Church of the Holy Family Presbytery

By the turn of the century Indooroopilly had a well established European community and was rising steadily as an elite suburb with all the facilities and conveniences of a modern urban centre. The 1893 floods which destroyed the railway bridge, while having a devastating effect on the development of the suburbs on the south side, did little to impede the progress of this elevated area. A new rail bridge, the Albert, was opened in 1895. Station Road was becoming established as a retail and community centre. By the early 1920s the post office, a fruiterer, draper, butcher, boot-maker and stables were located there as well as a number of general stores. 

In 1926 Archbishop James Duhig purchased a large portion of land at Indooroopilly. The land had been in the ownership of Gilson Fox Leslie Foxton, eminent Indooroopilly resident. It was Duhig’s intension to establish a church and school on the site. Present on the property was the nineteenth-century brick residence ‘Warranoke’. After the opening of the Church of the Holy Family on Sunday 4 July 1926, ‘Warranoke’ became the Presbytery.   

It was hoped that the Indooroopilly site would not only accommodate a church but also educational facilities. In 1927 Duhig invited the Brigidine Sisters from the Randwick convent in Sydney to work in the newly formed Indooroopilly Parish. The Brigidine Order of Sisters was founded in Ireland by Bishop Daniel Delany in 1807. Initially the Order was established to provide free education for the poor. By also providing education to those who could afford to pay at day schools and boarding schools, the Brigidine Sisters were soon able to establish convents and schools outside of Ireland. In 1883 the first Australian Brigidine foundation was made in Coonamble, New South Wales. This was followed by four more in Victoria. The Brigidine Sisters continued to establish convents and schools in Australia. Accepting the Archbishop’s invitation, the first community of Brigidine Sisters in Indooroopilly was a group of five Sisters, Mothers Brigid Foley, Anthony Macgrath, Ignatius Dunphy, Finbarr Treacy and Columba Phelan. 

With the arrival of the Sisters a primary school was founded, The Holy Family Primary School, with classes being held within the church building. The primary school opened on the 30 January 1928 with an enrolment of 101 students. ‘Warranoke’ was converted from the presbytery to the convent. 

As the Sisters established their new convent in ‘Warranoke’ a new presbytery was required. The site chosen was directly across the road from the original house on Fairley Street (formerly Church Street). The period in which the building was constructed saw an unprecedented amount of property acquisition and building by the Catholic Church in Brisbane. Under the leadership of Archbishop Duhig (Archbishop of Brisbane 1917-1965) many new and important building schemes were undertaken. “Duhig the builder”, a term of endearment used by his contemporaries, was renowned for his desire to obtain prime sites (often on the apex of hills) throughout Brisbane on behalf of the Catholic Church for the construction of new churches, schools and hospitals. His biography stated “He built well in the twenties. He built in bricks and mortar on a scale unprecedented”. Throughout his career Duhig was responsible for building over four hundred major buildings in Brisbane.   

On November 10 1927 a Tender Notice was published in the Architect and Builders’ Journal of Queensland by Hall and Prentice accepting the tender from J.J. Mannlen for a “New Presbytery at Indooroopilly”. In the same month the Register of New Buildings recorded the building of the presbytery on Church Street, the applicant being Reverend Prout, the first priest at the newly formed parish, who served the parish for twelve years. The architectural firm was recorded as Hall and Prentice. 

Established in 1919, Hall and Prentice were responsible for several of Brisbane’s finest buildings, including Brisbane City Hall, Tattersall’s Club, Ascot Chambers, Musket Villa in Ascot, Shell House and Sandgate Town Hall. T. R. Hall was a Brisbane born architect and the son of renowned architect Francis Richard Hall, of Hall and Dods. He played an important role in the history of Brisbane horse racing with his name commemorated in the T.R. Hall Handicap. George Gray Prentice, also a Brisbane born architect, played an active role in architecture and art in Queensland, being secretary and vice-president at various times of the Queensland Institute of Architects as well as president and vice-president of the Queensland Art Society. 

The design of the timber presbytery incorporated many of the features used by Hall and Prentice on the original Church of the Holy Family building, for example the timber cross on the roof and the timber panelling on the single gable. This was significant as it assisted in demonstrating the new Catholic presence on the hill at Indooroopilly. 

On Monday 20 February The Brisbane Courier reported “Dr. Duhig (Archbishop of Brisbane) blessed and opened the new presbytery, dedicated the former presbytery as a convent for the Brigidine sisters…yesterday afternoon.” (The Brisbane Courier, Monday 20 February 1928) The newly built presbytery was an important addition to the Indooroopilly Catholic precinct as it provided the parish priest with a home close to the church. With the development of the Catholic precinct that included the church, the primary school, the convent, the high school and the presbytery, Duhig achieved his vision of creating a strong Catholic presence in Indooroopilly.

1. Celebrating 75 Years, 1929-2004 Brigidine College Indooroopilly, Anniversary Booklet

2. Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994

3. Historic Titles, Department of Environment and Resource Management

4. Queensland Post Office Directories

5. Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Survey Maps

6. MacGinley, Rosa, “Irish Women Religious and their Convent High Schools in Nineteenth Century Australia”, Australian Journal of Irish Studies, V.5, p.135-149

7. Brisbane Courier, Monday 20 February 1928

8. The Queenslander, 26 July 1902

9. Queensland Electoral Rolls, 1903

10. The Brisbane Courier, 19 May 1917, p15

11. The Brisbane Courier, 11 January 1907, p7

12. The Brisbane Courier, 26 July 1902, p223

13. The Brisbane Courier, 2 November 1895, p861

14. The Brisbane Courier, 10 March 1891, p 6

15. The Brisbane Courier, 26 March 1926, p8

16. The Queenslander, 26 July 1902, p22

17. 14 January 1927, ‘Letter to Archbishop Duhig from Randwick Brigidine Convent”, Brisbane Archdiocese Archive

18. The Brisbane Courier, Monday 20 February 1928, p12

19. Tenders, November 10 1927, Architect and Builders’ Journal of Queensland