The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart were founded in Issoudun, France, in 1874 by Fr Jules Chevalier msc. In 1882 Fr Chevalier appointed Mother Marie Louise Hartzer as the first Mother General of the congregation. The mission and motto of the Sisters is to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus known and loved everywhere!
In January 1885 five Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart arrived in Australia from France. At the request of Cardinal Moran the Sisters opened a school at Botany, the first of many schools, colleges and institutions across Australia. Three of the Sisters sailed onto Thursday Island in the Torres Straits in 1886 to commence teaching and nursing.
Here in Brisbane, the only teaching institute of women had been the Sisters of Mercy who had arrived from Dublin in 1861. Archbishop James Duhig saw very clearly that the expanding parish school system called for the cooperation of additional institutes of teaching Sisters.
Hence in 1915 he brought from Sydney the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and in 1916 he invited to Brisbane the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart arrived at Corinda to establish Saint Joseph’s Primary School in 1917.
Corinda
St Joseph’s Primary School Corinda has operated since 1917. Two other educational institutions operated along side the primary school over the decades.
1912 St Joseph’s Catholic Church is blessed and opened by Coadjutor Archbishop James Duhig on 3rd November.
1916 St Joseph’s Primary School is built next to the church. On 25th July an existing house is purchased in Clewley Street Corinda by Archbishop Duhig, as a convent for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
1917 St Joseph’s Primary School and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Convent are blessed and opened on 28th January by Archbishop Duhig. Mother Chanel Bergin is appointed as the first Superior of Corinda Convent.
1917 St Joseph’s Primary school opens on 29th January with 50 students attending on the first day.
1918 Two adjacent properties are purchased by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Clewley Street on the 3rd May, to be used as a junior boys boarding school.
1919 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Junior Boys Boarding School, is blessed and opened by Archbishop Duhig on 19th January. This school operates until the late 1930’s.
1926 Extensions to St Joseph’s Church are blessed and opened by Monsignor James Byrne on 18th July.
1941 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College Corinda is opened and blessed as a girls secondary school for both day and boarding students. The college is opened in the buildings formerly occupied by the junior boys boarding school.
1952 Further extensions to St Joseph’s Church are blessed by Archbishop Duhig on 23rd November.
1950’s & 1960’s St Joseph’s Primary School has many extensions and modifications including additional classrooms and the lifting of the entire school to accommodate a tuckshop and parish hall under the school rooms.
1960 OLSH College ceases to house boarding students.
1965 OLSH College is raised and extended. The refurbished and extended two storey building is blessed and opened by Archbishop Duhig on 28th February.
1968 The new Church of St Joseph is opened and blessed by Archbishop Patrick Mary O’Donnell on 15th December.
1972 The old church is demolished and a new presbytery and parish office (built on the site of the 1912 church) is blessed and opened by Archbishop O’Donnell on 22nd October.
1972 OLSH College Corinda closes at the end of the school year.
1973 St Joseph’s Primary school locates some classes and the Principal’s Office into the former College building.
1976 The old convent is demolished and a new convent (on the opposite side of Clewley Street) is opened and blessed by Archbishop Francis Rush on 14th November.
1976 The new infant block is blessed and opened by Archbishop Francis Rush. 1978 The original 1917 primary school building and parish hall are destroyed by fire. 1980 A new two storey classroom block is built, including new tuckshop facilities.
1991 A new parish hall is blessed by Rev Michael Fallon P.P., and opened by Mrs Kath Hennessy (foundation student od St Joseph’s School) on 16th June.
1993 The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart withdraw from St Joseph’s School and a lay principal is appointed.
1996 The boundaries of St Joseph’s Parish Corinda and Christ the King Parish Graceville are suppressed to form the new Catholic Parish of Corinda Graceville.
1997 The new Catholic Parish of Corinda Graceville is officially promulgated on 13th February.
1998 Part of the school (former college buildings) are demolished.
1998 A new administration block and library are opened.
2000 Another section of the former college buildings are demolished. 2001 A new classroom block is opened on the site of the old college.
2006 A prep building is opened.
2008 New principal appointed.
2011 Two buildings (1976 & 1980 blocks) are demolished to enable the construction of two modern classroom blocks along Martindale Street.
2012 Hall refurbishment takes place.
2013 New library is built and the refurbishment of Administration and old library is undertaken.
Beyond Corinda
The stories of several other teaching institutions are intrinsically linked with the history of St Joseph’s School Corinda.
1925 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College Whinstanes is opened as a Junior Boys Boarding School. OLSH Corinda continues to operate for a further decade but the new Whinstanes College, located at College St, Hamilton, allows for expansion and growth.
1937 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church-School Darra is opened and blessed by Archbishop Duhig on 4th April.
1937 OLSH Darra opens on 5th April with 37 students. The Sisters travel daily by train from Corinda to Darra, until the end of 1953, when administration of Darra is handed to the Sisters of Mercy. OLSH Darra continues its fine tradition of education, always teaching the children to Be Strong in Faith and Love.
1941 OLSH Whinstanes is closed. In the midst of WWII it is considered unsafe to house the children so close to the petrol storage facilities located near the Brisbane River. The college premises is taken over by the 738th Military Police Battalion US Army.
1942 Students from OLSH Whinstanes are transferred to Toowoomba. Initially the Sisters and students stay in a number of guest houses on the Range, namely Maranoa, Sonnenberg and Lyndon.
1946 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College Freneau Park is opened at Hursley Road, Toowoomba, as a Junior Boys Boarding School.
1964 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College Freneau Park closes.
With thanksgiving for the past, we look to the future...
As St Joseph’s School enters its second century of education in Corinda, we are grateful to God for the dedication and labours of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who worked in the school to shape it into a place where the school community strives to share in the mission of Jesus, to bring hope, salvation, justice and peace to all. We thank the lay teachers who have followed in the excellent tradition of the Sisters. We give thanks to the many Priests of the Parish, the parents and parishioners who have supported the school. We offer thanks to God for the thousands of students who have been educated and nurtured in Faith and Love at Corinda. St Joseph’s School is an integral part of the Corinda Graceville Catholic Parish and shares in the mission of Jesus to bring love, forgiveness, dignity and salvation to all. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved. Forever!
(With thanks to Corinda Graceville Parish allowing permission to use images on this page.)