In 1862, John McConnel, a pastoralist and member of the Queensland Legislative Council, began construction on a house for his family on Park Parade. McConnel commissioned Benjamin Backhouse, another politician at the time, and his architectural firm to design the property; a single-story timber house facing the waterfront. By 1864, construction was complete. A number of other properties under McConnel's name during the 1870s were built, including the Seaview Hotel built on Kate Street (now Pier Avenue) and Holland House, a boarding home.[4]
In 1879, Moses Ward, a land speculator and chairman of the Redcliffe and Sandgate Steam Ferry Company,[5] purchased the property. Ward sold the property the following year to David Brown of the firm Thomas Brown and Sons located in inner-city Brisbane.[6][7] The property was named “Morven” after Brown's homeland in Scotland and is still known by that name today. In 1886, architect F.D.G. Stanley renovated the property to a Georgian, two-story mansion and in 1891, further work was performed by the architectural firm Oakden, Addison and Kemp.[4]
Due to the waterfront views the building provides and its lavish[8] upgrade, Morven became a popular residence for Brisbane's wealthy, including the likes of Queensland Governor Henry Wylie Norman.[9]
1900s
Morven during its years as a guesthouse, ca. 1932
In 1910, Edward Goddard Blume purchased Morven and in the following years it was run as a guesthouse by Blume's sister-in-law and her daughters. In 1943, Blume died and the property became derelict. Morven was commonly referred to as a 'haunted house' by locals and was in complete disuse until 1947 where the evangelical Christian movement known for their beach missions, Children's Special Service Mission, made use of the run-down property.[10]
In 1951, the dilapidated Morven building was purchased by the parish priest of Sandgate, Father Patrick O’Rourke, in order to build a Catholic boys' school due to overcrowding at Sacred Heart, a local convent school. St Patrick’s College commenced on 29 January 1952 with Brother Coffey as the principal and 172 enrolled students.[11]
On 22 October 1988, Tony Fitzgerald, an 'old boy' of SPC, talked at a speech night at the college in his first public outing since his appointment as chair of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. The speech focused on the youth and their role in the challenges the inquiry brought to light, saying "the solutions to the problems with which my inquiry is concerned lie with us collectively, with our attitudes and behaviour as a community".[12]
More facilities were built over the decades to accommodate the growing student body, including a tuckshop in 1958, a swimming pool in 1972, and a middle school building for Years 5-6 in 1977 (called the Morrissey Building).[10] In 1992, the college's main sporting fields were built on top of an old rubbish dump on Curlew Street in Sandgate, becoming known as Curlew Park.[13]
2000s
Heritage listing of Morven
In 2004, the Christian Brother's stopped residing in the college after 52 years of living within Morven.[14] It was declared a local heritage place that same year due to its historical and social significance.[4] The building now contains offices for teachers and the administration office.
2010 stabbing of student
On 15 February 2010, twelve-year-old Elliot Fletcher was stabbed in the college's bathroom by a thirteen-year-old classmate before dying upon arrival at hospital. Media reports claimed the alleged offender was a victim of bullying at the college who stabbed Elliot using a knife intended to "scare" his tormentors.[15] After fleeing the college grounds, the attacker was found with minor wounds and taken to hospital by police; he was charged with murder the same day.[16]
A Facebook memorial page was created following the tragedy, seeing hundreds of people paying tribute to Elliot. After a number of graphic images were put up in an effort to vandalise the tribute page, Queensland Police launched an investigation and, in the following months, the man responsible for the defacement was charged with child exploitation offenses.[17]
Elliot's funeral was attended by thousands of mourners, including hundreds of fellow students who formed a guard of honour around the hearse to pay tribute.[18][19]
Support for LGBTQ+ rights
In 2021, the college organised activities for celebrating IDAHOBIT which involved age-appropriate education surrounding LGBTQ+ issues. This garnered backlash from some in the Catholic community, a Catholic Weekly article penning that the education was "a dangerous institutionalised cave-in hidden beneath the title of pastoral care".[20] A QNews article instead highlighted the "overwhelming response" on social media to their "inclusive approach" to the issue.[21]
Sport
St Patrick's College is one of eight member schools of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) and participates in that association's sporting competitions for high school and junior school students. The college has had success in AIC, winning four aggregate cross country championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), two First XI cricket premierships (2018, 2020) and two First XI football premierships (2013, 2015).
AIC premierships
St Patrick's College has won the following AIC premierships as of July 2024:
St Patrick's College also won the Balharry Shield in 2014, an AIC golf tournament.[32]
Non-AIC sports
College esports started in Term 3 2022 with the college's participation and first place finish in the Acer High Schools Cup's annual Rocket League competition.[33]
Culture
St Patrick's College offers a number of cultural programs, including:[34]
Instrumental and Vocal Music – there are over 20 ensembles ranging from percussion to jazz performing at the college and other events such as the QCMF.[35]
Chess
Debating
Theatresports
Art Club
Film Crew (and Junior Film Crew)
School Musical
Senior Drama Production
Tech Crew
Dance Crew
The college stages biannual senior and junior musicals with another Catholic secondary school, St John Fisher College, and in collaboration with local community theatre company Brisbane Junior Theatre. The most recent senior school musicals were High School Musical (2017), Grease (2019), The Addams Family (2021) and Shrek The Musical (2023).[36][37] The college also stages biannual dramatic stage play productions, starting with The Ghost of Morven in 2022, an entirely original play based on local folktale about the college.[38] The students of the college also help organise a yearly "Showcase" event where each house competes in a battle of stage performance.[39]
House system
There are nine houses at St Patrick's College:[40]
Coffey (blue) – named after Brother Coffey, the first principal of the college from 1952 to 1957
Kennedy (purple) – named after John J. Kennedy, principal of the college from 1995 to 1999
Mooney (green) – named after Brother Mooney, principal of the college from 1966 to 1971
O'Rourke (yellow) – named after Father Patrick O'Rourke, the college's founder
Quane (red) – named after Brother Quane, principal of the college from 1964 to 1965
1 2 3 "St Patrick's College". Brisbane City Council Local Heritage Places. August 2012. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
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