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Period: to
Early Settlement
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Fr James Dixon
Fr James Dixon was an Irish priest who transported to Sydney after taking part in the Irish uprising in 1798. On 15 May 1803 he conducted the first public Roman Catholic mass and marriage in Sydney. -
First Public Catholic Mass
On 15 May 1803, investments made from curtains and with a chalice made of tin, he conducted the first Catholic Mass in "New South Wales". The Irish-led Castle Hill Uprising of 1804 alarmed the British authorities and Dixon's permission to celebrate Mass was revoked. -
The Castle Hill Uprising
The Castle Hill Uprising of 1804 was Australia's first uprising. The uprising was an attempt by a group of Irish convicts to overthrow British rule in New South Wales and return to Ireland where they could continue to fight for an Irish republic. -
The Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a coup d'état in the then British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. The military remained in control until the 1810 arrival from Britain of Major General Lachlan Macquarie, who became the colony's new governor. -
Jeremiah O’Flynn
Jeremiah O’Flynn was a Priest who helped to publicize the needs of Catholics in New South Wales and to influence the British government in 1820 to allow the first official Roman Catholic missionaries to be sent to Australia. -
Fr John Therry
Fr John Therry was responsible for building multiple churches around Australia. He is most known for building St. Bedes Church in Appin, which is the oldest Catholic Church still in use in Australia. Therefore he contributed to the expansion of Catholicism in Australia. -
Fr Phillip Connolly
Fr Phillip Connolly was a pioneer Catholic priest in Van Diemen's Land, arrived in Hobart in 1821. The first permanently appointed chaplain, he served bond and free alike. Perhaps his hardest role was to prepare convicted felons for death on the gallows. -
Establishment of the Catholic Church in Tasmania
The Catholic Church became established in Tasmania, then Van Diemen's Land, in 1821 with the arrival of Fr Philip Connolly. At the time, about one third of the population was Roman Catholic. Most of them were convicts or former convicts from Ireland. -
The Beginning of Catholic Education
The first Catholic schools, humble as they were, sprang up in the Sydney area in the 1830s. They were run mainly by lay people. The first Catholic school in Victoria, established in Melbourne in 1840 by Fr Patrick Geoghagan, was similarly run by lay people. -
John Bede Polding
John Bede Polding joined the Benedictine order in 1811 and was ordained as a priest in 1819. He arrived in Sydney and from there he divided his territory into missionary districts and provided them with priests, churches, and schools. -
William Davis
William Davis donated the land for the church to be built on which was part of his property that St Patrick’s is now built on today. -
St. Mary’s Cathedral
The first St Mary's was built on land given to the church in 1820 by Governor Macquarie, who had been petitioned by Father John Therry for a site for a Catholic chapel. The site chosen was on the edge of town, close to the convict barracks and convict garden. -
The Eureka Stockade
The Eureka Rebellion occurred in 1854, instigated by gold miners in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, who revolted against the colonial authority of the United Kingdom. -
Arrival of the Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers arrived in Australia in 1872 at the invitation of the Archbishop of Sydney. The Brothers in Australia currently operate as two Provinces with centers in Sydney and Melbourne. -
George Morley
George Morley was Canon of Christ Church, and a royalist. In 1645, he was a royalist delegate to the peace negotiations. In 1648, he was deprived of his canonry and his living. He left the country, joining Charles II's court at The Hague, where he became one of the leading clergy.
