On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 1975, the ten volunteers began their journey to Australia via the Suez Canal, in the "Mirzapore" as far as Ceylon and then transshipping to the "Golconda". Bishop Murray met them at Sydney, took them by the paddle steamer, "Coonabora" to Newcastle and next to Maitland to spend a few days with the Dominican Sisters. Bishop Murray accompanied the little band to Singleton where they were warmly welcomed by the people of the district.

With a generous, prayerful spirit, amidst the loneliness and the hardships of those early days M.M. Stanislaus gently led her Community in carrying the mercy of Christ to those with whom she came in contact, the people, the children, but especially the sick poor.

The Sisters’ first undertaking was a school for girls at Singleton where they had an enrolment of seventy-four before the close of 1875. In January, 1879, M.M. Aloysius O’Driscoll became the Superior of the branch house established at Gunnedah. Her co-workers were three professed Sisters and a postulant. In October of the same year another branch house was established at Murrurundi under the leadership of Sr. M. Bernard Gavin. In the "eighties" other branches were also established at Raymond Terrace (’81), Morpeth, Muswellbrook and Lambton (’83), Hamilton (’84), East Maitland (’85), Branston (’86) and Scone (’87).

Singleton community was blessed with the entrance of Australian postulants but the rapid expansion of the works of mercy made it necessary to seek more help from the Irish parent house in Ennis. In 1882 six more Sisters arrived and in 1884 an additional band of three.

The missionary zeal which had inspired the first group of Sisters was still very evident in the closing years of the century when four separate foundations were made. In 1887, when the northern boundary of the Diocese of Maitland moved south, Gunnedah became an independent community. On 19^th February, 1889, a foundation was made at Broken Hill in the Diocese of Wilcannia with Sr. M. Josephine Callen as first superior; six professed Sisters and a postulant accompanied her to a six-roomed cottage of wood and iron, their first Convent.

Father Rolland, a Marist Missionary, at Reefton on the remote west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, also applied to M.M. Stanislaus and was delighted to receive the youthful company of four professed Sisters and a postulant. This foundation, in the Archdiocese of Wellington, was made in January 1891.

At the invitation of Bishop Verdon, the newly consecrated Bishop of Dunedin Diocese (N.Z.), another group of volunteers, consisting of six professed Sisters and a novice, set sail for their distant mission. This new venture of January 17^th, 1897, in spite of very humble beginnings and meagre financial resources, was singularly blessed with postulants within a year.

Meanwhile, in the Diocese of Maitland the Sisters were gradually expanding their field of labour. Before her death in 1910 the last administrative act of M.M. Stanislaus was to transfer the Home for Girls from Singleton to Monte Pio, Maitland. This home, standing as a memorial to Bishop Murray, cared for many girls for over sixty years until changing trends in Child Care necessitated its closure.

Convents were opened at Stockton in 1920, at Tighe’s Hill in 1928, at Toronto in 1952, at New Lambton in 1955, at Glendale in 1961, Nelson Bay and Tarro in 1962 and at Wallsend in 1963.

In 1910 was built the first section of St. Catherine’s College. Singleton, which adjoins the Convent. To meet the changing demands of education frequent extensions have been made to the building over the past sixty years. In January, 1974, with the intake of sixteen boys in Form I, the school began its co-educational programme. The gradual phasing out of the boarding school, over several years, was completed by the close of 1974.

Visitation of the sick and the suffering has always been an important part of the Mercy Apostolate. In 1921 there was a further extension of this work with the establishment of the popular Mater Misericordiae Hospital at Waratah in the industrial area of Newcastle under the guiding hand of M.M. Magdalen Meaney.

Further suggested reading:

Anonymous His mercy endures forever, 1875-1975. Singleton: Sisters of Mercy, 1975

Morling, L.A. Zillah and Sisters at Reefton . Australasian Catholic Record October, 1997 pp.444-452

Kelly, C. A journey through Light and Shadow 1875 - 1995.

Sisters of Mercy, Hamilton 1998

If further information is required about individual Sisters the following address is given:

The Archivist

Singleton Congregation Sisters of Mercy

9 Steel Street

HAMILTON NSW 2303

In writing to the Archivist, it would be appropriate that a financial contribution be made for the Archivist’s time and expertise.

Religious Orders or Congregations have released the details on their members. It is understood that the copyright of any material (including the listing of the names of the Sisters) relevant to a particular Order or Congregation in this publication remains with the relevant Order or Congregation.