Christian Brothers College (CBC), informally known as CBC Perth or The Terrace was an

Independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for boys situated on

St Georges Terrace St Georges Terrace (colloquially known as "The Terrace") is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial road through the central business district. Its western e ...

in the centre of Perth, Western Australia. The college opened in January 1894, and the college was a founding member of the

Public Schools Association Established in 1905 the Public Schools Association, or the PSA, is an association of seven independent boys schools in Perth, Western Australia. The descriptor 'public school' references the historical usage of the term and the model of the Brit ...

in 1905. The college was the second high school (1894) and the second boarding school (1896) in Western Australia. In 1938 boarders and some day students at CBC moved to the new

Aquinas College :''See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas'' Aquinas College may refer to any one of several educational institutions: In Australia *Aquinas College, Perth, Roman Catholic boys' R–12 school *Aquinas College, Adelaide, residenti ...

campus at

Salter Point Salter may refer to: *Salter (surname) *Salter (trap) *Salter Brecknell, a manufacturer of light commercial weighing scales, part of Avery Weigh-Tronix *Salter Housewares, a manufacturer of consumer weighing scales *Salters Steamers, a boating com ...

. Brother C.P. Foley, who was the headmaster of CBC Perth and who at the same was the first headmaster of Aquinas took with him the Christian Brothers College crest and colours, honour boards, and

membership. Brother Foley insisted the heritage of CBC Perth from 1894–1937 belonged to Aquinas. To further enhance Aquinas as the premier the Christian Brothers College, the main building at Aquinas was designed in the Federation Arts and Crafts architecture of CBC Perth. Meanwhile, although most of the day students remained at CBC Perth, numbers were depleted and the college immediately accepted an overflow of students from St Patrick's Boys School on Wellington Street. CBC Perth continued as a day school from 1938–1961. In 1962, the students and staff of CBC Perth moved to a new site on the East Perth foreshore and the college was renamed

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

.Trinity College History
(accessed:19-02-2007)

History

The Christian Brothers opened their first school in Western Australia on 31 January 1894 on the corner of

and Victoria Avenue in Perth, naming it Christian Brothers College Perth.Massam, Katharine (1998).''On High Ground: Images of One Hundred Years at Aquinas College, Western Australia'' University of Western Australia Press The Brothers were invited to the colony by Bishop

Matthew Gibney Matthew Gibney (1 November 1835 in Killeshandra, Cavan, Ireland – 22 June 1925 in Perth, Western Australia), an Australian metropolitan bishop, was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth, serving from 1886 until 1910. Gibney gave Australia ...

who knew of the work of the Brothers in Australia, Ireland and England.South Perth Municipal Heritage Inventory
(accessed:14-02-2007) The first headmaster of the college, Anthony O’Brien addressed the school upon its opening:

The greatest desire and ambition f the Brotherswould be to bring up the young entrusted to their charge as good Christians and good citizens, able to fill any position…assigned to then in after life, and to hold their own against all comers in the fairest and in one sense the youngest of the Australian coloniesMassam, Katharine (1998).''On High Ground: Images of One Hundred Years at Aquinas College, Western Australia''
University of Western Australia Press UWA Publishing, formerly known as the Text Books Board and then University of Western Australia Press, is a Western Australian publisher established in 1935 by the University of Western Australia. It produces a range of non-fiction and fiction t ...
. Page 22. Accessed at Walter Murdoch Library South Perth Branch.

Initially at CBC Perth only day students were enrolled, but due to population growth in Western Australia during the gold rush period, pressure was put on the school to accept residential boarding students, the first of which were enrolled in June 1896.Florey, Cecil (2000), Canning Bridge to Clontarf: An Historical Journey Along Manning Road The site had physical limitations and in 1917, headmaster

Paul Nunan Michael Paul Nunan, CFC (1858 – 5 November 1934) was a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers and an influential educationalist in New Zealand, Victoria and, especially, Western Australia. Personal life Born around 1858, after a ...

saw the necessity to acquire much larger property away from the city centre to accommodate the whole school. The brothers entered into negotiations for the purchase of 8 hectares (20 acres) at

Point Heathcote Point Heathcote (Goolugatup in Noongar) is a geographic feature located on the south east part of Melville Water on Swan River. It is located in Applecross, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. History The area was named after George Gage Hea ...

on the Swan River, in 1928 they ended up purchasing 95 hectares (234 acres) on the Canning River just east of the

Riverton Bridge Riverton Bridge is a two-lane road traffic bridge spanning the Canning River at Riverton, in Perth, Western Australia. It was originally built in 1911 and known as the Watts Road Bridge, being renamed to Riverton Bridge in 1916. By the 1930s ...

naming it Clune Park.City of South Perth Municipal Heritage Inventory (No.1). 1994 However, plans to develop this site were shelved due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

.Florey, Cecil (1995), Peninsular City: A Social history of the City of South Perth In 1936, at the instigation of

Paul Keaney Brother Paul Francis Keaney, MBE, ISO (5 October 1888 – 26 February 1954) was an Irish-born Australian Catholic educator. He was accused of abusing the children under his care. Biography Keaney was born on 5 October 1888, at Corralskin, Kiltyclo ...

, the

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

of nearby Clontarf Orphanage, 62.4 hectare (154

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

) were purchased from the Manning family at

Mount Henry Peninsula Mount Henry Peninsula is a land feature and reserve located south of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Canning River near the Mount Henry Bridge in Salter Point, Western Australia. It covers , and includes both ''Banksia atte ...

at Salter Point on the Canning River at a cost of £9,925.Massam, Katharine (1998), p. 123 In 1938 the boarders and some day students moved to the newly built

, Salter Point campus, with most day students staying on at CBC Perth. The Aquinas College foundation stone was laid on 11 July 1937, and the new campus opened in February 1938 with 173 boarders and 55-day pupils. C.P. Foley was the first headmaster.Curriculum Council of Western Australia
(accessed:18-02-2007) When Perth was awarded the rights to host the 1962 Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games), the

Perth City Council Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

saw the need to construct a large international hotel, they decided to build it next to CBC Perth. Shortly after, the council expressed interest in purchasing the CBC site to allow for the widening of

and Victoria Avenue. At this time, the college was facing the facts that the site was very small and the buildings were becoming run-down and educationally inadequate. The Council purchased the site from the College, for £267,000 and provided the Brothers with a new site on the riverbank near the Western Australian Cricket Association grounds (WACA). Here, a brand new school at a cost of £270,000 was to be built. Building work at CBC Perth's new site began in November 1960. Trinity College (as CBC Perth was renamed) opened on schedule for the start of the 1962 school year, with the official opening on 25 March 1962. The first headmaster of Trinity College was J A Kelly who had been headmaster of CBC Perth in 1961. Prior to the demolition of the CBC Building, the Christian Brothers requested permission from Perth City Council to remove artifacts from the buildings. After some reticence the Council referred the Brothers to the demolition contractor who allowed the Brothers to move some relics. The Foundation stone of the 1895 West Wing, the original school bell and eight of the ten chapel windows were taken to Trinity College. Thanks to the efforts of a group of Old Aquinians the pinnacle from the spire of the water tower was taken to Aquinas. The ninth and tenth chapel windows of Saint David and St Thomas Aquinas went to Aquinas. In 1983 the St David window was swapped with the image of the Sacred Heart (that was at Trinity) and was placed in the Trinity Administration Building. Another window, the 1911 "Signum Fidei" was presumed lost. It was tracked down and thirty years later, the window was restored by the Trinity Old Boys association and presented to Trinity at the Colleges Centenary Dinner in May 1994.

Extra-curricular activities

In the early days of CBC Perth music, dancing and

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

were available as extras, over and above the mainstream subjects and sport. These cultural activities, whilst presented in the college prospectus as worthy additional refinements, had a very marginal position in the schools early years. Lessons were taught seldom by brothers, and more commonly by visiting teachers, instead the brothers created highly polished verse-speaking and singing choirs to engage their students in the Arts.Massam, Katharine (1998), p. 73

Notable alumni

* Frank Bryant – Western Australian cricketer and cricket administrator *

Ignatius Boyle Ignatius George Boyle (1 January 1882 – 15 June 1960) was a politician from Western Australia who represented the Avon district in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1935 until 1943. Biography He was educated at Christian Br ...

– Australian politician *

Ernest Bromley Ernest Bromley (March 14, 1912 – December 17, 1997) was an American minister, Quaker and civil rights and peace activist. A founding member of the Freedom Riders, he played an active role in protests of racial segregation in the Southern ...

– Former Australian cricketer * Sir Fred Chaney – Liberal Minister in the Australian parliament * David Fenbury – Public servant * Sir Thomas Meagher –

Lord Mayor of Perth __TOC__ The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods: *From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia *From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Pe ...

Thomas Molloy Thomas George Anstruther Molloy (4 October 1852 – 16 February 1938) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the electorate of Electoral district of Perth, Perth from 1892 until 1894, ...

– Former MLA and

Percy Rodriguez Percy Rodriguez (born Percy Rodrigues; June 13, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was a Canadian actor who appeared in many television shows and films from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was of Afro-Portuguese heritage and was born in the Saint-Henri neigh ...

–

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er, killed in action during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

References

External links

Aquinas College Homepage

Trinity College Homepage
{{coord, -31.95777, 115.8646, format=dms, display=title Educational institutions established in 1894 Defunct Catholic schools in Australia 1894 establishments in Australia St Georges Terrace

History

Extra-curricular activities

Notable alumni

See also

References

Further reading

External links