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Pallottines (Society of the Catholic Apostolates)

The Pallottines (Society of the Catholic Apostolate) in Australia are a male Catholic religious order of Priests and Brothers. They were established in Rome by Vincent Pallotti, which gives them the name, ‘Pallottine’. The Pallotines came to Australia in 1901 to work at Beagle Bay Mission and since then have been involved with many missions…

Oblates of Mary Immaculate

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate is a Catholic male religious order. They arrived in Western Australia in 1894, taking charge of Fremantle Parish. From 1897 until 1922 they ran St Kevin’s Industrial School. From 1966, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate also ran Mazenod College, 55 Gladys Road, Lesmurdie. According to its website, in 1967, Mazenod…

Australasian Province of the Christian Brothers

The Australasian Province of the Christian Brothers operated in Australia from 1885 and was also known as St Mary’s Province of the Christian Brothers. It was a province of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Christian Brothers first established by Edmund Rice in Ireland in 1808. The Christian Brothers ran institutions for children in the states…

Catholic Diocese of Broome

The Catholic Diocese of Broome is one of the key organisations of the Catholic Church in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Missionary work began in 1884, the Parish of Broome was created in 1897 and became a Vicarate during World War One. In 1966, the Diocese of Broome was created. Throughout the years, the…

Wirrumanu

Wirrumanu, which was also known as Balgo Mission, was a Catholic mission south of Halls Creek that was run by the Pallottines (Society of the Catholic Apostolates) from 1939, with assistance from the Sisters of St John of God from 1956. Boys and girls aged 4 to 18 years were accommodated in dormitories and went…

Wandering Mission

Wandering Mission was established by the Catholic Archbishop of Perth in 1944, as a day school with a dormitory for Aboriginal girls, run by the Pallottines (Society of the Catholic Apostolates). Boys were admitted from 1951. Children aged 4-15 years were accommodated at Wandering, at the request of parents or government authorities. The head of…

Tardun Farm School

Tardun Farm School was run by the Christian Brothers from 1928 as a Home where boys would learn farm skills. After World War II, Tardun housed British and Maltese child migrants aged from about 12 to 16 years as well as boys who were wards of state. Tardun Farm School closed in 1967 but remained…

St Vincent’s Foundling Home

St Vincent’s Foundling Home was run by the Sisters of Mercy from 1914 on the same site as the St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage in Subiaco. It housed infants and children up to six years old who were both wards and ‘privately placed’. Once they turned six, girls were sent to St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage and…

St Mary’s Mission, New Norcia

St Mary’s Mission was a boarding school managed by the Benedictine Community of New Norcia for Aboriginal boys. From at least the early 1960s state wards were placed at St Mary’s. A report from 1971 stated that the school catered for “160-170 primary and secondary school children”. St Mary’s Mission was closed in 1974. In…

St Kevin’s Industrial School

St Kevin’s Industrial School was established in 1897 in Glendalough, near Lake Monger, by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate as an industrial school for Catholic boys aged up to 16 years sent by the courts. Private admissions and boys from orphanages were also accepted. By 1922 all remaining boys had been sent to Clontarf and…