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First Catholic School
In 1845 Lay couple Mary and Michael Berg began the whole story by establishing the first ever catholic school, funded entirely from the money collected from the first catholic settlers. -
First permanent church
in 1850 the settlement had it's first permanent church, St Stephens. Almost 10 years on St Stephens was proclaimed the cathedral of the diocese after formally separating from NSW to become the colony of Queensland. On the 12th of may in that year Father James Hanly presided the first mass at the chapel. At that time Brisbane was a new settlement so St Stephen was on of the grandest buildings in the young town. Today St Stephens chapel stands next to the much larger st Stephens Cathedral. -
Bishop James Quinn
In 1861, five priests and 6 Irish sisters of mercy made their way to Brisbane aboard the Yare Yare. Then Bishop James Quinn was very surprised by the poverty of the largely Irish population, so he committed to raising the economic and social statace of catholics through education. -
St James school for boys
In 1868 the st James school for boys was established. This school was staffed entirely by Lay teachers. It was a unique model with both Lay and religious student teachers receiving their training both before and after school and working in classrooms as apprentices during the day. -
The 1870's
The 1870's was a time of growth between the Irish catholic and English protestant came a push to keep church and states separate. Laws were passed to provide free, compulsory and secular education for children and removed state funding from all religious schools. -
New schools
By 1880 there were 35 catholic schools established and they were fully funded by their community. Catholic education not only survived but flourished. It was around this time that St Mary of the cross Mackillop and the sisters of St Joseph arrived in Brisbane. Within months despite the harshness and challenges of early European settlement they began teaching. Australia Also got a new archbishop Robert Dunn during that period. -
James Duhig
Following archbishop Dunns death in 1919, archbishop James Duhig a visionary with a nontriponerious spirit could see the growing need for catholic schooling. He invested in large tracks of land around Brisbane and by 1930 had established 28 new schools. At the time of his death he was the longest serving archbishop in the catholic church. -
The great depression
The period from the great depression in 1929 to the end of WW2 (1945) saw Australia suffer the challenges of wide spread poverty and unemployment. Catholic education was then affected by a lack of teachers growing class sizes and economic challenges. CAtholic education persevered through these hard times. some schools waive their fees to help struggling families and surprisingly no schools were closed inspired by some era Mackillops message "Never see a need without doing something about it". -
Catholic education
In 1943 Father Bernard O'shea was appointed as diocesan inspector. The role renamed in 1848 as diocesan director of catholic education. We would become instrumental in leading us through the transformation of catholic education in Brisbane. Catholic education continued to struggle with the demands of its mission throughout the post war boom. The numbers within religious orders began to decline and so an increase in the employment of lay staff began. -
Lay teachers
The 1960's was a decade of strain for catholic education lay teachers were battling with stifling conditions and only equipped with two years of training before entering the classroom. Macauley college would open its doors in 1973 to include lay teachers as catholic have become more reliant on laid leadership and staff. -
A Meeting
In 1962 government health inspectors demanded three additional toilets to be installed at the Lady of Mercy prep school. Goldman's bishop John Cullinane said that there was no money, he called a meeting of catholic parents who voted to strike in one thousand students descending on the local state school for enrollment. Political parties began to reconsider state aid to non state schools and within 12 months the federal government provided grants to catholic schools. -
Francis Rush
The first Australian born archbishop Francis Rush was appointed in 1973 and over the next seven years another 12 schools emerged alongside the Queensland catholic education a statewide body managing the finding and direction of catholic education. -
Brisbane Catholic Education
The formation of north and south schools service centre's in 2010 saw Brisbane catholic education meet the expanding demands of our contemporary education community. Through your work you are contributing to our continued story!
