St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia : 1854 – 2024
Fr Gerald Ward arrived in Melbourne in 1850 from England where he was familiar with the work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. After serving a number of parishes, he was appointed parish priest of St Francis’s in the city.
Fr Gerald Ward established the first conference in Australia at St Francis church in Melbourne on 5 March 1854. He became our first official ‘conference president’ and set about addressing problems, such as the devastatingly high numbers of homeless and deserted children roaming the streets – the direct result of parents leaving for the Gold Rush fields, such as Ballarat and Bendigo.
In 1855, Fr Ward became responsible for five orphaned children and, after discussions with the government, he witnessed the laying of the foundation stone for the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage in South Melbourne, where the first children were accepted in 1857. This was considered the first ‘Special Work’ of the Society in Australia.
Fr Ward told the Victorian Government (in the language of the day) that “the new conference aims to provide relief for the destitute, in a manner as much as possible permanently beneficial and the visitation of poor families”. Tragically, he died in 1858 (less than 10 years after arriving in Australia) and was widely known as “one in whom many a widow and orphan had found a good friend”.
Fr Ward’s enduring legacy is the continuation of his early work through the Society’s 242 conferences, 3,632 members, 6,434 volunteers and 113 Vinnies Shops across Victoria.
While the works of our Society have evolved over the past 170 years to cater for ongoing changes in our communities, our Mission, Vision and Purpose remain the same. The continuing story of the Society in Victoria and, more broadly, Australia relies on the Vincentian community which gathers in conferences across Victoria and our vast nation.
Our Parishes St Vincent de Paul Conferences of Deepdene/Balwyn, Camberwell and Surrey Hills Wattle Park are involved in a range of outreach work, including home visits in the local parish areas and the suburbs of South Melbourne, North Melbourne and Collingwood. In addition, some of our members volunteer at Vinnies Stores in Hawthorn, Kew East and Mont Albert and support the Vinnies soup vans.
Our journey will continue, and we welcome you to join us by becoming a volunteer. To learn more contact the Conference President(s) details of which can be obtained from the Parish Office.
Follow the footsteps of St Vincent de Paul since 1854 in A History of Pictures available on the Vinnies website.
Courtesy: St Vincent de Paul Society
Photo: Cassamento Photography
Published: 8 March 2024
Comments
Ponniah (Poolo) Jothy
Looking at the milestones reached by various Vinnies Conferences, it is interesting to note that our own Deepdene/Balwyn has been overlooked by whoever compiled the list.
The predecessor of the Deepdene/Balwyn Conference was the OLGC Deepdene Conference which was formed on 11 September 1927. This Conference merged with the struggling Balwyn Conference in about 2004 due to the latter's difficulty with insufficient members and became the current OLGC Deepdene and All Hallows Balwyn Conference. Its inaugural President was recently deceased Brian Dummett.
The Conference completed its 95th anniversary on 11 September 2023.
It is also interesting to note that a number of very long-established Conferences are not listed, some over 100 years old eg. Kew(100+), Hawthorn(100+), Malvern(125+) etc, all very active in servicing the needy and disadvantaged in various parts of Melbourne.
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