A History of the Parish of Queenscliff

The parish of Queenscliff celebrates its centenary this year. Various celebratory activities will be held in October. Following is a brief history of the parish.

The parish of Queenscliff comprises the people and churches of Holy Trinity at Queenscliff (also serving Point Lonsdale), Our Lady Star of the Sea at Ocean Grove, and Holy Family at Barwon Heads. Inclusion of Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads in the parish took place when the current parish priest, Fr Kevin Nicholson, was appointed in 1980. Ocean Grove had previously been within the parish of Drysdale, while Barwon Heads had been within the parish of Belmont.

The settlement at Queenscliff began in 1841. The first Mass in Queenscliff was celebrated in the Summer of 1851 in a private home. The Royal Hotel and private homes were the early venues for Mass. Building of a church commenced in 1863 and it was dedicated to the Holy Spirit by Bishop Goold in 1867. Initially Queenscliff was visited by priests from St Mary’s Geelong, but in 1890 it became part of the Drysdale Mission, which embraced Curlewis as well as Drysdale.

Local agitation for Queenscliff to be established as a separate parish was rewarded with the appointment on 1 November 1899 of Fr T. J. Quinn in charge of the new Mission of Queenscliff and Sorrento, with stations at Portsea and Rye. Under Fr Quinn, the presbytery adjoining the Queenscliff church was built. In time the bases on the Mornington Peninsula ceased to be part of the Queenscliff parish.

Following the end of World War I, the growing number of visitors to Queenscliff made an increase in the size of the church imperative. A building fund was established and the church extension was completed in 1925. The church was extended on the south side practically doubling its capacity. Fortunately the builders were able to preserve the singular architectural appeal of the original design. Holy Trinity Church is a landmark building on the western side of the town and its appearance when floodlit is quite spectacular. The beautiful sanctuary is a feature.

In 1914, Archbishop Mannix made Queenscliff a Mensal parish, whereby he fulfilled his canonical duties as parish priest there. For the next 40 years, priests appointed to Holy Trinity acted as administrators. His Grace was in residence at Queenscliff each year from the end of January until the Sunday preceding the St Patrick’s Day procession in Melbourne. He was regularly to be seen walking along the beach from Queenscliff to Point Lonsdale and back.

Typically with a Catholic parish, the provision of a Catholic education has been a high priority. In 1902, the Sisters of Mercy established a convent on the Queenscliff beachfront at the entrance to the town to provide secondary education. Low enrolments rendered the venture unviable and so the college was closed in 1906. However, the presence of the Sisters of Mercy has continued there in varied capacities at what has been known since 1918 as Santa Casa.

St Aloysius’ primary school at Queenscliff was registered on 25 September 1916 and taught by the Sisters of Mercy in a two-room hall built in 1902 on the south side of the presbytery. What eventually proved to be less than adequate accommodation continued until 1975, when a new modern school was opened in the grounds at the rear of the church. Since then several extensions and renovations have been made to maintain St Aloysius’ as a well-presented and well-equipped school. The Sisters of Mercy withdrew from St Aloysius at the end of 1992 leaving the Queenscliff community with the tangible and intangible legacies of decades of Christian education. Enrolments at St Aloysius’ were 10 in 1917 and 93 in 1992, after peaking at 139 in the early 1980s. This year’s enrolment is 90.

Holy Trinity Church could not cope with the ever-growing Summer and Easter holiday congregations. Various strategies were adopted to cope with the problem. In 1981, St Aloysius’ school hall was extended and Mass is now said in this building at peak holiday periods. It has seating for 300 people compared with the church’s seating capacity of 200. St Aloysius’ hall is also used for meetings, the provision of refreshments following funerals, and for school gymnasium and music lessons.

In 1981, Star of the Sea primary school was opened in John Dory Drive, Ocean Grove. Its opening enrolment was 104 and today there are 310 students.

The impending closure of the Army Staff College at Fort Queenscliff will impact on future enrolments at the Queenscliff school. Additionally the yearly infusion of new Army families into the parish will be missed.

The townships constituting the parish are havens for retirees but Ocean Grove has a broader mix of families. Its population far outstrips the combined total of the others and it continues to grow.

The parish proposes to build a new church and new presbytery in John Dory Drive, Ocean Grove, nearby to the school. This proposal necessitates the sale of the present Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads church sites.

Mass is no longer celebrated at Barwon Heads over the Christmas holidays to Easter period because the small church there cannot cope with the influx of visitors. Two additional Masses are held at Ocean Grove to cater for the many holiday makers. The new church will cater for both Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads.

   To read PDF files download the Reader from the Adobe web site.
Send web site comments to Webmaster@GeelongCatholics.org   Last modified: December 29, 2006