Sisters of Mercy, Perth Congregation

The Sisters of Mercy, Perth Congregation, a Catholic religious order of women from Ireland, was established in 1846. The Sisters ran orphanages and children’s homes, operated maternity homes, hospitals and arranged adoptions. The Sisters were part of the Catholic Migration Scheme which brought children to Australia from Britain and Malta. In 1954 the Perth Congregation became part of the Congregation of the Australian Union of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The Union was dissolved in 1981 and the Perth Congregation joined the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia. In 2011, the Sisters of Mercy, Perth Congregation was dissolved and merged with 15 former Australian congregations to become the Institute of Sisters of Mercy Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The first Sisters of Mercy in Australia, arrived in Perth in January 1846. They came under the leadership of Mother Superior, Ursula Frayne, and at the invitation of the first Catholic Bishop of Perth, Dr. John Brady.

The Sisters started their missionary activities as soon as they arrived, focusing on the education of children and visiting women and children in the nearby poorhouse. They soon began providing accommodation to children considered destitute, orphaned, or who were Indigenous, with the opening of their first orphanage, the Saint Francis Xavier Benevolent Institution.

The Sisters of Mercy, Perth Congregation continued to run institutions for children in care until the 1990s, including the St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage, the Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage, the St Vincent’s Foundling Home and the Catherine McAuley Centre.

In the twentieth century the Sisters started operating nursing and maternity Homes for unmarried mothers where adoptions were arranged from, including St Margaret’s Hostel, St Anne’s Nursing Home and St Gerard’s Hospital.

Between 1947 and 1966, the Sisters were also part of the Catholic Migration Scheme which brought children to from Britain and Malta after World War II, with children placed at the St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage and St Vincent’s Foundling Home.

In 1954, alongside eight other Australian congregations, the Perth Congregation became part of the Congregation of the Australian Union of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.

The Union was dissolved in 1981 and the Perth Congregation, maintaining its autonomy, joined the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia, alongside seventeen other Australian congregations.

In 1997 the Sisters of Mercy, Perth Congregation established the Mercy Community Services Inc. to continue and build upon the work of the Catherine McAuley Centre.

In 2011, the Sisters of Mercy, Perth Congregation was dissolved and merged with 15 former Australian congregations to become the Institute of Sisters of Mercy Australia and Papua New Guinea.