THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH WERE INVITED TO THE NEWLY FORMED PARISH OF BOOLAROO BY THEN PARISH PRIEST FATHER GREEN IN 1926. THE PURPOSE WAS TO ESTABLISH A NEW CONVENT SCHOOL IN AN AREA NOTABLY DEVOID OF CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS. A CONVENT WAS PROVIDED FOR THEM IN SEVENTH STREET AND THE SCHOOL BEGAN IN 1926. IN 1950 TWO SISTERS COMMENCED A SCHOOL IN TORONTO AND TRAVELLED DAILY BY BUS TO TAKE THE CLASSES THERE. ALTHOUGH THE WORK OF THE SISTERS AT TORONTO WAS MUCH APPRECIATED SADLY FOR ALL CONCERNED THE SISTERS HAD TO WITHDRAW FROM THE SCHOOL IN 1956. TWO YEARS AFTER THIS THE SISTERS OPENED ST MARY'S SCHOOL AT WARNERS BAY. THE RAPID GROWTH OF YOUNG FAMILIES IN THAT AREA SAW ST MARY'S BECOME THE PRINCIPAL SCHOOL IN THE PARISH AND IN 1976 ST JOSEPH'S AT BOOLAROO WAS CLOSED DOWN AND THE BUILDINGS MOVED DOWN TO WARNERS BAY. BY 1981 A DECLINE IN NUMBERS OF VOCATIONS SAW THE SISTERS WITHDRAW FROM TEACHING ALTHOUGH THEY STILL STAYED AT THE CONVENT DOING PARISH WORK. IN 2003 THE LAST OF THE SISTERS WERE WITHDRAWN FROM THE CONVENT ENDING A 77 YEAR CONNECTION WITH THE PARISH.

WHEN THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH ARRIVED IN BOOLAROO THEY INITIALLY LIVED IN THE PRESBYTERY AT 26 SEVENTH STREET TILL THEIR OWN CONVENT WAS FINISHED LATER THAT YEAR. BUILT ADJACENT TO THE THEN PRESBYTERY AT 24 SEVENTH STREET THIS WAS TYPICAL OF THE STYLE OF DOMESTIC CONVENT CALLED FOR IN THE RULES LAID DOWN FOR THE JOSEPHITES (BELOW LEFT).

AFTER THE COMPLETION IN 1978 OF A NEW PRESBYTERY THE SISTERS WERE ABLE TO MOVE TO THE FORMER PRESBYTERY WHICH THUS FOR THE SECOND TIME BECAME THE CONVENT (SEE BELOW RIGHT). THE FORMER CONVENT WAS OCCUPIED BY A CARETAKER COUPLE UNTIL 1989 WHEN IT WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED IN THE EARTHQUAKE. RENDERED UNSAFE BY THE DAMAGE IT HAD SUSTAINED THE STRUCTURE WAS DEMOLISHED IN 1991.

( L. TO R. ) THE FIRST CONVENT, THE SECOND CONVENT (FORMER PRESBYTERY) AND THE ORIGINAL ST MARY'S CHURCH IN SEVENTH STREET.

THE ORIGINAL PARISH SCHOOL COMMENCED IN 1926 USING THE OLD CHURCH FOR CLASSROOMS BUT THIS WAS SOON REPLACED BY A SIMPLE WOODEN CLASSROOM BLOCK (ABOVE CENTRE) CONSTRUCTED BEHIND THE CHURCH. BY 1930 THE SCHOOL HAD EXPANDED SUFFICIENTLY TO INCLUDE A MUSIC CENTRE. LATER ADDITIONAL CLASSROOMS AND A TOILET BLOCK WERE ADDED (ABOVE RIGHT). WHEN THE SCHOOL FINALLY CLOSED DOWN IN 1976 THE OLD SCHOOL BUILDING WAS MOVED TO WARNERS BAY WHERE IT CONTINUES IN USE TO THIS DAY ( SEE BELOW ).

ST MARY'S SCHOOL WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1958 IN RESPONSE TO THE GROWING NUMBER OF YOUNG FAMILIES IN THE WARNERS BAY AREA. A SMALL WEATHERBOARD CLASSROOM BLOCK WAS ERECTED (BELOW LEFT) TO ACCOMODATE THE STUDENTS AND THE TEACHING SISTERS TRAVELLED FROM THE CONVENT AT BOOLAROO EVERY DAY. IN 1976 ST JOSEPH'S SCHOOL WAS CLOSED AND THE WOODEN CLASSROOMS TRANSFERRED TO ST MARY'S WHERE THEY ARE STILL USED TODAY. WITH THE OPENING OF THE NEW WARNERS BAY CHURCH IN THE SAME YEAR THE FORMER CHURCH HALL WAS APPROPRIATED FOR USE BY THE SCHOOL AS WELL. CONTINUED SCHOOL GROWTH CAN BE SEEN IN THE NEW BRICK BUILDING ADDED TO THE SCHOOL (BELOW RIGHT). BY THE 1980's THE STAFF WAS PREDOMINANTLY LAY AND IN 1981 THE LAST OF THE SISTERS WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE SCHOOL WHICH THEN BECAME FULLY LAY STAFFED AS IT REMAINS TO THE PRESENT.

IN 1950 THE THEN PARISH PRIEST OF BOOLAROO REQUESTED THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH TO OPEN A SCHOOL AT TORONTO WHICH THEN LAY WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PARISH. THIS WAS IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST BY MANY PARENTS IN THE TORONTO REGION FOR A LOCAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN. THE SISTERS ACCEDED TO THE REQUEST AND STARTED ST JOSEPH'S PARISH SCHOOL IN THE OLD CHURCH IN THAT YEAR TRAVELLING DOWN BY BUS DAILY FROM BOOLAROO. THE SCHOOL WAS CRAMPED WITH KINDERGARTEN TO 2ND CLASS BEING TAUGHT IN THE SACRISTY AND 3RD TO 5TH CLASS IN THE NAVE OF THE CHURCH. PLANS WERE SOON UNDERWAY TO BUILD A PROPER SCHOOL BUT BEFORE THEY CAME TO FRUITION THE SISTERS WERE REPLACED BY THE SINGLETON SISTERS OF MERCY. THAT BRIEF PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS DURING WHICH THE SISTERS TAUGHT AT TORONTO IS FONDLY REMEMBERED BY BOTH SISTERS AND THE STUDENTS.

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IN 1875 THE LAST OF THE FOUNDATIONS MADE BY THE CONSTITUTION SISTERS PRIOR TO THE SEPARATION WAS OPENED AT EVANS PLAINS ABOUT FIVE MILES FROM PERTHVILLE. A LARGE ROOM IN A PUBLIC HOUSE SERVED AS ST JOSEPH'S CONVENT SCHOOL WHILE THE SISTERS 'CONVENT' WAS A COUPLE OF DELAPIDATED ROOMS. THE THREE SISTERS WHO TAUGHT AT EVANS PLAINS WALKED OVER FROM PERTHVILLE ON MONDAY AND RETURNED TO THE VALE ON FRIDAY. AS THE SCHOOL WAS SERVED FROM THE PERTHVILLE CONVENT WHICH IN DECEMBER 1875 BECAME THE MOTHER HOUSE OF THE DIOCESAN SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH THE SISTERS CEASED THEIR APOSTOLATE IN EVANS PLAINS IN EARLY 1876. FOR SOME MONTHS THE SCHOOL STAYED CLOSED UNTIL IT RE-OPENED WITH THE DIOCESAN SISTERS IN CHARGE IN LATE 1876.

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IN JULY 1872 THREE OF MOTHER MARY MACKILLOP'S SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH ARRIVED IN THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF QUEEN CHARLOTTES VALE TEN KILOMETRES SOUTH-WEST OF BATHURST TO ESTABLISH THEIR FIRST FOUNDATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES. ON ARRIVAL THEY FOUND THEIR ACCOMODATION TO BE THE SACRISTY OF THE SMALL WOODEN CHURCH OF ST JOHN. DESPITE THE MANY HARDSHIPS THE SISTERS QUICKLY MADE THE BEST OF THIS SITUATION. ST JOSEPH'S CONVENT SCHOOL REPLACED THE TINY DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOL IN THE CHURCH AND SOON THE FIRST PART OF THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY OF DOLOURS (LEFT) WHICH HAS EVER SINCE DOMINATED THE VILLAGE WAS FINISHED. SADLY AFTER THIS POSITIVE START THE NEXT THREE YEARS WERE TO BE TIMES OF GREAT TURMOIL CULMINATING WITH THE FINAL WITHDRAWAL OF THE 'CONSTITUTION SISTERS' FROM THE DIOCESE. IN DECEMBER 1875 THE CONVENT BECAME THE MOTHER HOUSE OF THE NEW DIOCESAN SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH, A ROLE IT HAS PLAYED EVER SINCE. THE SISTERS WHO STAYED LOYAL TO MOTHER MARY THEN WITHDREW TO THEIR REMAINING BATHURST CONVENTS AT BORENORE, GERMAN HILL, TRUNKEY CREEK AND WATTLE FLAT, THE LATTER BEING BRIEFLY THE CONGREGATION'S NEW PROVINCIALATE.

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THE STORY OF THE FOUNDATION AT TRUNKEY CREEK IS THE PERHAPS SADDEST OF ALL THE TALES OF ADVERSITY ENDURED BY THE SISTERS DURING THEIR EARLY YEARS IN NEW SOUTH WALES. IN 1874 TRUNKEY CREEK BECAME THE SECOND FOUNDATION TO BE MADE FROM PERTHVILLE. THE SISTERS LIVED IN THE SMALL TWO-ROOMED CONVENT OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST (LEFT) AND TOOK OVER THE EXISTING DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOL OF AROUND THIRTY PUPILS WHICH QUICKLY DOUBLED IN NUMBER. HOWEVER ILL-HEALTH STRUCK THE SISTERS IN 1876 AND THE CONVENT SCHOOL, WHERE ATTENDANCE WAS ALWAYS ERRATIC, WAS CLOSED. THE COMMUNITY WAS NOT WEALTHY AND THERE WAS LITTLE LIKELIHOOD OF SUFFICIENT SUPPORT FOR THE SISTERS OR THE SCHOOL. WITH SUCH POOR PROSPECTS IT WAS DECIDED TO CLOSE THE CONVENT THAT YEAR. TRUNKEY CREEK WAS THUS THE SINGLE EXCLUSIVELY 'CONSTITUTION' FOUNDATION EVER TO BE ESTABLISHED IN BATHURST.

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WATTLE FLAT HOLDS A PLACE OF GREAT IMPORT IN JOSEPHITE HISTORY AS THE FIRST FOUNDATION TO BE MADE FROM PERTHVILLE AND ALSO BRIEFLY THE PROVINCIALATE OF THE SISTERS WHO REMAINED LOYAL TO MOTHER MARY DURING THE TROUBLES WITH BISHOP QUINN. 'THE FLAT' WAS A VAST SEA OF MINER'S TENTS WHEN THE FIRST THREE SISTERS ARRIVED THERE IN 1873 TO DISCOVER THAT THEIR 'CONVENT' CONSISTED OF TWO ROOMS BUILT ONTO THE BACK OF THE CHURCH THREE YEARS EARLIER FOR THE USE OF A LAY TEACHER. THREE DAYS LATER THE SISTERS BEGAN BOTH CLASSES FOR ABOUT THIRTY-FOUR CHILDREN AND THE WORK OF VISITATION FOR WHICH THEY WERE WELL KNOWN. DUE TO THE SISTER'S HIGH REPUTATION THE CONVENT SCHOOL EXPANDED RAPIDLY TAKING OVER THE ROOMS USED BY THE SISTERS WHO THEN MOVED TO A RENTED COTTAGE. A FEW MONTHS LATER THE FOUNDATION STONE OF A NEW SACRED HEART CONVENT (<<<) WAS LAID. TWO YEARS LATER THE SISTERS LEFT BATHURST AND IN JULY THE DIOCESAN JOSEPHITES TOOK CHARGE.

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ALTHOUGH THE FIRST CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1858, THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE PARISH OF KEMPSEY CAN BE DATED FROM 1880 WHEN A NEW BRICK CHURCH WAS BUILT ACROSS THE RIVER IN WEST KEMPSEY. WITH THIS FIRM FOUNDATION THE FIRST PARISH PRIEST SET ABOUT GROWING THE VARIOUS SERVICES NEEDED FOR A CATHOLIC PARISH AND IT WAS IN RESPONSE TO THIS THAT A GROUP OF FOUR SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH ARRIVED FROM NORTH SYDNEY IN 1884 TO ESTABLISH ST JOSEPHS CONVENT SCHOOL. THE OLD PRESBYTERY LOCATED ON THE SITE OF THE PRESENT CHURCH BECAME THE NEW ST JOSEPH'S CONVENT WHILE THE PARISH PRIEST MOVED INTO RENTED ACCOMODATION. IN 1886 A NEW SCHOOL WAS BUILT BEHIND THE OLD CHURCH TO ACCOMODATE THE 140 CHILDREN ON THE ROLL. THIS SIMPLE WOODEN HALL WAS TO SERVE AS THE PARISH SCHOOL FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. DESPITE ALL THE HARD WORK THE SMALL COMMUNITY SUFFERED FROM COMMUNICATION DIFFICULTIES WITH THE SYDNEY MOTHER HOUSE AND IN 1895 THEY WITHDREW WITH THEIR PLACE TAKEN BY THE LISMORE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESENTATION NUNS. THE SISTERS DID HOWEVER LEAVE A LASTING MEMENTO OF THEIR PIONEERING WORK IN THE MACLEAY VALLEY IN THE DEDICATION OF THE SCHOOL WHICH THROUGH SEVERAL CHANGES IN STAFFING IS STILL ST JOSEPH'S TO THIS DAY.

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INFORMATION AND SOME PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE WERE TAKEN FROM THE BOOK UNFARROWED FIELDS:A JOSEPHITE STORY NSW BY KATHLEEN BURFORD RSJ WHICH IS HERE ACKNOWEDGED WITH GRATITUDE. PERSONS SEEKING FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH IN NSW ARE REFERRED TO THIS SOURCE WHICH CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE MARY McKILLOP SHRINE. I AM ALSO INDEBTED TO SISTER BENEDETTA BENNET, PROVINCIAL ARCHIVIST OF THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH FOR HER GREAT HELP.