St Patrick's Convent is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic convent at 45 The Strand, North Ward, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was built in . It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 February 2012.
History St Patrick's Convent, the oldest known surviving purpose-built convent in Queensland, is a timber-framed two-storey building located on The Strand at Townsville. It was built for the Sisters of Mercy during 1883 and was a substantial improvement on an earlier one built for the Sisters of St Joseph. They had worked in the parish since 1872, establishing a school and convent, before leaving Townsville early in 1878. The Sisters of Mercy arrived later that year. This representative convent building has been the base for the Sisters of Mercy mission in North Queensland for almost 130 years.
Townsville was established as a port to service the pastoral lands of inland North Queensland. Founded in 1864 by John Melton Black and Robert Towns, after whom the city is named, it boomed following the discovery of gold in the late 1860s and early 1870s at the five nearby towns of Capeville, Ravenswood, Georgetown, Gilberton and Charters Towers. By the 1890s Townsville was the main port in North Queensland, superseding Bowen which was founded as Port Denison in 1861. Townsville's location provided a sheltered port in Cleveland Bay and Ross Creek, with road access to the interior. This was complemented by the growth of railways to the west, the first stage of which was built to Charters Towers in 1882.Kerr, John, Triumph of Narrow Gauge, 1990, Brisbane: Boolarong Publications, p. 43 Early industries included wool, cattle grazing and mining. Townsville was, and continues to be, the main commercial centre supporting the inland settlements and the growth of the sugar industry along the coast.
Catholicism in Queensland expanded following the separation of Queensland and the creation of the Diocese of Queensland. Newly appointed Bishop James Quinn arrived in Queensland, accompanied by five priests and five Sisters of Mercy, in May 1861. At the time the population of the Colony of Queensland was 30,059, with 7696 (39%) of these being Catholics. From 1866 both Anglican and Catholic visiting clergy held services in the courthouse in Townsville. In October 1868, Quinn acquired two adjoining parcels of land on the corner of Fryer Street and The Strand.Certificates of title 10136120; 10136121 Father James Connolly was sent to Townsville in 1871, and St Joseph's Church and presbytery were built shortly after. The Anglicans built St James' Church in 1873 and established a school in 1877, predated by the National School, established in 1869.
The Sisters of St Joseph, the order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop, arrived in Townsville in 1872, initially living in a couple of rooms at the rear of the presbytery. In 1873 a small low-set shingle-roofed timber convent was built behind the church, and a school was established. The sisters taught around 100 students at that time, and it was the first convent school in North Queensland.Queenslander, 29 March 1873, p.10; Queenslander 28 June 1873, p.3. In 1876 tenders were called for the erection of a school house, and the following year, tenders were called for the removal and enlargement of the convent.Townsville Herald, 28 February 1877 In 1877 the convent was relocated on the site and enlarged to eight rooms to accommodate orphans and boarders. As a consequence of an argument between the sisters and the parish priest Father Connolly, the Sisters of St Joseph departed Townsville in March 1878, accompanied by 15 orphans, and then resided at the South Brisbane Convent.The Queenslander, 30 March 1878, p.5 By October 1879, the Sisters of St Joseph relocated to their Adelaide motherhouse, having been driven out of Queensland by Bishop Quinn.Brisbane Courier 30 October 1879, p.3.
Father Connolly's successor in Townsville, Father William Mason Walsh, who was to serve the parish for almost 30 years, arrived in August 1878. He reportedly requested the services of the Sisters of Mercy to resume the operation of the school, although this is likely to have been initiated by Bishop Quinn. Walsh quickly organised a bazaar to fund a new convent.Brisbane Courier, 26 August 1878, p.5 Prior to their arrival, Father Walsh had arranged for the existing convent house to be renovated and repainted and a shed was built to house the school and was being furnished.
The Sisters of Mercy arrived in November 1878.Townsville Herald, 9 November 1878 The order had been founded in Ireland by Catherine McAuley in 1831, with a mission to improve social justice through educational, religious and social services to women and children who were at risk of homelessness, exploitation and entrenched poverty. In essence their commitment was in the service of the poor, sick and uneducated.Sisters of Mercy web site They were the preferred order of Bishop Quinn who when replacing the Sisters of St Joseph with the Sisters of Mercy in Mackay in 1879 stated: "I want first class education given in all leading places". After Father Walsh acquired allotment 3 on Mitchell Street,Certificate of title 20010140 a boarding school known as St Patrick's, was re-established on this site during 1880.Queenslander, 8 January 1881, p.52. The non-vested primary school remained named St Joseph's, situated in Fryer Street.
Bishop Quinn died in September 1881, and Italian priest Dr John Cani became his temporary replacement. Robert Dunne was inducted into the role of Bishop of Queensland. However, in December Dr Cani was appointed to a new diocese of Rockhampton, created to service central and north Queensland. The Rockhampton Diocese was extensive, beginning just north of Bundaberg and reaching up to Halifax, west to the Northern Territory border, with its northern border just south of the Gulf of Carpentaria.Boland, T P, James Duhig, 1986, St Lucia, University of Queensland Press, p. 88. Far North Queensland was served by the Pro-Vicarate of North Queensland, established in 1876, which encompassed the area north of Halifax and included Cape York.QHR entry for James Cook Historical Museum, 600423. In 1881 the Sisters of Mercy in Townsville were teaching 130 girls, 87 boys and 188 infants. During the following decade, the Sisters of Mercy took over schools in Charters Towers (1882) and Bowen (1885).
In the meantime, a new dormitory was added to St Patrick's boarding facilities by local architects and builders, Rooney Brothers. It opened in October 1882 and provided room for a further 18 beds.Brisbane Courier, 30 October 1882, p.3 The only other boarding school to have operated in Townsville prior to this was a small private establishment operated by Mrs Deakin O'Reilly in 1875. The longevity of this establishment is unknown. Three other short-lived schools operated in the late 1870s through to the mid 1880s. The last of these, Dr Thomatis's grammar school operated briefly between 1881 and 1886. Townsville Grammar, established in 1888 housed boarders, as did St Anne's Anglican girls' school, which started with six boarders in 1917The Cathedral School, Townsville web site. thereby making St Patrick's the oldest operational boarding school in Townsville.
Construction commenced on the new St Patrick's Convent after Father Walsh acquired another allotment on The StrandCertificate of title 20004180 to the north of the church in 1882. The foundation stone for the convent was laid by Dr Cani on 21 January 1883. The ceremony included the admission of four novices into the convent and the initiation of the building fund.Brisbane Courier, 27 January 1883, p.6 The exact date of the building's completion is unknown. Photographs of this building depict a two-storey timber colonial structure with verandahs to the front and sides and a small central gable. St Patrick's is the oldest extant purpose-built convent in Queensland.Gibson-Wilde, Dorothy, 'Architects of Townsville 1884-1914', report commissioned by Division of Heritage, Department of Environment and Heritage, Brisbane, 1992
Rapid expansion in the region led to a growth in ecclesiastical buildings to service the population. Between 1876 and 1891, Townsville was the fastest growing region of Queensland with the town's population more than doubling from 5,410 in 1881 to 11,454 within the five years to 1886. A second storey was added to St Patrick's boarding school in 1887.Cleveland Bay Express, (information supplied by National Trust of Queensland) During 1888 another church, St Mary's was established at West Townsville, as well as a school managed by the Sisters of Mercy, who travelled every day from The Strand.
The expansion of buildings in Fryer Street and on The Strand was not without setbacks. St Joseph's Church was dislodged from its foundations during major flooding in January 1892 and had to be demolished. Water also entered the convent grounds to a depth of six feet, partially undermining one corner of the building, as well as washing away some stumps of the home of architect Matthew Rooney in Fryer Street. The recently erected church belfry was left standing but listing at a 45 degree angle.Brisbane Courier, 3 Feb 1892, p.7. The flood resulted from a two-day rainfall of over .North Queensland Herald 3 February 1892, p.15 After the flood, Mass was held in the school for many years. Fr Walsh resolved to build a church on higher ground and began planning for a large new church situated in Stanley Street, at the foot of Castle Hill. A design competition was held in 1894 and the resultant Church of the Sacred Heart, which opened in 1902, became known as the Townsville Cathedral. At the time there was a perception that Townsville was soon to become the seat of a new diocese of North Queensland, excised from the northern part of the Rockhampton diocese. Despite the fact that there were 3000 Catholics in Townsville at the turn of the century, the new diocese was not created until 1930.
The Sisters of Mercy initiated what is now the oldest operational high school for girls in Townsville. Early in 1892, they advertised the commencement of a University Class at St Patrick's Convent on The Strand. At the end of the year, it was reported that four students had passed their junior examinations.North Queensland Herald, 7 December 1892, p. 11. By 1900 junior and senior examinations were offered, as well as teacher registration examinations at St Patrick's.North Queensland Herald, 3 Sept 1900, p. 19. These exams were set by Sydney University until 1910 when Queensland University began setting its own papers based on the Sydney model.Brisbane Courier, 24 November 1910, p, 5; 20 November 1911, p. 6. At this time in Queensland, only private high schools such as Townsville Grammar existed. Established in 1888, it accepted its first female student in 1893 and became co-educational in 1905. Grammar Schools provided the only government-subsidised secondary education available in Queensland prior to 1912 when state high schools were established. While the Thomatis's Grammar School did offer high school places for girls, it was a short-lived operation (1881–1886).Brisbane Courier 9 January 1886, p.6. St Patrick's preceded Townsville Grammar by one year in providing high school education for girls.