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Indigenous People
Aboriginal people had already inhabited the Australian continent for about 50 000 – 60 000 years before The First Fleet and the Irish Convicts. These first Australians used most of Australia. The different tribes had separate areas and they moved through all of their land on foot. The Aborigines are important to this timeline because they are Australia's first people -
Irish Convicts
In 1788, shiploads of Irish convicts arrived in Botany Bay, many of whom were Catholics. At the time, it was illegal to be Catholic. So until Fr John Therry arrived in 1820 the Irish had to keep their faith alive by having secret meetings and masses and praying in private. If these convicts had not come to Australia, Catholicism might not exist in Australia today. -
James Dixon
James Dixon was born at Castlebridge, Wexford, Ireland in 1758. He went to school in the local parish. In Wexford after being ordained, he was arrested in 1798 because of suspicion of taking part in the Irish rebellion. He was tried and convicted on a bad case. He was mistaken for his brother Nicholas, who WAS in the rebellion and transported to Australia. He is on this timeline because he was one of Australia’s first priests. -
Fr Jeremiah O' Flynn
Jeremiah O'Flynn was born on 25 December 1788 in Kerry, Ireland. In 1813 O'Flynn was ordained a deacon. He met an Irish priest named Father Hayes whose brother Michael, a convict transported to New South Wales, had told him to secure priests for the convicts in the colony. O’ Flynn arrived in Australia on the 19th of November 1817. O'Flynn is on this timeline because, along with James Dixon and a few others, he is one of the priests that survived the hardship before John Therry arrived in 1820. -
Fr John Joseph Terry
John Joseph Therry was born in Cork, Ireland in 1790. He was schooled privately at St Patrick's College. He was ordained as a priest in 1815. Therry sailed from Cork in the Janus, which carried more than a hundred prisoners. He arrived in Sydney, in 1820.
John Therry is important to Australia’s church because he was the first “official” priest in Australia. -
Phillip Connolly
Philip Conolly was born in Monaghan, Ireland. He was ordained at Maynooth and did pastoral duties for five years in the Dublin archdiocese. Conolly arrived in Sydney in the Janus in May 1820, and after a year's duty there, Conolly reached Hobart in April 1821. Conolly is on this timeline because he was one of the first priests to go to Tasmania -
Bishop John Polding
John Bede Polding was born on 18 November 1794 at Liverpool, England. His parents died when he was 8 and he was given to his uncle, Bede Brewer. When he was 11 he was sent to a college near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. On 15 July 1810 Polding was confirmed, taking the confirmation name of Bede. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Poynter on 4 March 1819. He came to Australia in 1835. He is on this timeline because he was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop in Australia. -
Sisters Of Charity
Mother Mary Aikenhead founded the Sisters of Charity in 1815 in Dublin, Ireland. Soon after, John Bede Polding asked to send some Sisters to help the female convicts who had been sent to Australia. Arriving in Australia in 1838 the Sisters were the first Religious Sisters to set foot on the Australian continent. The Sisters of Charity of Australia have operated independently since 1842. They are on this timeline because they were the first mission to go to Australia -
Caroline Chisolm
Caroline Chisholm was born near Northampton, England in 1808. She became Catholic in 1830. Caroline arrived in Sydney with her family in the Emerald Isle in September 1838. Caroline found jobs for immigrant girls and sheltered many of them in her home. In January 1841 she developed a plan for a girls' home and she convinced the Governor that it was a good idea. It sheltered up to ninety-six women. She is on my timeline because she gave women safety out of the goodness of her own heart. -
Christian Brothers
The Christian Brothers association was founded in Ireland in 1802. The Christian Brothers came to Sydney in 1843, at the invitation of Archbishop Polding, but left soon after. They arrived in Melbourne in 1868. Five years later they had set up schools in Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth. They are on this timeline because they set up some of the first Catholic schools in Australia. -
Bishop Robert Wilson
Robert Willson was born in Lincoln, England on the 11th December 1794. His father belonged to the Church of England and his mother was a Roman Catholic. Robert was ordained priest in December 1824 and was sent to Nottingham. Willson found a vacant lot and built St John the Evangelist Catholic Church.
In 1842 he was appointed bishop of Hobart, Tasmania. He left for Australia and he arrived at Hobart in May 1844. He is on this timeline because of his advocacy for convicts. -
Sisters Of The Good Samaritan
The Sisters of the Good Samaritan is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious women founded by Bishop Polding in Sydney in 1857. The sisters cared for homeless women and orphans at a refuge in Sydney. Refuges and schools were made throughout New South Wales as bishops needed a lot more staff for Catholic schools.
They are on this timeline because they set up some of the first Australian Catholic schools. -
Mary Mackillop
Mary Helen MacKillop was born on 15 January 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, the eldest of eight children Her parents had migrated from Inverness, Scotland. Mary was educated at private schools and became a teacher at Portland Catholic Denominational School. A few years later she met Father Julian Tenison and co-founded Sisters of the Sacred Heart. The Sisters lived in poverty by choosing and taught only poor children. This is why Mary is on this timeline; because of her acts of kindness -
Marist Brothers
In 1872 four Brothers arrived from Europe to form the first Australian community. With the exception of Tasmania, the Marist Brothers have worked in every Australian State and Territory.
They are on this timeline because they set up many foundations and schools in colonial Australia. -
Sisters of St Joseph
Julian Tenison Woods was born in Southwark, England. In 1834 he left for Australia. In 1854 he arrived in Tasmania.He was ordained in Adelaide in 1857. He worked in the parish of Penola. It was there in 1860 he met Mary MacKillop. Mary and Julian decided to form an organization called the Sisters Of St. Joseph. They lived in poverty by choice and taught children from the outback who were too poor to afford education. This is why they are on this timeline, because they cared for the poor.
