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 St Thomas Aquinas School |
"At the Thames goldfields we hear of hundreds of poor
children running wild," wrote Mother Cecilia Maher of the Sisters of
Mercy. "No schools. No one to teach them." Around 1867, the first parish priest of Thames, Fr Nivard Jourdan, established schools in Thames. These were to cater for the children of the gold-miners. The first school established was St Thomas Aquinas Boys' School - known as the Beach School - on the corner of Queen and Walter Streets. The other two schools were St Joseph Girls' School and the Infant School in Willoughby Street. |
The schools were staffed by lay teachers. The parish priest, Fr Golden, was involved in a public brawl with the headmaster of St Thomas, Mr Rafferty!
In 1871 the school at Grahamstown had 31 pupils, and at Shortland there were 98 pupils.
The Sisters of Mercy took over these schools in 1874. The Sisters of St Joseph took over the schools in 1912.
These schools were amalgamated into the one school in Willoughby Street in 1913. A new school building was erected and opened by Bishop Liston in 1923.
Sisters of Saint Joseph
The first community in Thames consisted of Sisters Francis Borgia Coughlan, Anselm Fitzgerald, Pacificaus Buchanan, Walburg Bannock and a postulant Sister Bride Flood (later Sister Ferdinand). Sisters Francis Borgia and Walburgh taught in the Willoughby Street school, Sisters Anselm and Bride taught in the Beach School, and Sister Pacificus taught music in the convent.
The old convent was in use until 1938, when it was replaced by the present Spanish-style building now used as the Parish Centre.
