The Jesuit Aboriginal Mission was the governing body of all missions in the Northern Territory established by Jesuit missionaries. The Jesuit Aboriginal Mission operated in the Northern Territory from 1882 to the closure of its last mission in 1899. In 1901 the Jesuit Aboriginal Mission became part of the Jesuit Australian Mission.
The Jesuit Aboriginal Mission was the name given to the group of Austrian Jesuits who left Sevenhill, South Australia in order to establish missions in the Northern Territory.
Jesuits belong to the Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order formed near Paris in1534. The first group of Jesuits came to Australia from Austria in 1848, arriving in Adelaide. Jesuit missionaries travelled to the Northern Territory in 1882 and were the first Catholic religious order to begin mission work there.
Jesuit missionary activity in the Northern Territory ended when the St Joseph's Mission, Daly River closed in 1899. The Jesuit Aboriginal Mission became part of a larger group known as the Australian Mission in 1901.
Sources used to compile this entry: Australian Jesuits - Our History, Australian Jesuits, 2008, http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/44451/20100114-0008/www.jesuit.org.au/who-are-we/our-history.html.
Prepared by: Karen George and Gary George
Created: 15 February 2011, Last modified: 5 March 2014
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nt/biogs/YE00064b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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