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 the children's homes Bindoon, Castledare Special School, Castledare, Clontarf, Subiaco Boys' Orphanage and Tardun Farm School in 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 St Patrick's Province continued to run the children's homes in Western Australia.
The Congregation of the Christian Brothers was founded in 1802 by Edmund Ignatius Rice in Waterford, Ireland. Rice was inspired by the work of Nano Nagle, founder of the Presentation Sisters, and supported their school and convent in Waterford from 1797. Rice was a Roman Catholic and believed that education was the best way to help children who lived in poverty and founded the Religious Order to provide free education to boys.
From their origins in Waterford, the Christian Brothers spread throughout the world to establish schools and institutions with an educational mission. They originally travelled to Sydney in 1843 until 1847, and then to Melbourne in 1868, but the Australasian Province was not formally established until 1885.
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 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.
1885 - 1953 Australasian Province of the Christian Brothers
1953 - 1967 St Patrick's Province of the Christian Brothers
1967 - 2007 Holy Spirit Province of the Christian Brothers
2007 - Christian Brothers Oceania Province
Sources used to compile this entry: 'pp.4-5.', Presentation to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations on Behalf of The Christian Brothers Oceania Province, 1 May 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20170401131542/http://www.edmundrice.org.au/oldsite/images/Presentation_To_Victorian_Parliamentary_Inquiry.pdf; Plowman, David, Enduring Struggle, Scholastic Press Australia, Broadway, Nedlands, Western Australia, 2003.
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 25 September 2014
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00269b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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