News from the Archives

In August 2018, the St Augustine’s Old Boys celebrated their 100th Anniversary with a luncheon at the College. St Augustine’s moved into the Bluestone building bordering Queens Road in 1857 and remained in Newtown until 1939 when they moved to Highton. St Joseph’s College opened in 1935.

Circa 1904 ‘Lay Brother Bruno Carroll undertook the planning and establishment of a formal European-style garden to enhance the entry to St Augustine’s from Aphrasia Street.’

‘In 1911 large outdoor swimming baths (77 feet by 36 feet) were opened. The boys themselves doing the digging and evacuation work for this undertaking’. Check out the Heritage Centre Instagram page, to see photos of the College through the years. The Heritage Centre is open on Tuesdays, and other days by appointment. Contact the Archivist Susan Belluzzo by email Susan.Belluzzo@sjc.vic.edu.au or phone 03 5226 8100.

Quotes are from St Augustine’s and the Christian Brothers by Peter Chapman cfc.

Susan Belluzzo

Archivist

St Augustine’s orphanage opened in March 1857 on Queen’s Road. It operated on the St Joseph’s site before relocating to Highton (the site now occupied by Christian College). Later St Augustine’s morphed into McKillop family services across a variety of settings.

Daniel O’Driscol was the first Master of St Augustine’s and managed the orphanage from 1857-1878. In 2011, St Joseph’s College purchased Noble Oval and renamed it “O’Driscol Oval” to acknowledge the original site of the orphanage.

There were guests present at the reunion who had lived in the orphanage when it was at Newtown, mostly in what we now call B block. The old boys all had amazingly diverse stories. It was really clear that they share an incredibly strong bond, because in a very real sense they were family to each other. The St Joseph’s site is their spiritual home and they will always be welcome here.