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Organisation Bathurst Island Mission (1912 - 1970)

  • Click to view this Photograph

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - Reserves, missions and homeland centres - Roman Catholic Mission on Bathurst Island [photographic image], 1958, by Tanner, John, courtesy of National Archives of Australia.
    Details

From
1912
To
1970
Categories
Care Provider, Catholic, Mission, Mission Boarding School and School
Alternative Names
  • Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic School (current name)
  • St Therese's School (former name)
  • Xavier Boys' School (former name)

Summary

The Bathurst Island Mission was established in 1911, after a Catholic Priest, Father Francis Xavier Gsell received government approval to begin missionary work on the island.

A mission boarding school for girls was opened in 1912 by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart opened a similar residential school for boys in 1932. The schools primarily catered for Aboriginal children aged 5 to 17 years.

In March 1919 a cyclone severely damaged the Mission. The Mission also closed in 1940 as a result of the Second World War. It reopened in 1946. As people settled closer to the Mission, the boarding facilities were no longer used, but the day schools continued.

Details

Events

1912
Bathurst Island Mission situated at Nguiu, Bathurst Island. Location: Bathurst Island
1940 - 1946
Bathurst Island Mission closed due to the war in 1940 and reopened in 1946. Location: Bathurst Island

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Gallery

Title
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - Reserves, missions and homeland centres - Roman Catholic Mission on Bathurst Island [photographic image]
Type
Image
Date
1958
Creator
Tanner, John
Control
Image no.: A1200, L25682
Source
National Archives of Australia

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: "A Piece of the Story": National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families, December 2001, http://catholicsocialservices.org.au/publications/other/a_peice_of_the_story; Fact sheet 151 - Bishop Francis Xavier Gsell MSC, National Archives of Australia, 2012, http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs151.aspx.

Prepared by: Karen George and Gary George

Created: 27 January 2011, Last modified: 13 June 2012