Saint Aloysius' College was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in Sevenhill, in the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

region of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

that existed from 1856 to 1886. It was the first Catholic boarding school in South Australia. It also served as a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

and retreat centre. The school was part of the international network of Jesuit schools begun in

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in 1548. It is now part of the Sevenhill Cellars site.

History

The

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n Jesuits fled Europe to escape political and religious oppression and established a mission the Mid North and Far North regions of South Australia in 1851. They were based at Sevenhill, South Australia in the Clare Valley, and constructed a short-lived boarding College, Saint Aloyisius College, open between 1856 and 1886. This College is the site of Saint Aloysius, Sevenhill and Sevenhill Cellars. It also makes up one part of the Centre of Ignatian Spirituality. Saint Aloysius' College began in Sevenhill in 1856, as part of the Jesuit missioning to the colony of South Australia. The college took on boarders, as a boys only college, from places as far away as Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand. By 1866 the college was housed in fine buildings in extensive grounds, including playing fields. Renowned throughout Australia, it was at that time the only Roman Catholic educational establishment in South Australia, having pupils from nearly all the other colonies of Australia. The college operated until 1886, by which time Catholic education was more widely available. In 1886 the school was closed, with increasing competition from

Christian Brothers College, Adelaide Christian Brothers College (CBC) is a private Catholic school in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded by a group of Irish Christian Brothers in 1878. It is now one of three Christian Brothers schools in the state, along with St Paul's C ...

. Its sister schools include

Saint Ignatius' College, Adelaide Saint Ignatius' College is an independent Catholic pre-school, primary and secondary day school for boys and girls, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The school is part of the international network of Jesuit schools which began in Messina, ...

St Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys located in Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove River on the Lower North Shore of Sydney. Established in ...

, St Aloysius' College and

Loyola College, Mount Druitt CathWest Innovation College is an independent Roman Catholic comprehensive co-educational secondary day school for students in Year Ten, Year Eleven and Year Twelve, located on two campuses; Loyola Campus ( Mount Druitt), and McCarthy Campus ( ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Beside

secular education Secular education is a system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation of church and state, separation between religion and Sovereign state, state. History Secular educational systems were a modern development inte ...

for all creeds, the establishment included a seminary which trained young men for priesthood in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, which continued well after closure of the college. Today, the buildings and grounds of the College continue to be owned and operated by the Society of Jesus, operating as a parish, retreat centre, and winery.

Notable alumni

Fr. Julian Tenison-Woods prepared for ordination there under Fr. Joseph Tappeiner May–November 1856. Other secular priests who studied there were Christopher Reynolds (first Archbishop of Adelaide), Frederick Byrne (Vicar General), Frs. Plormel and Brecas the younger, of the Rockhampton Diocese, Peter Jorgensen, and Thomas Guilfoyle, all of whom were there for two years; and George Williams (11), Edmund O'Brien (8), and Michael O'Sullivan (5).

References

{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1856 1856 establishments in Australia Educational institutions disestablished in 1886 Mid North (South Australia) 1886 disestablishments in Australia Defunct Catholic schools in Australia Defunct schools in South Australia

History

Notable alumni

See also

References