The Loreto Convent in Perth was opened in 1897. Land was purchased in Claremont but later was sold. Temporary accommodation was taken at‘Albaredo’in Adelaide Terrace. A day school opened on 15th February 1897 and in August 1897 they moved to the ‘The Bracken’in Adelaide Terrace. In 1901 M. Gonzaga Barry bought the Osborne Hotel in Claremont. In 1937 the Adelaide Terrace school was closed.

1898

In May 1898 Countess Elizabeth Wolff-Metternich came to Ballarat and applied to enter Loreto Abbey Mary’s Mount as a matriculation student. She was a member of the aristocratic German family and descendant of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The Countess was required to return to Germany to settle family and financial matters but tragically died on the voyage. Her bequest made possible the completion of the Loreto Chapel.

1901

In 1901 Mother Gonzaga Barry bought Osborne Hotel in Claremont, built by James Grave, for a new boarding school. In 1938 a chapel and sleeping accommodation for the sisters were built. The old hotel building was demolished in 1963 to make way for a modern building. In 1977 Loreto Claremont was amalgamated with St. Louis College to become John XXIII College.

1902

It was Mother Gonzaga Barry’s dream to have a church at the Loreto Convent in Ballarat for the use of sisters and pupils and for profession ceremonies. The building began in 1898 but work stopped a few months later due to lack of funds. Countess Elizabeth Wolff-Metternich's bequest of approx. £16,000 made possible the completion of the Chapel. The blessing and opening took place on 10th December 1902.

1905

Loreto Convent Hamilton, formerly Hamilton Academy, was opened as a day school in 1905. About midway on the train line between Ballarat and Portland, M. Gonzaga referred to it as "the half way house". The first mass was held on 13th June. The school was passed to the administration of the Good Samaritan Sisters in 1923.

1905

Mother Gonzaga was urged by Mother Mary Mackillop to go to Adelaide in 1905 where she founded Loreto Convent in Sydenham Road, Norwood. The community and school moved to The Parade, Norwood, to conduct a boarding and day school, 1907-1920. At the end of 1920 it was obvious that more space was needed and the school moved to ‘The Acacias’, in Marryatville in 1921.

1906

The Central Catholic Teachers’ College, or CCTC, was opened on 1st May 1906 with the official opening on 5th August. It was an extension of the work done by Mother Gonzaga Barry and Loreto at the Teachers’ Training College begun in 1884 in Dawson Street, Ballarat. The College was a pioneer in primary and secondary teacher training in Australia. The CCTC closed in 1924 relocating briefly in Dawson Street Ballarat in 1925.

1907

In August 1901 Loreto moved from Randwick to Sydney’s North Shore to "Kanimbla" in Fitzroy Street, Milson's Point and then to "Fern Hill" in 1902. In 1907 the larger "Elamang" in Carabella Street was purchased. School began at Kirribilli in 1908. In 1923 the adjoining “Milson’s House” was purchased. In 1929 classrooms, the chapel and tower were built.

1908

St. Anne’s Primary School was located next to the Lodge in the eastern front corner of the grounds of Mary's Mount, Ballarat. It was established in 1908 to provide a parish school for the children living near Lake Wendouree and operated for nearly 20 years. St. Anne’s was closed in around 1923.

1909

In 1909 Mary Ward was canonically recognised as the founder of the IBVM. Her Institute had begun in 1609 but up until 1909 there had been no official recognition of her role in its foundation. This is the telegram announcing Papal recognition of Mary Ward as founder of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

1912

The Loreto Free Kindergarten, opened in Albert Park in 1912 was run by Loreto past pupils. It was located in Albert Hall, South Melbourne and then the Cathedral Hall, Fitzroy, and in 1922 in a cottage next to Emerald Hall. On 12th May 1937 a new building was opened. The Loreto Free Kindergarten closed in 1961 and building was subsequently used for the Loreto Commercial College.

1914

Loreto was persuaded by Bishop Gibney to open another school in Perth in 1914. This school was eventually to have absorbed the students of Adelaide Terrace which was to be closed. 61 Havelock Street, West Perth, was purchased by the Archbishop and leased by Loreto for three years. The school was not a success possibly due to the proximity of Adelaide Terrace and the reluctance of students to move and closed in 1917.

1915

Mother Gonzaga Barry died on 5th March 1915 and is buried in the Mary’s Mount Cemetery in Ballarat, where she founded the first house of Loreto in Australia. Mother Gonzaga believed in giving girls a liberal education from kindergarten to tertiary level. She was in the forefront of education with her establishment of schools, kindergartens and teacher training colleges.

1918

M. M. Gonzaga Barry suggested a "hostel for girls who desire to pursue their studies at university" to Dr. Carr, Archbishop of Melbourne, in 1895. In 1917 M. Stanislaus Mulhall arranged with Dr. Mannix to secure the property "Barbiston" in The Avenue, Parkville, and St. Mary's Hall opened in 1918.

1921

Mother Gonzaga was urged by Mother Mary Mackillop to go to Adelaide and a Loreto Convent at Norwood was established in 1905. At the end of 1920 the need for more space led to the purchase of ‘The Acacias’ at Marryatville. The school and community moved to Marryatville in 1921.

1924

Originally ‘St. Georges’, what is now Loreto Mandeville Hall in Melbourne was built around 1867. The house was renamed ‘Mandeville Hall’ by the new owner, Joseph Clarke, and lavishly remodelled. In 1924 the property was purchased for a new Loreto Convent; the first students transferring from Loreto Convent Albert Park. The first Mass was celebrated on 21st September 1924.

1924

St. Peter Claver's School in Dulwich, South Australia, was opened in 1920 with Miss Vera Renwick, a past pupil of Loreto Convent, Norwood, in charge. When she left at the end of that year, Miss Connell and the Sisters of St. Joseph ran the school. In 1925 the Loreto Sisters took over the school. The Sisters of St. Joseph returned to the school in 1944 and continued to teach there until 1968.

1925

In 1924 the Loreto Albert Park Day School closed with the opening of Loreto Mandeville Hall in Toorak. Many in the community also moved to Toorak but some remained in Albert Park and moved to 82 St Vincent Place where a chapel was built in March 1925. In 1974 82 St Vincent Place was sold.

1927

A Loreto Convent was established at ‘Kimendine’ in Cavendish Road, Brisbane, in 1927. Classes began in February 1928. A fortuitous win in the Golden Casket state lottery made the building of the ‘Casket Building’ possible with extended classroom accommodation.

1931

In 1928 land was purchased at Nedlands in Perth with a view to establishment of University College. However, due to the increase in population of the area a school was needed more than the university college. Loreto Nedlands opened in 1931. Senior Classes ceased at Nedlands in 1970 and students transferred to Loreto Claremont - formerly Osborne. Loreto Nedlands continues as a Primary School.

1932

St. Theresa's Parish Primary School in Nedlands was administered and staffed by Loreto sisters since its establishment in 1932. At the beginning of the school year of 1932 the new building was not complete and the school was housed at Loreto Nedlands. The new school was occupied and opened on 26th July, 1932. The school was closed in 1970.

1945

The school magazine for all Loreto schools, "Loreto", was published from 1945 until 1964.

1955

M. Gonzaga Barry initiated reunions of past Loreto pupils with the first reunion in 1898. The Loreto Federation of Past Pupils was established in 1955 with the inaugural President, Moira Dynon, and continues as a combination of the eight Loreto Past Pupil's Associations.

1956

The Novitiate for the Loreto Sisters in Australia was moved from Ballarat to Normanhurst in Sydney in 1956 when the number of new novices increased. The Novitiate was relocated to Albert Park in 1969.

1957

It was decided to open a house in Blackburn to staff the St. Thomas's School at 3 Gordon Crescent in 1957. M. Bonaventure Martyn was the first Superior of the Blackburn community.

1959

Loreto Teachers’ Training College Normanhurst was established as a primary teacher training college for Loreto sisters in conjunction with the novitiate at Normanhurst. The college was closed by 1969 as there were few students requiring primary teacher training and alternatives places of teacher training were available.

1962

The South Melbourne Commercial College was opened in the premises of the former Loreto Free Kindergarten to meet a need in the area. The first Principal was Mother Joseph Halloran. The Commercial College was closed in 1976 and sold to the Archdiocese for the use of St. Joseph's Technical School

1962

The Commercial College at Dawson Street Ballarat was opened firstly with evening classes held in the Library. On 9th June 1963 day classes began and on the 11th June classes commenced in the top floor of the new building. The Commercial College was moved to the old St. Joseph's parish school building in 1984 and closed in 1996.

1965

The new Sacred Heart Parish Primary School in Thornlie was staffed by two Loreto Sisters in 1965. They travelled to school from Nedlands in the first car bought and owned by the IBVM in WA. In 1969 Loreto took responsibility for the four schools in the Thornlie area. The sisters withdrew from the Sacred Heart School at the end of 1990 after 25 years.

1965

St. Philip's Primary School in North Blackburn was opened on 8th February 1965 with 153 children and three Loreto teachers. Loreto withdrew from the administration of St. Philip’s in 1979.

1966

St. Mary’s Hall had been established in 1917 as a hostel for female university students. The site had never been convenient to the University and in 1966 the site adjoining Newman College was secured. The new St. Mary’s College was built in 1966.

1966

Located on the corner of Napier and Clarendon Streets, South Melbourne, Our Lady’s School was previously run by the Sisters of Mercy catering for the St. Vincent de Paul's Girls' Home. At the request of Mon. T. Power P.P., Loreto took over staffing and administration in February 1966. The school on this site was closed in 1987.

1969

Loreto House in Albert Park was purchased in December 1968 to serve as Provincial residence, community and novitiate. The sisters moved in on 23rd June 1969.

1970

Loreto was asked to take responsibility for St. Francis Xavier School in Armadale in 1970, taking over from the Sisters of Mercy.

1973

In 1973 Mother Antoinette Hayden initiated the Institute's work in Broome. Sisters Myrene Erdman and Mary-Ellen McCormack went to Broome to begin a community and to work in St. Mary's Parish School. In 1992 the administration of schools was passed to the Catholic Education Office in Perth. The school was moved to a new site by stages during 1989-1994. St. Mary's was amalgamated with Nulunga College in 1995.

1975

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a Parish Primary School founded in 1940 in Coorparoo Brisbane. In 1974 Loreto took over the administration of Mount Carmel School when the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception withdrew to pursue their missionary apostolates. Loreto withdrew from the administration of Mount Carmel in 1987.

1975

In July 1975 the Cobden Street, South Melbourne, Community was established to provide a base for Loreto sisters working in the Parish.

1976

Loreto was asked to take responsibility for the Kelmscott’s Good Shepherd Primary School W.A. in 1976. Sister Louise Pritchard was appointed Principal for the first year, followed by Sr. Helen Murphy. Loreto withdrew from the administration of Kelmscott in 1983.

1976

A community was established in Armadale, Western Australia, in 1976. Up until 1970 Sisters had been travelling from Thornlie to work at St. Francis Xavier's School in Thomas Street Armadale. In the first term of 1978 the three sisters working at the school moved to the community at Nedlands and the house reverted to the Parish.

1978

A house in Lyons Street, Ballarat, was purchased in 1978 to provide accommodation for an apostolic community to undertake pastoral work in the Cathedral parish.

1978

Gnowangerup is a remote town south east of Perth. Sr. Peg Flynn opened and ran the Youth and Home-maker Centre from 1979 until 1981.

1980

St. Thomas More Primary School is a Parish school situated in Cuthbert Street, Alfredton, Ballarat. The first two Principals were Loreto Sisters - Sister Jacqueline McGilp 1980-1981 and Sr. Cynthia (Victor) Wright 1982-1986. Sr. Louise Ritchard designed the plans for the school with Father Madden. Loreto association with the school ended in 1986.

1980

Paradeiser Haus Community was named after one of Mary Ward’s early foundations in Germany. This community was established in 1980 in Adelaide as an experimental financially independent community. The small community was set up as a model for living and working with the lay people at a grass roots level.

1980

A Loreto community was established at Thornlie on 23rd February 1980 in Spencer Road. Three of the community served as Principals of the three parish primary schools in 1980. At the end of 1983 the IBVM withdrew from the principalships of Willeton and Kelmscott. The sisters withdrew from the Sacred Heart School at the end of 1990 after 25 years.

1981

A Loreto Formation Centre was opened in Brunswick in February 1981. The purpose was to provide a community for candidates and novices with some professed sisters away from the larger community at Albert Park. When an alternate Formation House was purchased in Hawthorn, the Brunswick community was disbanded at Easter time 1982.

1981

In May 1981 Sr. Pauline Prince, at the request of Bishop Jobst, went as a nutritionist with Kimberley Health to the Looma Aboriginal Community. Sr. Pauline set up alcohol rehabilitation program and provided pastoral care. Sr. Pauline also worked to preserve the local Nykina language at Looma.

1981

Two adjacent houses in Parafield Gardens were rented through the South Australia Housing Trust in 1981 to form the Parafield Gardens Community. The sisters’ work included assisting Vietnamese families settle into new houses and in Parish schools.

1983

In November 1983 a community moved to Hawthorn to establish a House of Formation, or Novitiate, for the Institute.

1984

The Mary Mackillop Primary School in Portland was built in 1984 on the corner of Fawthrop and Must Streets. Loreto Sister Teresa Lowery was Principal for one year to help with its establishment.

1985

A community at the Lygon Street Housing Commission flats in Carlton was established in 1985 and worked as a residential support group.

1986

Loreto had been in Broome since January 1973 and in 1985 at the request of the local community Bishop Jobst who had invited the Institute to send two Sisters to Lombadina to run the school there and to undertake catechetical work at One Arm Point. Srs Mary Prunty and Francine Roberts were appointed and began work at the beginning of 1986. In 1989 secondary classes commenced and in 1991 a new school building was opened.

1988

Srs Mary Roarty and Jan Niall left Brisbane to begin a six month experimental mission in Darwin.

1989

Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak was the first Loreto school in Australia to appoint a lay principal. Previously all Loreto Principals had been Loreto nuns.

1991

In 1991 a Loreto foundation was made in Western Sydney at Mount Pleasant. The west was one of Sydney's fastest growing areas and one of its economically and socially deprived. The new community undertook parish work.

1991

In March 1991 a community at Tinning Street Brunswick was established.

1992

In 1992 the first School Council in a Loreto school was appointed at Loreto Mandeville Hall.

1994

The mission in Hay was started in 1994 as a rural ministry where sisters undertook parish work.

1995

Sr. Helen Parer began the Loreto mission in Alice Springs in 1995, teaching at the Santa Teresa Mission.

1996

Centacare Catholic Family Services, under the direction of Loreto Sister Margaret Mary Flynn, was established in 1996 as an office to extend social welfare services to families and children on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes. The Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes covers a vast area (52%) of NSW and includes many rural and remote communities of outback NSW.

1997

An international IBVM project, the Australian branch of JPIC (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation) was formed in September 1997 after a meeting in London. The IBVM network decided to focus on the ways in which women in particular are affected by injustice, violent conflict and environmental destruction.

1997

In July 1997 Loreto's status as a non-government charitable organisation (NGO) was approved by the Vietnamese government. Projects are undertaken to help young Vietnamese students in rural and inner city areas, providing educational opportunities; safe housing; supporting vision-impaired children; and launching a highly resourced school for children with intellectual disabilities.

2000

Work on the restoration of the Loreto Chapel in Ballarat was completed in 2000. The work was assisted by a bequest by past pupil, Lucy Kerley.

2002

Three Springs is a small farming community in the Geraldton Diocese of Western Australia. In 1999 Loreto established a ministry to Three Springs and outlying towns. Activities included reflection/prayer groups, children's religious instruction groups, visiting hospital and aged care, ecumenical programs and church services, voluntary caring groups, visits and supporting the parish priest.

2002

Mary Ward International was established in 2002 by the Loreto Branch of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was an international initiative originating from the IBVM international leadership team in Rome with the intention that every Loreto Province would eventually have its own MWI Office. All MWI offices would work together to raise funds and support projects under the guidance of the international office.

2004

The first web site for Loreto Australia was launched in 2004.

2004

The Abbotsford community was established in 2004.

2004

The Holland Park community was established in Brisbane in 2004.

2006

The Loreto mission to Timor Leste was established in 2006.

2008

The administration centre for Loreto Australia moved to office space in Auburn Road, Melbourne.

2009

The 400 Year Anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of the Blessed Mary in 1609 was celebrated worldwide. A Pilgrimage to Rome was a major event of the year.