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birth
Born in Brunswick Street at Fitzroy in Melbourne on January 15; baptised Maria Ellen MacKillop on January 28. -
First communion
Celebrates her first holy communion on August 15. -
starts work
Starts working at age 14 and soon after becomes the primary breadwinner for her family. This shows that she'll work to help others. -
Governess of uncles children and meets father woods
Becomes governess to the children of her uncle, Alexander Cameron, at Penola in South Australia, where she meets Father Julian Tenison Woods, who becomes her spiritual guide. -
Job
Takes a job as a teacher at Portland Catholic Denominational School. -
opens first school
Along with Father Woods, starts the first free Catholic school in Penola, at first in a stable and later in a more substantial stone building. -
new order of nuns
Joins with Father Woods to form a new religious order of nuns, the Sisters of St Joseph, devoted to teaching the poor, with Mary as mother superior; opens a convent-cottage and a school in Adelaide; takes her religious vows on August 15. -
final vow
Takes her final vows on December 8, and leaves for Queensland to open schools there. -
opposition
Opposition to the Sisters grows over the issue of the central government and refusal to accept government grants for education; the sisters face trouble in Adelaide over 'visionaries'. -
ex-communication
Bishop Laurence Sheil of Adelaide excommunicates Mary on September 22 for alleged insubordination; 47 sisters are expelled. -
re-communicated
Bishop Sheil removes the excommunication order on February 23, nine days before he dies; the sisters are restored to their habits on March 19; an investigation vindicates Mary and the sisters; Father Woods is advised to relinquish direction of the sisters -
Pope Pius IX
Mary travels to Rome for a personal audience with Pope Pius IX, obtains papal approval for the sisterhood but the 'Rule of Life' Father Woods set down is discarded and another is drawn up, causing a breach between Mary and Father Woods. -
returns
Mary returns to Australia with 15 Irish postulants, following travels in Europe to visit schools. -
superior general
Mary is elected as the first superior general of the Sisters of St Joseph. -
left bathurst
The sisters are obliged to leave Bathurst because of Bishop Matthew Quinn's refusal to accept the central government of the institute. -
leave Queensland
The sisters are obliged to leave Queensland because of the bishop's refusal to accept the central government of the institute. -
re-elected superior general
Mary re-elected as superior general. -
expand to New Zealand
The sisters expand to New Zealand with the establishment of their first foundation at Temuka on the South Island; Bishop Reynolds dismisses Mary in Adelaide over accusations she was an alcoholic (Mary drank brandy to relieve very severe menstrual pain), and she moves to Sydney. -
Mother Bernard Walsh elected as Leader
Cardinal Moran says Mary's election in 1881 is invalid and appoints Mother Bernard Walsh as the leader. -
?
A decree from Rome declares the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart is an approved regular congregation, some alterations are made to habits and the sisters' rule. -
serious illness
Mary suffers the first of many bouts of serious illness, as the order she founded has 300 sisters working in nine dioceses in Australia and New Zealand. -
replaced Bernard Walsh as superior general once more
Mary is elected as superior general once again, replacing Bernard Walsh. -
stroke
Mary suffers a stroke and travels to Rotorua in New Zealand -
Death
Mary dies on August 8 at Mount Street in North Sydney and is buried at Gore Hill Cemetery.
