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 of Victoria and Western Australia. In 1953 the organisation expanded and to improve organisational control the Australasian Province was divided into two new Provinces: the St Mary’s Province of the Christian Brothers and the St Patrick’s Province of the Christian Brothers.
The Christian Brothers had been running institutions for boys in Victoria since 1874.
They opened their first school in Western Australia on 31 January 1894 on the corner of St Georges Terrace and Victoria Avenue in Perth, naming it Christian Brothers College Perth.
In Western Australia, the Christian Brothers ran the children’s Homes Bindoon, Castledare Special School, Castledare, Clontarf, Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage and Tardun Farm School.
In 1953 when the organisation expanded the Australasian Province was divided into two for organisational purposes. The Provinces were called The St Mary’s Province of the Christian Brothers in New South Wales, Queensland, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea and the St Patrick’s Province of the Christian Brothers in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. The St Patrick’s Province continued to run the children’s Homes in Western Australia.
This page was written by Debra Rosser, last updated 15 April 2024. Sources used to create this entry:
Title: The Christian Brothers' Agricultural School, Tardun, Western Australia
Type: Image
Date: c. 1936
From
1885
To
1953
Alternative Names
Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
St Mary's Province of the Christian Brothers
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Subsequent