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St Joseph's Catholic Church
Source - from the Centenary of The Diocese of Maitland 1866-1966, published in 1966 and reproduced here with the permission of Father Harold Campbell, author and former Parish Priest of Maitland.
The first St Joseph's Church, East Maitland, built by Father Therry in 1830, or earlier, became the first Catholic Church north of Sydney, and second Catholic Church in Australia. Erected opposite the gallows on Stockade Hill, it became the centre for the first resident priest in the Diocese of Maitland and the centre for the first great missionary journeys in the north. The picture shows it in 1933 on the occasion of its final ceremonies. In the centre of the picture is the late Rev. Father Morrissey, C.S.S.R. who preached on its final day. The church was demolished to make way for the present St. Joseph's Church.
(Photograph courtesy Brian Walsh)
When the first resident priest, Father Watkins, arrived in East Maitland in 1835, it had a roof of sorts and an earthern floor, excepting in the Sanctuary, where it was of wood.
The present St Joseph's Church
Monsignor Hartigan says:
"There was at the time only one Church north of Sydney, and that was St. Joseph's, East Maitland ... and it is strange that so little should be known about the beginning of this famous Church which was for so many years the oldest in use in the whole of Australia. There is no record of when or by whom the foundation stone was laid."
Other information has come to light since then. Father Hartigan was not really writing on that period but on the period which commenced in 1838 when the great new upsurge began with the arrival of the young priests from Maynooth.
In the original plan of the town of Maitland (that is East Maitland) drawn up under Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General in 1829, the corner of King Street, East Maitland and the present Newcastle Road is marked for the Roman Catholic Chapel. That this was drawn up in 1829 does not in itself show that the land was vacant. It could well be that the plan only put into order what was already a fact: at least that is how the tradition has been handed down. The site was opposite the gallows and the practice was that the priest camped there and awaited the prisoner to arrive at the death scene. The land came to be known as the priest's paddock and Sir Thomas Mitchell's plan apparently recognised and made provision for a situation then already existing.
This tradition receives further support when we examine the plan. (A photostat copy of that plan was published in the Maitland centenary book in 1963). A close examination of that plan shows that the area marked for a Roman Catholic chapel is the same as is now in use and the plan has the outline of a small building on the site. The Church of England area also shows a cruciform outline of a building but the plan states definitely the words "Site for church." In the Catholic area, the plan states "R. Catholic Chapel".
The plan may not be conclusive, but then when we have as evidence the words of a man who tells us that when he come to Maitland in 1830 that the Church was already there, it seems the better view that St. Joseph's goes back to at least 1829.
D.J. Ryan writing in the "Sentinel" in 1932 says:
"It is a matter for regret that so little data is available regarding the foundation of St. Joseph's. Research has failed to locate any information relating to the laying of the foundation stone or to the work of building during the first few years .....
The late Mr. Frederick Crewe, who arrived in Maitland in November, 1830, gave some information in an interview with the writer when he was speaking of early days in Maitland in these words "I arrived in Newcastle late in November, 1830, when there was a rough track, called a road, between Newcastle and Maitland, and came in a dray to Maitland from Newcastle on November 30. As I came over the hill from One Mile Creek, two things struck me. I saw on my left, on Stockade Hill, a gallows, and on my right hand side, the unfinished walls of the Roman Catholic Chapel which was not roofed over". As Mr. Crew was at that time in his 23rd year, he was old enough to form impressions as he passed along, and he may be regarded as a reliable witness in the present investigation. Supporting one phase of his statement we have the historical record of the fact that on the morning of November 30, 1830, five men has been hanged on Stockade Hill, and we know that Father Therry was in the Maitland district on many occasions prior to 1830, and it is a short step to the conclusion that he laid the foundation stone at some time prior to November, 1830".
The foundation stone of the old St. John's Church, built by Dean Lynch, was laid, with great ceremony by Archbishop Polding, on Campbell's Hill but later on it was removed to the present Cathedral Street and is somewhere under the old Cathedral. Dean Lynch relaid it but no one knows where or when.
All this having been said there was a foundation stone laid for St. Joseph's Church, East Maitland, and it was laid by Father Therry himself.
When it was announced that there was to be a "History" published on the occasion of the centenary of the Diocese, the present writer (Father Harold Campbell) received a most interesting letter from Mr. W.A. Wood of Muswellbrook. That letter drew the attention of the Editor of the "Sentinel" to an item appearing in "The Australian" on 22nd August, 1834, which reported that on 14th August, 1834, the foundation stone of St. Joseph's Church was laid by Rev. J.J. Therry.
Perhaps we should complete all the evidence available concerning St. Joseph's Church just to keep the record straight.
In a dispatch to Lord Stanley, 30th September, 1833, Governor Bourke wrote:
"The sum of £ 400 has been appropriated to be paid in the next year in aid of a similar sum to be raised by private subscription for erecting Roman Catholic Chapels at Maitland and Campbelltown. A chapel was begun at the latter place as well as at Parramatta some years ago, but neither has been completed from want of funds." (H.R.A.)
The letter of Governor Bourke would seem consistent with the conclusion that Father Therry laid a foundation stone during the next year. Furthermore, it would seem that if the Church at East Maitland had been started previously and had not been completed, the Governor would have said so as he said of Campbelltown and Parramatta.
In the minutes of the Executive Council of New South Wales, reference is made in the estimates for 1834 to provision for grants to the Catholic Church for the erection of churches at Campbelltown and Maitland, and in the proceedings of the Council, in June 1834, it is recorded that the sum of £250 had been made available for grants for the erection of the two Churches, the conditions being that the grants were not to exceed the amounts collected voluntarily for these churches.
Below - Memorial built of stone from the original church
Further evidence is provided in the minutes of the Executive Council of July 1 1835, in which it is recorded that Governor Bourke laid on the table a petition from the residents of Maitland district praying for the erection of a gaol and hospital at Maitland. The petitioners directed attention to the fact that there had been an extraordinary increase in the town of Maitland, which was the capital of an extensive, wealthy and fertile district, situated at the termination of the navigable part of the River Hunter, with five principal roads concentrating on the town. Included in the petition was the following paragraph:
"Within the last twelve months ten brick homes have been built, or are in the progress of finishing, valued at from £500 to £1500 each, and the stonework of a handsome Roman Catholic Chapel has been completed."
To all this evidence we may add some further information supplied by Mr. Wood. The Reverend G.K. Rusden, Church of England Chaplain, was appointed to that parish, which then stretched as far as Murrurundi, by Bishop Broughton in 1834. On 3rd November of that year he wrote to the Colonial Secretary referring to the contractor getting stone (with permission) from the Glebe quarry for the Catholic Church.
On 29th December, 1834 he wrote again:
"The walls of the Catholic Chapel are rapidly rising with this handsome stone." This excellent stone at the Glebe quarry was believed to be limited in quantity, and the Rev. Rusden hoped there would be sufficient remaining to build his church.
The final answer seems to be that the old St. Joseph's Church which became so famous and was the starting point of the great missionary activity after 1838, was commenced on August 14, 1834, when Rev. Father J.J.Therry laid the foundation stone as reported by "The Australian" in its issue of 22nd August, 1834. It was built from the handsome stone obtained from the Glebe quarry. It was nearing completion by 29th December, 1834 as reported by Rev. Rusden and the stonework had been completed early in 1835 as the petition to the Governor from the Maitland residents of 1st July, 1835 stated.
From the plan of Mitchell in 1829 and the evidence of Frederick Crew who arrived that day in November 1830, it seems that there had been an earlier temporary chapel on the same site. This would be quite in line with the practice both before and since.
One more piece of interesting detail must be added to the history of the first St. Joseph's. Father Ullathorne tells in his autobiography:
"When resident, later at Parramatta, I rode once or twice a week over to Sydney ..... I had also to look after the completion of the Church begun at Maitland, and to start another at Parramatta. I had the assistance of the Government Architect in devising the plans. But, what to my surprise, on arriving at Maitland, to find that without my knowledge, Father Therry had been there and had doubled the number of windows in the walls. This was one of his singularities, to put as many windows in a building as the walls would allow of, without any consideration for the intense glare of heated light. Thus in the old Cathedral of Sydney he put seventy large windows, two rows in one wall. At Campbelltown his church was like a cage. At Maitland he spoiled what would have been a well proportioned nave in the lancet style. His taste in architecture was for what he called opes; if a plan was brought to him, his first question was: "How many opes would it admit of?" He could not understand the principle of adapting the light of a building to the climate."
© Patricia May [All Rights Reserved]