New Zealand
The history of the Society of the Sacred Heart Australia New Zealand Province began with a request from Bishop Pompallier to Madeleine Sophie Barat, Founder and Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, to send religious to New Zealand. She was unable to help at the time but on 19 January 1880 a group of five sisters reached Timaru. In 1905 the Society spread from the South Island to Island Bay in Wellington, in the north, and then to Baradene in Auckland in 1908.
The school at Timaru was entrusted to Suzannah Boudreaux, a native of Louisiana and the child of a poor family. Suzannah had been adopted by Philippine Duchesne and through this connection she came to love the Society and made her vows at seventeen. The school at Timaru was closed in 1935 but loyal alumnae kept a centre in the South Island to which the Society later returned.
Australia
In 1879 Archbishop Roger Bede Vaughan reacted to a government initiative to make education compulsory, secular and free. He invited several congregations to send teaching religious to Sydney to ensure that Catholic education was provided. In 1880 the Archbishop’s request was transmitted to the Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart in Paris.
On 9 May 1882, five Religious of the Sacred Heart arrived in Sydney. The Superior of the group was Febronie Vercruysse, a Belgian. The Sisters expected to start a day school but were asked to set up a boarding school because there were few in Sydney at the time. Claremont, on the hill above Rose Bay, was chosen as the site for the first Sacred Heart school in Australia. By 1888 there were three boarding schools and three free schools.
The French Connection
In 1904 the anticlerical government in France confiscated Sacred Heart schools and properties and 2,500 religious had to leave the country. The convents in Australia and New Zealand opened their doors to many of them. This, rather than the Society’s origin in France, gave the Society of the Sacred Heart a French ethos in Australia and New Zealand at the beginning of the twentieth century.
To the East
In 1907, Pius X requested the Jesuits and Religious of the Sacred Heart to send personnel to Japan as the Emperor has requested Christian higher education. In 1908 this foundation in Tokyo became part of the Sydney Vicariate and the Society spread to Shanghai that same year.
Many RSCJ from the Society of the Sacred Heart Australia New Zealand Province became missionaries to the Orient, even after Japan became a Province in its own right in 1926.
Greetings to you,
In 1956 at age 10 I found a beautiful leather bound prayer book in a house in Timaru. It is titled Manual of the Sacred Heart.
Inside is written in the most beautiful hand writing I have ever seen is the name Sr R Atkinson, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Timaru, June 7 1892, below she has written a lovely wee prayer to her beloved Jesus.I have looked at her writing many times and just wondered who she was.
And now nearly 70 years later I would like to have it returned to any relation of hers. If possible would you be able help with my wish. Or if no information is available on her, you may have an archive or museum I could gift it to.
Gerard, thank you for your lovely message. It would be wonderful to receive your offer. It would be a blessing to be able to share Sr Atkinson’s prayer with the Sister’s at Baradene, in Auckland, and to have it in our Archives. May I suggest you send it to Sr Elizabeth Snedden rscj, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Private Bag, Remuera, Auckland 28906. We really appreciate your thoughtfulness and wish you every blessing during this Holy Season and for the coming New Year. Sr Susan Ross – Webweaver: for the Society of the Sacred Heart.
Dear Sisters
I am currently preparing a history of St Canice’s Church, Elizabeth Bay, and write seeking your kind assistance regarding two important members of the Society of the Sacred Heart connected to the Hughes family: Mother Maria Hughes RSCJ and Sister Susan Hughes RSCJ.
As you may know, St Canice’s Church was built largely due to the generosity of the Hughes family, especially John and Susan Hughes, who were the parents of both Mother Maria Hughes and Sister Susan Hughes. Their daughters’ entry into the Society of the Sacred Heart and their subsequent ministry played an important part in the story of Catholic education and faith in Sydney.
For accuracy and completeness, I would be most grateful if you could share:
1. The full dates of birth and death for Mother Maria Hughes RSCJ and Sister Susan Hughes RSCJ;
2. Their dates of entry into the Society of the Sacred Heart; and
3. Any available biographical information pertaining to their ministry and service, especially as it might relate to the connection between the Society, the Hughes family, and St Canice’s or Kincoppal House, Kincoppal-Roae Bay School of the Sacred Heart.
If it is possible to share these details or to advise where such records may be consulted, I would very much appreciate your advice.
Any references to relevant archival holdings or published material would also be most helpful and gratefully acknowledged in my research.
Thank you for your time and assistance in helping preserve and illuminate the legacy of these pioneering women and their family’s contribution to Catholic life in Sydney.
Yours in the Heart of Jesus
Dominic Cudmore
Dear Dominic,
Thank you for your message.
If you could send me a contact email address, I will forward your request to our Archivist who would be happy to contact you with any information she is able to provide. It might be better to email me directly with your contact info. Looking forward to hearing from you. Susan Ross rscj at suerkiwi@gmail.com