‘… by a few zealous ladies’

The precise origin of ‘The House of the Good Shepherd’ [HGS] in Sydney as a Catholic refuge for women and who was involved in its commencement, is a little uncertain.  The various accounts that are given in an attempt to recall its commencement agree in the main but differ in the detail. New information, however, has come to light which would suggest, as this paper will argue, that some adjustment to the accepted narrative of events and persons involved needs to take place.

Simply put, the Catholic tradition[1] on the origin of HGS that has come down to us is that:

On a Sydney street in 1848, Father Farrelly of St Benedict’s Mission met a woman who was tired of life as a prostitute and begged him to find her a place where she could rest and rescue her soul. Farrelly placed her in the care of Mrs Blake, a Catholic laywoman, and when six more women asked for assistance, Polding instructed Farrelly to rent a house in Campbell Street. Mrs Blake looked after these women in the rented house[2] and, while the establishment was under her control, the Sisters of Charity visited to instruct the residents in the elementary tenets of their religion.[3] Archbishop Polding was anxious to make some permanent arrangement for the increasing numbers who were seeking shelter so he together with the Sisters of Charity established the Magdalen House in 1848,[4] which was soon after renamed ‘The House of the Good Shepherd’.[5]

To complete the story, Polding was able to secure from the Government a building in Pitt Street (Carter’s Barracks, known as ‘The Debtor’s Prison’) for this ministry where it moved in 1849.[6] He entrusted the internal management to the Sisters of Charity with Baptiste De Lacy as the Rectress. Serving with her were Mother Mary Ignatius Gibbons, her sister Mary Scholastica Gibbons and Sister Mary Teresa Walsh.[7]

Upon De Lacy’s resignation as Rectress of the HGS, Polding appointed Mary Scholastica Gibbons in her place sometime in 1848.[8] In March 1853, Mother Mary Ignatius Gibbons and, one day later, Sister Mary Teresa Walsh, both died as a result of influenza[9] leaving Scholastica and Mrs Blake, and two other laywomen, to run the refuge.[10] In 1854, Polding received permission from Rome to form a new Australian congregation and he and Sister Scholastica did so on 2 February 1857. The new congregation was the ‘Institute of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd’ who then took charge of the HGS.[11]

There are three significant variations in the story of the formation of the refuge. They are related to the date of its establishment, who was involved and in what way.

Date of establishment of the HGS

A significant variation in the Catholic tradition in the retelling of the story is the date given for the establishment of the House of the Good Shepherd. The two dates are 9 April 1848, and the other is 8 June 1848.

The date given in an extensive report on the HGS in the Sydney Mail of May 1866, which is clearly reliant on catholic sources, is 8 June 1848 saying of the HGS:

It was founded on the 8^th of June, 1848. The Sisters of Charity, acting under the sanction of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney – the Most Rev. Dr. Polding, – commenced operations on that day in a house which was rented in Campbell-street.[12]

The two sources that give the other date of 9 April 1848 are Kelleher, citing a letter from Rev J McEncroe to the Colonial Secretary,[13] and Stallard in January 1849, on behalf of the Vicar General and the Committee for the HGS, responding to the request of the Sydney Female Refuge Committee (SFR) to consider amalgamation. Stallard sent J B Laughton, secretary of the SFR, a copy of the 9 April 1848 rules of the HGS and pointed out that the Sisters of Charity’s ministry to penitents had been in operation for some considerable time at least since 1841; he also added this comment:

Previously to the opening of the House of the Good Shepherd, on the 9^th April, 1848, the plan adopted by the sisters was to place the unfortunate females under the care of trustworthy housekeepers. This plan, attended with many inconveniences and much expense, was given up in April last, when, as above remarked, the House of the Good Shepherd, or the Magdalen Asylum as it was first designated was first opened for their reception.[14]

Apart from saying that the HGS opened on 9 April 1848, we learn that:

1. Prior to  April the plan for dealing with the women  was to place them with trustworthy housekeepers (the plural should be noted);
2. This plan was the plan of the sisters (meaning Sisters of Charity);
3. This plan proved to have ‘many inconveniences and much expense’;
4. This plan was abandoned when the HGS was opened; and
5. When the HGS was opened it was called the Magdalen Asylum.

Stallard affirms that the initial way of helping these women was to place them under the care of trustworthy housekeepers and that this approach, because of difficulties, was then abandoned. The arrangement for continuing their care was formalised in a manner outlined in a document entitled ‘House of the Good Shepherd, instituted 9 April, 1849’. This new arrangement brought the work under the control of the Sisters of Charity.[15] In his account, Stallard conflates the drawing up of the rules on 9 April 1848 and the implementation of these rules in the opening of the Institution so as to be seen as one event.

If, however, the ‘Institution’ run by the Sisters of Charity was to be called the HGS and had begun to operate on the 9 April 1848, why was it that over two months later from 17 June to 15 July 1848, it was advertised as the ‘Magdalen House’?[16] If the founding document of the HGS had the heading ‘House of the Good Shepherd, instituted 9 April, 1848’ and it was begun at that date, why was the Institution ever called the ‘Magdalen House’?

The reason for the two dates and the usage of the name ‘Magdalen House’, when one would have thought the name HGS would have been used, is to be found in Kelleher’s unpublished paper entitled ‘The House of the Good Shepherd’.[17]   This paper focuses on the role of Polding in the founding of the HGS who, having found the use of housekeepers unsatisfactory, set about making a better provision for the refuge. To achieve this, Polding sanctioned three separate things: on 9 April 1848 the HGS rules were drawn up which, when implemented, would give direct control to the Sisters of Charity; on 8 June 1848 the Institution envisaged in the 9 April 1848 document, the HGS, was opened in Campbell Street; on 26 June 1848 Polding had Gregory, the Vicar General, write to Governor Fitz Roy to follow up on a casual conversation Polding had had with the Governor on 16 June about being given access to Carter’s Barracks.[18]

The 9 April 1848 document with its heading ‘House of the Good Shepherd, instituted 9 April 1848’ could mean that the Institute was actually physically commenced at that date. It would appear, however, that at 9 April 1848 what was set up was the administrative and operational framework and the name of the Institution that was intended to be used when the Sisters of Charity, at a future date, took over the role of the housekeepers and assumed control of the refuge. The Sisters of Charity did this on 8 June 1848, but when they did so they did not have to find a house in Campbell Street to rent because this was where the housekeepers had already been looking after the women. The house had been called, by the housekeepers and their supporters, the ‘Magdalen’ or ‘Magdalen House’ but as from 8 June 1848, when it was to be under the direct control of the Sisters of Charity, it was meant to be known as the HGS. The name change did not become effective immediately and its former name ‘Magdalen House’ lingered for a few weeks after the Sisters of Charity had assumed control in Campbell Street. The old name had stuck in the minds and usage of its supporters. For the change of name to take hold, it required it to be known publicly that Polding’s preference was for the intended name, HGS, to be used as previously decided by the 9 April 1848 document.[19]

Who is involved, and in what way?

In the various versions, Polding instructs Farrelly to rent a house,[20] or it is Mrs Blake who rents the house,[21] in Campbell Street.[22]

Mrs Blake

Mrs Blake is never identified but is variously described as a kindly Catholic woman,[23] a Catholic laywoman,[24] a holy old Widow lady named Mrs Blake,[25] or a Catholic lady of means.[26] She was probably Mary Blake (1802-1857), born in the City of Dublin and arriving in NSW prior to 1837 and possibly as early as November 1835.[27] She was said to be the wife of Christopher John Blake (1799-1844) known as John Blake, the publican of the Shamrock Inn in Campbell Street (there is, however, no record of their marriage). When the HGS was formed she was a widow and the landlord of the Inn. The Blakes were strong financial supporters of the Catholic Church and as well as participating in the founding of the refuge, Mary Blake became a collector for it from its first year of operation in 1848 until at least 1853.[28] Mary Blake must have taken up residence in HGS for when she died in 1857, her funeral procession moved ‘from her late residence, at the house of the Good Shepherd, Pitt-street.’[29]

The various elements of the Catholic tradition of the formation of the HGS have now, by the above, been covered. There are, however, some sources suggesting that other people and their contributions have not been included in this simple narrative. If what these sources claim is true, then this complicates the story of the commencement of the HGS.

After the founding came growth in the work of the HGS

As the work of the HGS grew, significant fundraising was required to help support the work and the holding of large public bazaars became a common event. Catholic women put a lot of effort into these and were rewarded with strong support from the people of Sydney, both Catholic and Protestant. The success of the HGS, at least in terms of growth in the numbers of women accessing its facilities, led to a need, after some 40 years of operation, to expand the accommodation, but the Pitt Street site was becoming unsuitable. The government’s decision to build a tram depot near the refuge resulted in the Sisters of the Good Samaritan purchasing a property in Tempe in 1887 for £6,500; they spent a further £6,000 on renovations so it could be used as an expansion of the Pitt Street facility.[30] In order to purchase this property, and to support the work, the matter was widely advertised in the newspapers seeking public support for various bazaars and charity balls in order to raise money for the refuge. At such times of fundraising the newspapers, particularly the Catholic Freeman’s Journal, would refer to the origin of HGS and in these brief mentions the focus was, understandably, on the role of Polding and the Sisters of Charity.

In the late 1880s, this publicity and public notice, with its emphasis on the role of Polding and the Sisters of Charity, brought to light hitherto unmentioned information on the founding of the original refuge.  This information tells a somewhat different story to that which is, both then and now, the generally accepted narrative. In a letter to the Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, which was written as a direct response to the widespread public notice and success of a fundraising ball for the Tempe Refuge, a ‘T. T. Marshall’ informed the public that:

Sir, With reference to the charity ball in aid of the Women’s Refuge at Tempe, which was held last night at the New Masonic Hall, I trust you will allow me to trespass on your space to say a few words about the origin of the “Good Samaritan.”

I hope this information will be of interest to those who have so kindly helped to the present success of the institute.

A little over 40 years ago, when no thought had yet been given to the bettering and redeeming of fallen women, Miss Morley and Miss Mary Morley (now Mrs John Martin of Waverley), at the suggestion of their intimate friend, Rev Father Farrelly, started the institution on their own account in Campbell-street, between Pitt Street and Castlereagh-street, under the name of “The Magdalen.”

The penitents at first only numbered six in all, and Miss Morley, who was then alone in charge of them, consecrated her time and income to the welfare of these unfortunate women, who, together with the help of friends who kindly subscribed according to their means, progressed satisfactorily.

About a year later when the number of inmates reached 14, the institute was removed, by the kindness of Rev Dr Sheehy, to Carter’s barracks, Pitt-street, in the portion known as the Debtor’s Prison, which was used as a refuge.[31]

The institution was then called the Good Samaritan, and has been progressing ever since under the care of the good Sisters of Charity who have taken the management of the society.

 I am, &c .,    T. T. Marshall[32]

No one at the time contested the content of this letter[33] which referred to ‘Miss Morley and Miss Mary Morley (now Mrs John Martin)’. By nineteenth-century convention, distinguishing between two ‘Miss Morleys’, was done by indicating the Christian name of the younger ‘Miss Morley’. The younger Miss Morley is further distinguished by mentioning that she is now ‘Mrs John Martin of Waverley’.[34] This information clearly identifies the women as Miss Ann Morley (1808-1869), and the only other daughter of Joseph Morley who was still single in 1848 when the Pitt Street refuge commenced was Ann’s stepsister, Miss Mary Ann Morley (1827-1891) who became Mrs John Martin in 1851.[35] At the time this letter appeared in 1887 Ann Morley had died, but Mary Ann was still alive.

The Marshall letter tells where in Campbell Street the rented house was located: between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets. This piece of information is new. Supporting the Morley version of events, in 1848 Ann Morley was not the owner but the ratepayer for 122 Campbell Street, which is between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets.^[36] Furthermore, Morley is not shown as renting the property in the 1845 rate book, which is the first extant rate book available prior to the formation of the HGS, and she is not found renting the property in 1851, which is the first extant rate book after the HGS left Campbell Street.

Who is ‘T.T. Marshall’?

An intensive search of the newspapers and various Sydney Directories has revealed that there are few instances of a person with the name ‘T.T. Marshall’ in NSW at the date of the letter and none that could be found that had any associations that would provide them with information that the letter provides. It is possible that in this instance ‘T.T. Marshall’ is a misprint for ‘F.F. Marshall’. Mary Ann Martin’s daughter Caroline was Mrs F.F. Marshall for she had married Frederick Featherstone Marshall on 23 June 1887[37] and her name was frequently shortened to ‘Mrs F.F. Marshall’ in the social pages. It is suggested that Caroline may be the source of the letter to the Editor as it is something a daughter might do or organise if she, or her mother, believed that the Morley’s were not receiving the acknowledgement due to their role in the formation of the HGS.

The Ladies Committee of the Tempe Refuge Ball

The Ladies Committee for the 1887 and the 1890 Tempe Refuge Balls, mostly Catholic but of all denominations,[38] numbered over 85 women and their names were listed in the newspaper and appear below. They are mostly married women, many socially prominent, with some titled Ladies among the group. Both balls had vice-regal patronage. In 1887, it was just Lady Carrington (who did not actually attend)[39] with the Mayoress of Sydney, however for the ball in 1890, the patronage of both Lord and Lady Carrington was secured and they both attended. Of significance is the new status of Mrs John Martin as recorded on the 1890 Committee compared with her status on the 1887 Committee.

In 1887, before the Marshall letter was published, Mrs John Martin is just listed as a member of the General Ladies Committee for the Tempe Ball. In 1890, however, she is now listed as the President of the same committee. This change in status, coming after the Marshall letter, is surely some acknowledgement of an acceptance of the Morley’s role in the commencement of the refuge. In 1890, a newspaper report of the charity ball held to raise funds for the Tempe Refuge, reads as though Mary Ann Martin (nee Morley) is the source of the information that it contains. In this report, it is said that:

Mrs John Martin, who, as the foundress of the charity, was necessarily much interested in seeing the large gathering and mentally reviewing the progress since the days long ago when, with her sister in a small house in Campbell-street, off Pitt-street, she had begun the “Good Shepherd” work from her own private means, before any of the Sisters who now superintend the institutions since established were here. Mrs Martin’s account would make an interesting chapter on “Old Sydney”.[40]

In 1891, Mary Ann Martin died, and the Catholic Freeman’s Journal said of her that ‘Mrs Martin was one of the founders of the Good Samaritan Refuge and shared with the Sisters the anxieties of the first few years of the old institution in Pitt-street.’[41]

By 1897/8, Freeman’s Journal had included laywomen in the story of the commencement of the HGS ‘the Magdalen Asylum previously established by the Rev. P. Farrelly, and carried on by a few zealous ladies of the St Mary’s Congregation’.[42]

None of the statements about the role of the Morley sisters appears to have been disputed. Indeed, subsequent to the letter from ‘T.T. Marshall’, Mrs Martin is elevated from being a member of the Ladies Committee for the Tempe Refuge Ball to being its President. In her obituary of 1891, she is accorded the credit of being ‘one of the founders of the Good Samaritan Refuge’. This all seems to indicate at least an acceptance of the claim, at the time it was made, that the Morley sisters had been involved in the commencement of the refuge.

Conclusion

The Morleys, along with Mrs Blake, were part of the ‘the few zealous ladies’ of the St Mary’s congregation who commenced and ran what was later to become as the House of the Good Shepherd from some time prior to 9 May 1848 until the management was taken over by the Sisters of Charity 8 June 1848.

For some reason, however, the role of the Morley sisters in the formation of the refuge seems to have not been widely known and has subsequently been forgotten. Assuming it is genuine, their initiating role was probably done in a private capacity and before the refuge became known even to the Catholic public. The first public mention of the existence of a Catholic refuge through the newspapers was in the Catholic Sydney Chronicle on 17 June 1848[43] and from this very first mention, the Sisters of Charity are associated with it. Perhaps the role of laywomen was largely forgotten because of this very early close association. The lay involvement of Mrs Blake was recalled, however, for she was important in the crisis situation brought about by the death of the two nuns in 1853.

The evidence for the involvement of the Morley sisters in the foundation of the HGS is strong. The two versions of the founding of the HGS, the Morley and the non-Morley versions, are not necessarily contradictory. The involvement of the Morley sisters assisting Father Farrelly may be accommodated within the currently accepted narrative, along with a knowledge of Mrs Blake being the landlord of the Shamrock Inn, and thereby give the narrative more clarity and detail.

A possible revised narrative

A possible revised narrative could read something like this:

On a Sydney street in early 1848, Father Farrelly of St Benedict’s Mission met a woman who was tired of life as a prostitute and begged him to find her a place where she could rest and rescue her soul. Farrelly placed her in the care of Mrs Blake, a widowed Catholic laywoman who was the landlord of the Shamrock Inn. When six more women asked for assistance, Farrelly encouraged the Morley sisters, Ann and Mary Ann, to get involved. They did so by using their own funds to rent a small house in Campbell-street, between Pitt-street and Castlereagh-street, where they commenced and supervised ‘The Magdalen’. This arrangement, where the Sisters of Charity only visited to give religious instruction, was not satisfactory. Archbishop Polding was anxious to make some permanent arrangement for the spiritual guidance of those who were seeking shelter and were being looked after by housekeepers in the Campbell Street ‘Magdalen House’. So, on 9 April 1848, he had drawn up the rules for the ‘The House of the Good Shepherd’ and some two  months later, on 8 June 1848,^[44] the Sisters of Charity took over the management of the Magdalen House and renamed it ‘The House of the Good Shepherd’.^[45] Upon gaining access to Carter’s Barracks, the House of the Good Shepherd moved there in early 1849.

Dr Paul F Cooper

Research Fellow Christ College, Sydney

My thanks and appreciation are extended for the assistance, enthusiasm, guidance and knowledge of Joanna Mead, Archives & Records Manager, Archive of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Glebe. Her interest and help are gratefully acknowledged. Both of us live in hope of one day discovering Mrs Blake’s maiden name.

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The appropriate way to cite this article is as follows:

Paul F Cooper. More light on the founders of The House of the Good Shepherd. Philanthropy and Philanthropists in Australian Colonial History Available at https://colonialgivers.com/2021/07/07/more-light-on-the-founders-of-the-house-of-the-good-shepherd

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[1] .Covid restrictions initially required the use of secondary sources for information but now these have been checked against the relevant primary sources. All these secondary accounts themselves seem to arise mainly from the two sources; in a work by Sister Agnes Hart and known by the title Sister Agnes Hart’s ‘Memoir’ and the work by Sister Mary de Sales Smith entitled Annals of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. They are to be found at the Archives of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and access to them was provided courtesy of the Good Samaritan Congregational Archives, Glebe. Agnes Hart’s Memoir was used by Marilyn Kelleher, ‘Sister Scholastica Gibbons: co-founder of the Sisters of The Good Samaritan’ [online]. Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, Vol. 20, 1999: 17-30. Availability:<https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/documentSummary;dn=200004087;res=IELAPA&gt; ISSN: 0084-7259. [Accessed 31 March 20]. The Annals were used by Kellie Louise Toole, ‘Innocence and Penitence Hand Clasped in Hand’ Australian Catholic Refuges for Penitent Women, 1848-1914 (unpublished MA Thesis, University of Adelaide, 2010). Toole comments (page 1) that “The Annals is a single, bound volume compiled by Sister Mary de Sales Smith in the 1930s and typeset in 1968. It is a compilation of letters, convent records and newspaper clippings with the commentary of Smith linking the primary sources. I verified the 1968 version of nineteenth-century sources with originals where possible and always found them accurate. I have accepted the comments of Smith for details of the founding of the House of the Good Shepherd that I could find in primary material. Smith’s version draws on oral history and is romaticised but still reliable.” Also see [Mary Gregory] ‘Story of the Institute of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan’ Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1954: 30-48; Regretfully the article contains no references.

[2] ‘Since first it began in a little house in Campbell-street, now eighteen years ago’ Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 14 July 1866, 440;  Sydney Mail (NSW), 26 May 1866,  3.

[3] Brother Urban Corrigan ‘The Development of Catholic Education in Australia.’ The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW), 22 October 1936, 10. 

[4] Sydney Chronicle (NSW), 17 June 1848, 34 (10).

[5] Sydney Chronicle (NSW), 15 July 1848, 83 (11).

[6] E. Deas Thomson. The Colonial Secretary to The Colonial Architect, Sir, Colonial Secretary’s Office, Sydney, 31 August 1848  in 1883-4 Legislative Assembly. New South Wales. House of The Good Shepherd and Sydney Female Refuge (Papers Connected with Occupation of Pitt-Street Premises.) 5, hereafter LAP. In correspondence referred to as “The Sheriff’s Prison’ but rather referred to as the ‘Debtor’s Prison’.

[7] Kelleher, ‘Sister Scholastica Gibbons’ citing the Rev. J. McEncroe to the Colonial Secretary, 1 January 1848 to 30 June,

[8] Kelleher, ‘Sister Scholastica Gibbons’, 20.

[9] Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 24 March 1853, 10.

[10] Toole, Innocence and Penitence, 4.

[11] Kelleher. ‘Sister Scholastica Gibbons’, 21; Originally called “Sisters of the Good Shepherd”, with the name changing in 1866 to “Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict”. Later the name was shortened to Sisters of the Good Samaritan. Most people affectionately continued to refer to them as the Sisters of the Good Shepherd until they moved from Pitt Street. Joanna Mead, Archives & Records Manager, Good Samaritan Congregational Centre, Glebe, NSW. Personal communication, 5/5/2021.

[12] Sydney Mail (NSW), 26 May 1866, 3.

[13] Kelleher, ‘Sister Scholastica Gibbons’ citing the Rev. J. McEncroe to the Colonial Secretary, 1 January 1848 to 30 June.

[14] Mr P. M. Stallard to The Rev. J. B. Laughton. 25 January, 1849, in 1883-4 Legislative Assembly. New South Wales. House of The Good Shepherd and Sydney Female Refuge (Papers Connected with Occupation of Pitt-Street Premises.) 11-12 hereafter LAP

[15] This document has two sections to it; an initial three paragraphs which are introductory in nature  and; a second section under the heading of ‘Regulations for the general government of the Institution’ and consists of regulations numbered 1 to 13. The words ‘House of the Good Shepherd’ only occur in the title and all references  within the document are to the more generic term the ‘Institution’. Given this feature of the document  but with some things within it reflecting more local circumstances (eg. 3. ‘who will without delay deposit it in the Savings Bank’; 4. …. Extraordinary expenses, which are necessarily many in an infant establishment’) suggest that it may be based on Irish Magdalen  rules locally adapted.

[16] Sydney Chronicle (NSW), 17 June 1848, 11; 1 July 1848, 11; 15 July 1848, 11.

[17] Marilyn Kelleher, The House of the Good Shepherd, (unpublished), 19-20, No source is given for this date. Access to this work by Marilyn Kelleher was granted courtesy of the Good Samaritan Congregational Archives, Glebe.

[18] The Right Rev. Dr. Gregory to Governor Fitz Roy. 26 June, 1848. LAP, 4.

[19] Sydney Chronicle (NSW),15 July 1848, 11.

[20] Sr Agnes Hart’s Memoir.

[21] The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW), 2 January 1919, 24; Brother Urban Corrigan, ‘The Development of Catholic Education in Australia.’ The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW), 22 October 1936, 10.

[22] Sydney Mail (NSW), 26 May 1866, 3; Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW),14 July 1866, 440.   

[23]Toole, Innocence and Penitence, 1.

[24] Kelleher, Marilyn. ‘Sister Scholastica Gibbons’, 19.

[25] Sr Agnes Hart ‘Memoir’

[26] The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW) 2 January 1919, 24. 

[27] For detail see Paul F Cooper. The almost unknown founders of the Sydney Magdalen Asylums, Philanthropy and Philanthropists in Australian Colonial History.  Available at https://colonialgivers.com/2020/07/25/the-almost-unknown-founders-of-the-sydney-magdalen-asylums ; NSW BDM Death Certificate Mary Blake 13 January 1857, Certificate 150/1857. Further information on Mary Blake in NSW reveals she was the joint seller with John Blake of property 60 acres in Camden on 2/1/1837. It is unknown when the land was purchased. As it was sold in joint names it would seem it was purchased in joint names. There is no record of such a purchase though there was an auction of the land by the Sheriff’s Office in 1835. SMH, 26 November 1835, 3. If this is correct it places Mary present in the Colony in November 1835.

[28] The Daily News and Evening Chronicle (Sydney, NSW), 28 October 1848, 3; Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW),18 July 1850, 6; 24 June 1852, 2; 9 April 1853, 12.

[29] SMH, 15 January 1857, 8.

[30] Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 30 May 1885, 15; 15 October 1887, 17.

[31]  Part of Carter’s Barracks was  allocated for this purpose by the Government and the decision to do so was known by early September 1848, Sydney Chronicle 9 September 1848, 8. What date the move to these buildings took place is not known. Farrelly requested water be supplied by the Council as to the Benevolent Asylum, free of charge. The People’s Advocate and New South Wales Vindicator (Sydney, NSW), 27 January 1849, 2; ‘Story of the Institute of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan’ gives March 1849 as the date Carter’s Barracks were handed over to the Archbishop but some alterations were required.

[32] SMH, 15 October 1887, 10. It was on the reading this letter that I looked more carefully into the origins of the HGS. Kelleher in her unpublished paper makes reference to the role of the Morleys and is the first historian to uncover this.  Marilyn Kelleher, The House of the Good Shepherd, 18 (ASGS).

[33] It does, however, contain some inaccurate statements. Dr Gregory and not Dr Sheedy was not involved in the move to Carter’s Barracks and the Institute was not at this time called the ‘Good Samaritan’.

[34] John Martin was a solicitor and his brother Sir James Martin was variously Chief Justice of New South Wales and Premier of NSW.

[35] NSW BDM John Martin and Mary Ann Morley 108/1851 V1851108 97

[36] City of Sydney Rate Books 1848 & 1851 Phillip Ward, City of Sydney Archives. The property had 9 rooms, 2 floors a coach house and detached stables. It would seem some of the rooms were attics. The entry is dated Dec 12.1848 Rate Book, Phillip, City of Sydney Archives. The property number changed multiple times over the years. According to the Rate Books it was as follows: 1845 – no number; 1848 – 122; 1855-56 – 14; 1858-80 – 32; 1891-1911 – 44; 1912 – demolished. This valuable information was drawn to my attention by Joanna Mead, Archives & Records Manager, Archive of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Glebe.

[37] Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 9 July 1887, 10

[38] Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 24 September 1887, 15.

[39] The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic.), 22 October 1887, 7.

[40] The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW), 9 August 1890, 299.

[41] Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 14 November 1891, 15.

[42] Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW), 31 Jul 1897, 16; 17 September 1898, 16. 

[43] Sydney Chronicle (NSW), 17 June 1848, 10.

[44] Sydney Chronicle (NSW), 17 June 1848, 34 (10).

[45] Sydney Chronicle (NSW), 15 July 1848, 83 (11).

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