Christian Brothers' College, Perth

Last updated

Christian Brothers College
Christian Brothers Perth Crest 1894.tif
CBC Perth, St Georges Tce - (improved contrast).tif
Location
Christian Brothers' College, Perth
Perth
,
Western Australia

Australia
Information
Type Independent
Motto Latin: Signum Fidei
(Sign of Faith)
(First college crest 1894–1922)
Denomination Catholic
Established1894
StatusClosed
Closed1962
Employees~50
Key peopleAnthony O’Brien (first headmaster) [1]
Enrolment~700

Christian Brothers College (CBC), informally known as CBC Perth or The Terrace was an Independent school for boys situated on St Georges Terrace in the centre of Perth, Western Australia. The college opened in January 1894, and the college was a founding member of the Public Schools Association in 1905. [2] The college was the second high school (1894) and the second boarding school (1896) in Western Australia. In 1938 boarders and some day students at CBC moved to the new Aquinas College campus at Salter Point. Brother C.P. Foley, who was the headmaster of CBC Perth and who at the same was the first headmaster of Aquinas took with him the Christian Brothers College crest and colours, honour boards, and Public Schools Association membership. Brother Foley insisted the heritage of CBC Perth from 1894–1937 belonged to Aquinas. To further enhance Aquinas as the premier the Christian Brothers College, the main building at Aquinas was designed in the Federation Arts and Crafts architecture of CBC Perth. Meanwhile, although most of the day students remained at CBC Perth, numbers were depleted and the college immediately accepted an overflow of students from St Patrick's Boys School on Wellington Street. CBC Perth continued as a day school from 1938–1961. In 1962, the students and staff of CBC Perth moved to a new site on the East Perth foreshore and the college was renamed Trinity College. [3]

Contents

History

Christian Brothers College, Perth Chapel 1932 CBC Perth Chapel 1932.PNG
Christian Brothers College, Perth Chapel 1932
Christian Brothers College, Perth Dormitory 1932 CBC Perth Dormitory 1932.PNG
Christian Brothers College, Perth Dormitory 1932

The Christian Brothers 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. [4] The Brothers were invited to the colony by Bishop Matthew Gibney who knew of the work of the Brothers in Australia, Ireland and England. [5] The first headmaster of the college, Anthony O’Brien addressed the school upon its opening:

The greatest desire and ambition [of the Brothers] would be to bring up the young entrusted to their charge as good Christians and good citizens, able to fill any position…assigned to then in after life, and to hold their own against all comers in the fairest and in one sense the youngest of the Australian colonies [1]

Initially at CBC Perth only day students were enrolled, but due to population growth in Western Australia during the gold rush period, pressure was put on the school to accept residential boarding students, the first of which were enrolled in June 1896. [6] The site had physical limitations and in 1917, headmaster Paul Nunan saw the necessity to acquire much larger property away from the city centre to accommodate the whole school. [4] The brothers entered into negotiations for the purchase of 8 hectares (20 acres) at Point Heathcote on the Swan River, in 1928 they ended up purchasing 95 hectares (234 acres) on the Canning River just east of the Riverton Bridge naming it Clune Park. [7] However, plans to develop this site were shelved due to the Great Depression. [8]

In 1936, at the instigation of Paul Keaney, the superior of nearby Clontarf Orphanage, 62.4  hectare  (154  acre) were purchased from the Manning family at Mount Henry Peninsula at Salter Point on the Canning River at a cost of £9,925. [9] [10] In 1938 the boarders and some day students moved to the newly built Aquinas College, Salter Point campus, with most day students staying on at CBC Perth. The Aquinas College foundation stone was laid on 11 July 1937, and the new campus opened in February 1938 with 173 boarders and 55-day pupils. [4] C.P. Foley was the first headmaster. [11]

Plaque commemorating the site of CBC Perth CBC Plaque.jpg
Plaque commemorating the site of CBC Perth

When Perth was awarded the rights to host the 1962 Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games), the Perth City Council saw the need to construct a large international hotel, they decided to build it next to CBC Perth. [2] Shortly after, the council expressed interest in purchasing the CBC site to allow for the widening of St Georges Terrace and Victoria Avenue. [2] At this time, the college was facing the facts that the site was very small and the buildings were becoming run-down and educationally inadequate. [2]

The Council purchased the site from the College, for £267,000 and provided the Brothers with a new 14-acre (5.7 ha) site on the riverbank near the Western Australian Cricket Association grounds (WACA). [2] [3] Here, a brand new school at a cost of £270,000 was to be built. [2] [3] Building work at CBC Perth's new site began in November 1960. [2] [3] Trinity College (as CBC Perth was renamed) opened on schedule for the start of the 1962 school year, with the official opening on 25 March 1962. [2] [3] The first headmaster of Trinity College was J A Kelly who had been headmaster of CBC Perth in 1961.

Prior to the demolition of the CBC Building, the Christian Brothers requested permission from Perth City Council to remove artifacts from the buildings. After some reticence the Council referred the Brothers to the demolition contractor who allowed the Brothers to move some relics. The Foundation stone of the 1895 West Wing, the original school bell and eight of the ten chapel windows were taken to Trinity College. Thanks to the efforts of a group of Old Aquinians the pinnacle from the spire of the water tower was taken to Aquinas. The ninth and tenth chapel windows of Saint David and St Thomas Aquinas went to Aquinas. In 1983 the St David window was swapped with the image of the Sacred Heart (that was at Trinity) and was placed in the Trinity Administration Building. Another window, the 1911 "Signum Fidei" was presumed lost. It was tracked down and thirty years later, the window was restored by the Trinity Old Boys association and presented to Trinity at the Colleges Centenary Dinner in May 1994. [3]

Extra-curricular activities

CBC Perth violin club, 1922. 1922 CBC Violin Students.jpg
CBC Perth violin club, 1922.

In the early days of CBC Perth music, dancing and elocution were available as extras, over and above the mainstream subjects and sport. These cultural activities, whilst presented in the college prospectus as worthy additional refinements, had a very marginal position in the schools early years. Lessons were taught seldom by brothers, and more commonly by visiting teachers, instead the brothers created highly polished verse-speaking and singing choirs to engage their students in the Arts. [12]

Notable alumni

See also

Related Research Articles

Herb Elliott Australian middle-distance runner

Herbert James ElliottAC MBE is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the record held by Derek Ibbotson; later in the month he set the 1500 metres world record, running 3.36.0, 2.1 seconds under the record held by Stanislav Jungwirth. In the 1500 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics, he won the gold medal and bettered his own world record with a time of 3:35.6.

Riverton, Western Australia Suburb of Perth, Western Australia

Riverton is a southeastern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. Its local government area is the City of Canning.

Guildford Grammar School School in Australia

Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an independent Anglican coeducational primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Guildford, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

Established in 1905 the Public Schools Association, or the PSA, is an association of seven independent boys schools in Perth, Western Australia. The descriptor 'public school' references the historical usage of the term and the model of the British public school. The schools compete against each other in athletic competition throughout the year. There are three main events held annually; the Head of the River rowing regatta, The Interschool Athletics Carnival, and the Interschool Swimming Carnival.

Trinity College, Perth School in East Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Trinity College is an independent day school for boys, located on the Swan River foreshore in East Perth, Western Australia. The school was established in 1962 when students from the city schools CBC Perth and St Patrick's Boys School moved to the new Trinity College campus.

Aquinas College, Perth School in Perth, Western Australia

Aquinas College, locally abbreviated as Aquinas, is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located at Salter Point, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

Ernest Bromley (cricketer) Australian cricketer

Ernest Harvey Bromley was an Australian cricketer who played in two Test matches, one in 1933 and the other in 1934.

Mount Henry Peninsula Peninsula in Western Australia

Mount Henry Peninsula is a land feature and reserve located 11 km (6.8 mi) south of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Canning River near the Mount Henry Bridge in Salter Point, Western Australia. It covers 11.9 hectares, and includes both Banksia attenuata and Banksia menziesii woodland, and a muddy and desert biome. The peninsula features limestone slopes, shoreline vegetation, wetlands, and contains the most inland vegetated knoll of the Spearwood dunes on the Swan-Canning estuary, as well as a significant variety of natural conditions for birds and other fauna. The Mount Henry Peninisula is a designated Bush Forever Site, number 227.

Rostrevor College School in Australia

Rostrevor College is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in Woodforde, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) from the Adelaide city centre.

Clontarf Aboriginal College Private, co-educational school in Waterford, Western Australia, Australia

Clontarf Aboriginal College is a co-educational Aboriginal college for indigenous youth aged between 15 and 18 years, located in the Perth suburb of Waterford in Western Australia. Since 2000 the college has also been the centre for the Clontarf Football Academy run by the Clontarf Foundation a program of Australian rules football for indigenous youth.

Aquinas College Chapel

The Aquinas College Chapel, formally known as the Chapel of St Thomas Aquinas, is a heritage-listed building located on the Aquinas College property in Salter Point, Western Australia. The building is owned by the Christian Brothers as part of the Aquinas College property.

Edmund Rice Administration Wing

The Edmund Rice Administration Wing, commonly known as The Castle, is a heritage listed building located on Mount Henry Road in Salter Point and the focal point of the Aquinas College Campus. Built in 1937, the Castle was the first building completed on the campus. The building is owned by the Christian Brothers as part of the Aquinas College property.

Paul Nunan

Michael Paul Nunan, CFC was a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers and an influential educationalist in New Zealand, Victoria and, especially, Western Australia.

Santa Maria College, Perth School in Perth, Western Australia

Santa Maria College is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Attadale, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

Christian Brothers College, Fremantle School in Fremantle, Western Australia

Christian Brothers College Fremantle is an Independent Catholic secondary school for young men, located in Ellen Street site, in the coastal community surrounding Fremantle, Western Australia. The school traces its origins back to 1882, and in 1901 management responsibility was assigned to members of the religious order of the Christian Brothers. Teaching students in the tradition of Edmund Rice, the college caters for day students from Years 7 to 12, however in the past it was technically all ages.

The history of Aquinas College is linked to the establishment of the Christian Brothers' College, Perth that was founded in 1894, located in the Perth central business district. CBC Perth was one of the first boarding schools in Western Australia. In 1937, it was decided that a more suitable location was needed to cater for boarding students, and Aquinas College, Perth opened in the following year.

Trinity Church, Perth Church in Perth, Western Australia

Trinity Church is one of the oldest church buildings in the City of Perth, and one of the few remaining 19th-century colonial buildings in the city. It is located at 72 St Georges Terrace in Perth, Western Australia.

St Patrick's Boys' School, Perth was a Roman Catholic parish primary school for boys located on Irwin St, Perth Western Australia. The school operated from 1878 until 1963, when its students were progressively transferred to Trinity College, Perth and CBC Perth.

References

  1. 1 2 Massam, Katharine (1998).On High Ground: Images of One Hundred Years at Aquinas College, Western Australia University of Western Australia Press ISBN   1-876268-05-0. Page 22. Accessed at Walter Murdoch Library South Perth Branch.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Trinity College Archives". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Trinity College History Archived 12 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:19-02-2007)
  4. 1 2 3 Massam, Katharine (1998).On High Ground: Images of One Hundred Years at Aquinas College, Western Australia University of Western Australia Press ISBN   1-876268-05-0
  5. ↑ South Perth Municipal Heritage Inventory Archived 21 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:14-02-2007)
  6. ↑ Florey, Cecil (2000), Canning Bridge to Clontarf: An Historical Journey Along Manning Road
  7. ↑ City of South Perth Municipal Heritage Inventory (No.1). 1994
  8. ↑ Florey, Cecil (1995), Peninsular City: A Social history of the City of South Perth
  9. ↑ Massam, Katharine (1998), p. 123
  10. ↑ City of South Perth (1998). "Municipal Heritage Inventory – Precinct 13 – Salter Point" (PDF). Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  11. ↑ Curriculum Council of Western Australia Archived 4 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine (accessed:18-02-2007)
  12. ↑ Massam, Katharine (1998), p. 73

Further reading

Coordinates: 31°57′28″S115°51′53″E / 31.95777°S 115.8646°E / -31.95777; 115.8646

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.