Abbotsford Convent
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The Abbotsford Convent is located in
Abbotsford, Victoria Abbotsford ( wyi, Carran-carramulk) is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra Local government a ...
, an inner city suburb of
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...
west of
Yarra Bend Park Yarra Bend Park park in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. Located 4 km northeast of Melbourne's CBD, it is the largest area of natural bushland left in inner Melbourne. The most notable feature of the park is the Yarra River which flows for ...
, with the
Collingwood Children's Farm Collingwood Children's Farm is a not-for-profit, inner city working farm situated on the Yarra River in the Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford, Australia. It is located within Wurundjeri/Woiwurrung country. It is adjacent to the Abbotsford Convent ...
to its north and east, the river and parklands to its south and housing to its west. During the 19th and part of the 20th century, the site was occupied by one of the largest
convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
s in Victoria. For more than 100 years, the Abbotsford Convent provided shelter, food, education and work for tens of thousands of women and children who experienced poverty, neglect and social disadvantage. Recognised as a place of outstanding historic value to Australia and the Commonwealth, because of the site's strong capacity to demonstrate the course and pattern of welfare provision in Australia, the convent was added to the
National Heritage List The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...
on 31 August 2017. Today the site and its buildings are used as an arts, educational and cultural hub, the grounds, historic buildings and gardens are occupied by and host artisans; community and cultural events and cultural institutions, a community classical music radio station (
3MBS 3MBS was the first FM (frequency modulation) radio station in Victoria, Australia, and began transmitting to Melbourne and surrounding areas on 1 July 1975. Since then it has operated successfully as a non-profit community-based organisation broa ...
), a Steiner School ( Sophia Mundi), live music performances, a gallery, theater, markets, bakery, bar, cafe and a pay-as-you-feel restaurant. There are 11 buildings on the site; the Convent, Convent Annexe, St Euphrasia, Providence, Rosina, St Mary's, Mercator, Magdalen Laundries, Sacred Heart, Industrial School and St Anne's.


History


Early history

The surrounding river valley was enjoyed for thousands of years by the
traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...
of the land, the
Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Australian Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the Traditional Owners of the Birrarung (Yarra River) Valley, covering much of the present location of Narrm (Melbourne ...
, for whom the nearby junction of the Yarra River and
Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia, which flows through the northern suburbs of Northcote. It begins near Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Fa ...
was an important meeting point. The precinct surrounding the convent is the most intact site associated with the first documented European inland contact in Victoria. In 1803 Charles Grimes,
Surveyor General of New South Wales The Surveyor-General of New South Wales is the primary government authority responsible for land and mining surveying in New South Wales. The original duties for the Surveyor General was to measure and determine land grants for settlers in New So ...
, explored the Yarra by boat as far as
Dights Falls Dights Falls is a rapid and weir on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, just downstream of the junction with the Merri Creek. At this point the river narrows and is constricted between 800,000-year-old volcanic, basaltic lava flow and a mu ...
. This bend of the river has been subject to less change than any other section of the river and the valley has changed little since early days of settlement. Land at this bend of the river has been used for farming since the first formal land sales occurred in 1838, although anecdotal evidence indicates
squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
were present before this date. The Abbotsford Precinct Heritage Farmlands, upon which the former convent is sited, are the oldest continually farmed lands in Victoria. The entire site is unique in that it is the only example of a working inner-city convent farm in a major city, anywhere in the world. The Collingwood Children's Farm (established in 1979) continues this farming tradition. Motivated by his passion for the Yarra,
Charles La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...
set aside land for parklands, now
Yarra Bend Park Yarra Bend Park park in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. Located 4 km northeast of Melbourne's CBD, it is the largest area of natural bushland left in inner Melbourne. The most notable feature of the park is the Yarra River which flows for ...
, and for Government House (a concept abandoned in 1842), opposite what later became the Abbotsford Convent precinct.
Edward Curr Edward Curr (1 July 1798 – 16 November 1850) was an Australian settler and politician. Curr was born in Sheffield, England. He travelled to Hobart Town, arriving in February 1820. In 1823 he returned to England. In 1824 he was appointed ma ...
lived on the site from 1842 to 1850 at his estate St Heliers. A news report of 1884 noted that restaurant owner and hotelier, Samuel Moss, 'made a fortune' in goldfields era Melbourne and 'sank some of it in building what is now the convent at Abbotsford'. In 1863, 'four Irish sisters from the Good Shepherd's mother house in Angers, France' bought the 'two large 1840s villa estates, St Heliers and Abbotsford House' to establish their Order.


Sisters of the Good Shepherd

From 1863 to 1975 the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, an order of the
Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, occupied the site. For a century from the 1860s onwards, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd provided accommodation, schooling and work for female orphans, Wards of the State and girls considered by the State and/or the Church to be in moral danger. There also existed a smaller number of older residents whose ages ranged from young adult to the elderly. These elderly residents, some of whom had been at the convent since childhood, were housed in a separate dormitory. There were vegetable and fruit gardens, dairy and poultry farms and a piggery. Income to buy what could not be grown or made on-site was generated through lace-making and commercial laundry services. The Convent was able to house up to 1,000 residents and was largely self-sufficient through its farming, Industrial School and laundry activities. As with many such institutions of its era, conditions for the girls was often austere. The large buildings were largely unheated and girls were pressed into laundry and other activities that involved long hours and no pay. Children housed at the convent, as recently as the 1960s, have reported that the daily operation of the convent was draconian. The earliest industrial developments in Melbourne were along the banks of the Yarra River and Abbotsford, Collingwood and
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
became some of the most important industrial regions in Australia until World War II. The area suffered major social problems as a result of poverty and poor housing, particularly during the depressions of the 1890s and 1930s. The Convent was a significant architectural and cultural landmark for a local community that had included a high proportion of Catholic working class. Today, the former Convent of the Good Shepherd is historically recognised as the most important Catholic institutional complex constructed in Victoria. Since the turn of the 21st century, the site has become a community art and cultural hub, hosting various cultural institutions across art, music, food, community gatherings, textiles and other disciplines.


Notable Students and Residents

*
Mollie Dyer Mollie Geraldine Dyer (1927–1998) was a Yorta Yorta woman who was an Aboriginal Child Welfare Worker and Aboriginal community worker, best known for co-founding the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency in 1977. Auntie Mollie, as she became k ...


Buildings and architecture

The former Convent of the Good Shepherd, the most important Catholic institutional complex constructed in Victoria, is notable for its scale and extent, the architectural qualities of the buildings and its range of building types. Some outstanding features are the medieval French ecclesiastic architectural character, the historical importance of the Industrial School and the Magdalen Asylum, the scale and grandeur of the main convent building and formal gardens, the survival of many of these elements and the aesthetic qualities of the surrounding farmland and rural setting. *Industrial School *Kitchen Annex (1902) – prepared food for up to 1,000 people, the largest kitchen in Victoria in 1902. *Magdalen Laundries *Mercator (1880s-1960s) – built in stages, initially laundry facilities **Held a glass blowing studio until January 2011, now a 'hard arts' facility for Sophia Mundi Steiner School *Providence (1887) – formerly a finishing school and dormitories **Currently houses the Convent Foundation's office and the Wurundjeri Tribe Land Compensation and Cultural Heritage Council. *Rosina (1908) – formerly dormitories, refectory and performance spaces, currently used as performance spaces *Sacred Heart (1877) – formerly dormitories and refectory, no current use *St. Anne's *St. Euphrasia (1879) – initially a school **Currently occupied by the classical community radio station,
3MBS 3MBS was the first FM (frequency modulation) radio station in Victoria, Australia, and began transmitting to Melbourne and surrounding areas on 1 July 1975. Since then it has operated successfully as a non-profit community-based organisation broa ...
. *St Mary's (1911) – formerly boarding **Currently houses the Sophia Mundi Steiner School *The Convent (1900–1903) – initially housed the sisters’ cells, meeting/community rooms, refectory and library spaces. **Currently houses office spaces, artist studios, meeting, function, exhibition spaces and retail food spaces. *
Australian National Academy of Music The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is a classical music performance training facility situated in Melbourne. History ANAM was established in 1994, as part of prime minister Paul Keating's "Creative Nation" initiative. On 23 Oct ...


Events


Music

*Shadow Electric Band Room (Regular live music performances) *Beg, Scream & Shout *Push Over, all-ages music event (March 2010) *Lentil as Anything (regular impromptu musical performances) *Carols at The Convent (2005–2008)


Markets

*Supper Market (Every Friday evening in Summer) *Shirt & Skirt Market (Third Sunday of every month, 10am – 4pm) *Makers' Market (Third Sunday of every month, 10am – 4pm) *Slow Food Farmers' Market (Fourth Saturday of every month, 8am – 1pm)


Festivals

*Found Festival (May 2014) *Persian Fair *Fringe Furniture *Globelight *One Fine Day Wedding Fair *Writers at the Convent literary festival (February) *Crime & Justice literary festival (July) *
Open Source Developers' Conference The Open Source Developers' Conference (OSDC) was a non-profit conference for developers of open-source software. It was started in Australia in 2004, and later expanded to Israel, Taiwan, Malaysia, France and Norway, where conferences began in 2 ...
Australia, 2010


Film

*The Shadow Electric Open Air Cinema (Open in Summer)


See also

*
Magdalene asylum Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house "fallen women". The term referred to femal ...


References


External links


The Abbotsford Convent - Official site

Melbourne History

Info about Abbotsford Convent - Yarra Council

Collingwood Children's Farm - Official site
{{Authority control Culture of Melbourne Australian artist groups and collectives Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Convents in Australia 1863 establishments in Australia Australian National Heritage List Buildings and structures in the City of Yarra