With thanks to Susie de Monchaux for sharing her wonderful family story with us –
Sister Mary Anthony Fitzpatrick (1888–1986)
by Susie de Monchaux and family
Eric Sierins, image editor
Sr Mary Anthony Fitzpatrick. (Photo from: Anne McLay (1992), Women Out of Their Sphere, p. 227)
Sister Mary Anthony Fitzpatrick was the first cousin of my paternal grandmother, Mrs Minnie Lillian de Monchaux (nee Fitzpatrick). In 1970, when I was eight years old, my grandmother suggested that I write to Sr Anthony, who lived in Coolgardie, from Sydney. I corresponded with her for the next fifteen years. Sr Anthony was always interested in my news of family, pets and school. Later, she wrote enthusiastically about my nursing studies and was thrilled to hear that I had bought my first car.
Looking back now on my friendship with Sr Anthony, I realised I had many gaps in my understanding of her life. As a young girl I never asked her questions about her background, family or circumstances: How did she come to live in the convent at Coolgardie? Why couldn’t her father look after his three children? Why did he leave his children at the convent in the care of the Sisters? Who were her other family members? This research has allowed me to ever better know my childhood correspondent, and to draw together many aspects of Sr Anthony’s life, reveal her personality,
and— by telling— honour her fascinating story.
Early life – Mary Therese Fitzpatrick (later Sr Anthony) was born in Fremantle in 1888. Her parents, John “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and Elizabeth nee White were originally from South Australia. John was a skilled plumber and tinsmith. The discovery of gold drew him to the booming town of Coolgardie. In 1895, John arrived from Perth with his wife Elizabeth, and two children: Mary Therese, aged 9, and John James (Jim), aged 3. Three more children were later born in Coolgardie: Beatrice in 1896, Leonard Edward in 1898, and Gertrude in 1899.
Fitzpatrick & Co. (late J. Majury & Co.), Plumbers, Tinsmiths and Galvanised Iron Workers (Advertising: Coolgardie Miner, 13 January 1896, p.7).
John took over a plumbing business from John Majury. Its premises were located on the corner of Ford and Sylvester Streets. Over the next four years, the plumbing business remained on this site. No separate listing of a residential address was found in the Western Australian Post Office Directories 1896-1900. Presumably, the family lived on the site of the business.
Messrs. Fitzpatrick & Hartness Tank and Condenser Manufactory, Sylvester Street. (Photo: The Coolgardie Pioneer, 19 December 1896). The Fitzpatrick and Hartness families and staff are standing in front of water tanks at the site of the plumbing business.
An advertisement for Messrs. Fitzpatrick & Hartness’ Tank and Condenser Manufactory, Sylvester Street. appeared in The Coolgardie Pioneer on the 19th of December 1896. John Fitzpatrick was an entrepreneur, submitted an enhanced photograph presenting the image of an established business to The Coolgardie Pioneer. The Fitzpatrick and Hartness families and staff are standing in front of water tanks. John, a large man, is standing in the centre, behind Mary, who wears a pinafore, and Jim. To the right is Elizabeth holding the baby, Beatrice.
Old Saint Anthony’s Convent, 1898
In 1831, the Sisters of Mercy was founded in Ireland. By 1846, the first members of this order had arrived in Fremantle. A group of five sisters arrived at Coolgardie from Adelaide in 1898; and, led by Mother Antonia McKay, opened a school housed in the former Theatre Royal, on Woodward Street. Bishop Gibney of Perth had given the Sisters that building and neighbouring premises, to establish the school and convent.
On opening day, there were sixty-four pupils enrolled. And by the end of the year, that number has swelled to two hundred. Mary, Jim and Beatrice all attended this school, which is now known as the “Old St Anthony’s Convent”.
Coolgardie Foundation group,1898. Left to Right: Srs M. Gertrude Carroll, M. Gerard Byrne, Mother Antonia McKay, Srs M. Ignatius Conlon, M.de Pazzi Briggs. (Photo from: Anne McLay (1992), Women Out of Their Sphere, p. 206)
Theatre Royal was purchased in January 1898, for use as a classroom. (Photo from: Anne McLay (1992), Women Out of Their Sphere, p. 206)
The toil of the Sisters of Mercy was recognised by the Mayor of Coolgardie, during the school Christmas concert of 1899. The Mayor praised the sisters for their good works, stating that he believed that the community gained as their school accepted pupils from both Roman Catholic—and other religious denominations. He also championed the sisters’ ability to cope with the rapidly growing number of pupils.
Through the local newspapers, progress through the school years by Mary and her sister, Beatrice, can be followed. The press reported on the achievements of the school children, on school prizegiving ceremonies, displays of work, and performances at the Christmas and fundraising concerts. The name of Jim Fitzpatrick (brother of Mary and Beatrice) does not appear in these newspaper stories. Little is known of Jim’s school days. But every year, his sisters received prizes in Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, and were recorded as having taken part in musical recitals and plays.
At the age of nine, Beatrice was presented with a special prize for reading by the Mayor of Kalgoolie. She was also commended for her story composition, handwriting and music for the violin. Beatrice continued to study violin throughout her school years and later worked as a musician.
levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu 105.077- I don’t want to play in your yard/Levy Music Collection
In 1902, Mary was awarded First Place in Reading and Writing, along with receiving a ‘Medal for Good Conduct’. Perhaps this was a prerequisite for a life as a nun!
Mary’s musical talent lay in singing and drama. She sang in a duet at the 1897 variety concert held at the Cremorne Gardens, located behind the Cremorne Hotel. The concert was to aid both the St John of God Hospital and St Mary’s School, and featured musical acts performed by adults as well as the school children. The concert program listed “Misses Leahy & Fitzpatrick in the duet, I Don’t Want to Play in Your Yard.” This popular song of the time told the tale of two little girls who are best friends: they quarrel, only to make up and become best and lifelong friends again. The sheet music and a recording of the song can be found on the link above.
Another benefit concert was organised a year later, this time the funds were only for St Mary’s Convent School. The concert was held at the school. ‘To the dismay of the sisters – doubtless the organisers – the proceeds were all used up by expenses.’ This time, Mary starred in the lead role of the cantata—a form of miniature musical—Red Riding Hood. This performance was hailed as a great success and the audience also enjoyed action songs by the junior boys, a Grecian bell dance by the junior girls and a finale of comic dialogue by all the boys. It can be presumed that Jim was part of this final act. The musical talents exhibited by the Fitzpatrick sisters may have come in part from their father, John.
Coolgardie Miner 28 October, 1898-Local and General – A very jolly send-off was held at the Exchange Hotel for Mr Steer, a plumber leaving Coolgardie to retire to Bunbury. Joining the farewell celebrations were plumbers, builders, contractors and a blacksmith, all of whom took part in the entertainment with …’ songs, recitations and harmony …and Mr Fitzpatrick, whose feet are not so out of practice tripped a hornpipe in good style’.
Headstone of Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, Coolgardie Cemetery. (Photo from: Outback Family History, 05/12/2020: John Fitzpatrick – Plumber and Tinsmith)
Sadly between 1898 and 1900, Elizabeth and the two youngest children died. Elizabeth passed away from pneumonia and exhaustion on 19 July 1899. She is buried in the Roman Catholic section of the Coolgardie Cemetery. Leonard Edward, aged six months, died on 2 December 1898, his cause of death was Marasmus (a failure to thrive). The baby, Gertrude, only seven months old, passed away on the 12th of February 1900 from the same condition as Leonard. Leonard Edward and Gertrude are buried together in the Roman Catholic section of the Coolgardie Cemetery.
After her mother passed away, Mary, now 11 years old, would most certainly have taken on more responsibilities in the home. Nonetheless, without his wife, John was unable to look after Mary, Jim and Beatrice. Arrangements were made for the children to attend boarding school at St Anthony’s Convent. A “stable and homelike atmosphere,” was reported to have been provided by the sisters. At that time, the convent was the only boarding school on the goldfields – and remained so for 75 years. However, we can imagine that it would have been heartbreaking for John and his children to be apart. The children remained there for their schooling.
It is not known what year her father left Coolgardie. At the turn of the century, the Coolgardie mining boom had already begun to wane and Fitzpatrick looked for new opportunities. After 1900 his business was no longer listed in The Western Australia Directory. Fitzpatrick is reported chairing a meeting – and social event – of the ‘plumbers of the Government condensers’, at the Marvel Bar in Coolgardie in May 1900. By 1905 Fitzpatrick had settled in Geraldton and started a plumbing business with Nicholas Margetic. The business was called J. Fitzpatrick & Co. and over time, it became one of the largest plumbing companies in Geraldton.
New Saint Anthony’s Convent, 1903
In late 1903, the building of the new St Anthony’s Convent was due to be completed. In anticipation of the larger convent and school, five more sisters, some of them teachers, were recruited from the Sisters of Mercy Foundation in Adelaide. The number of the Coolgardie Foundation increased to twelve when two local women also entered the community. Mary was one of these local women. Leaving school at the age of fifteen, Mary entered the new convent as a lay sister (serving in advance of taking vows) assisting with nursing and domestic duties. This work was demanding and never-ending—but essential for the smooth running of the busy convent.
Mary and her siblings were present for the grand opening of the new St Anthony’s Convent in 1903. A procession from St Mary’s Church, at the corner of Lefroy and Lindsay Street, led to the new convent located on block 182 Lindsay Street, at which Bishop Gibney from Perth conducted the opening ceremony and the blessing of the convent. As was traditional, he then in turn blessed every room.
The new St Anthony’s Convent. (Photo from: Outback Family History. 24/03/19 St Anthony’s Convent, Coolgardie)
Featuring a splendid façade in a robust red-brick style, (used for educational buildings at that time), the new two-storey convent housed the school, a dormitory for forty boarders, a chapel, and accommodation for the sisters. On the ground floor, a statue of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of the convent, stood watch in a recess in the ambulatory, or broad internal verandah.
Classroom, St Anthony’s Convent, c.1903. (Photo from: Anne McLay (1992), Women Out of Their Sphere, p. 215)
Group of music pupils from St. Anthony’s, 1907. Beatrice Fitzpatrick has been identified by family members as the student holding the violin. (Photo from: Anne McLay (1992), Women Out of Their Sphere, p. 217).
A life of devotion – In 1906, Mary entered the order of the Sisters of Mercy and took a vow to commit herself to the devotion of God. She chose the religious name of Sr Anthony. Domestic duties were usually performed by lay sisters; the roles of nursing and housekeeping were assigned to Sr Anthony once she had taken her perpetual, or lifelong, vows.
For the next 70 years, she lived and worked in the community of St Anthony’s Convent, Coolgardie—except for short visits to Perth and to the sisters’ holiday house in Esperance. She lived out her vows by serving God and the religious community. The publication Women Out of Their Sphere, A History of the Sisters of Mercy in Western Australia, by Anne McLay gives an account of the sisters in Coolgardie. From the early days, the atmosphere of the community was described as warm, with a “lovely,” relationship between the sisters and the boarders. Descriptions in this book bring the personalities of the individual sisters to life, as well as highlighting their talents in teaching, music, art, drama and baking. Although there is no specific mention of Sr Anthony, a seated studio portrait from c.1906 shows her as a self-contained and poised young woman.
Family photograph of Sr Anthony and her sister, Beatrice Fitzpatrick c.1960.
Leaving Coolgardie and retirement – On her retirement in 1973, Sr Anthony moved to Christos Nursing Home in Wembley, Perth. On the weekend of the 13th and 14th of October 1979, Sr Anthony returned to Coolgardie; and being 92, she was an honoured guest at the reunion of St Anthony’s Convent. These celebrations were bittersweet, as the school was due to close later that year. Since 1980, the convent has been used as a private school, now known as The Christian Aboriginal Parent-Directed School.
At the reunion, Sr Anthony looked back on Coolgardie’s past and her recollections were recorded in the article I remember says, Sr Anthony…, which was published in The West Australian, on 16th October 1979. Two major events stood out in Sr Anthony’s mind: the arrival of the railway to Coolgardie in 1896, and the completion of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme in 1903. Also, there were fond memories of the activity on the streets with vendors offering hot pies and ice cream from their carts, and camel trains passing through the town. Unforgettable was the drama of the night in 1904 when an explosive magazine blew up near the town causing cracking of the convent windows and ceilings. Poignantly, there was Sr Anthony’s sadness for the decline of Coolgardie from the booming gold rush days of her childhood to gradually dwindling to a small town.
A special visit – I was delighted to visit Sr Anthony in 1983, at the Christos Nursing Home in Wembley, Perth. What struck me on my arrival was the number of elderly nuns, all wearing their habits, seated in the day room. I easily recognised Sr Anthony: she was quite bright and we talked about my travels in Western Australia. I regret that I did not ask her many more questions about her family, her duties and her life in Coolgardie. I have kept her letters and cards. Yet through researching her story, I have gained insight into Sr Anthony’s life, commitment to her faith and her significant contribution to the Coolgardie community.
Vale Sr Anthony – In 1986 Sr Anthony died at the age of ninety-eight. At the Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth, in the Roman Catholic section in an area owned by her order, she he is interned with two other Sisters of Mercy.
Family photo of Sr Anthony c.1970.
Postscript – On retirement, Sr Anthony’s father, John Fitzpatrick (1860-1939) moved from Geraldton to Perth to be with his daughter Beatrice. In 1939, aged 78, he was fatally injured in a car accident. John James (Jim) Fitzpatrick (1893-1915), the brother of Sr Anthony, was born in Perth. He left Coolgardie and worked as a teamster in Wagin, WA. In 1915, he enlisted in the army. Eighteen months later, aged twenty-two, was killed in action in France. Jim is buried in the Warlencourt British Cemetery, France. Beatrice Fitzpatrick (1896 – 1980) was the sister of Sr Anthony. Beatrice lived with her father in Geraldton before settling in Perth to work as a musician and music teacher. In 1914 Beatrice completed her music examinations, at which she became an Associate of the London College of Music (ALCM). Beatrice died in Perth in 1980, aged 84. John and Beatrice are buried together at Karrakatta Cemetery in the Roman Catholic section.
References: de Monchaux family photographs and letters. Sisters of Mercy Heritage Centre, Perth, WA. Record of Mary Theresa Fitzpatick’s (Sr. Mary Anthony) years as a Sister of Mercy.
Outback Family History, 24/03/2019: St Anthony’s Convent, Coolgardie
Outback Family History, 17/10/2019: St Anthony’s Convent – pupils 1897-1925
Outback Family History, 05/12/2020: John Fitzpatrick – Plumber and Tinsmith
Other Publications:
Commonwealth Graves Commission. Corporal Fitzpatrick, John James. Died Between 16/11/1916 and 18/11/1916. 28th Bn. Australian Infantry, A.I.F. Warlencourt British Cemetery, France. inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au St Anthony’s Convent of Mercy (fmr)
Larment, L. Jones, M, Jones, S. Lorriaine’s Burial Records. Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth. 18 July 1899. Aged 37 years. www.ozburials.com/CemsWA/Coolgardie/coolgardie.htm
McLay, Anne. (1992). Women Out of Their Sphere. A History of the Sisters of Mercy in Western Australia, Vanguard Press, Northbridge, WA
National Archives of Australia. NAA: B2455, Fitzpatrick JJ (Army-World War I: 1914-18/naa.gav.au)
levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu 105.077-I don’t want to play in your yard Levy Music Collection
The West Australian, 16 October, 1979, I remember says Sr Anthony… by A Special Representative.
The Western Australian Directory. Coolgardie (1896-1900). Geraldton (1906-1940).
Thompson, N. (2014). I remember when…The story of J. Fitzpatrick & Co. Library Archives of Greater Geraldton, WA
Thompson, N. (2018). John Fitzpatrick. Library Archives of Greater Geraldton, WA
Thompson, N. (8 January, 2019. Page 4). Tinsmith formed premier plumbing partnership. Geraldton Guardian.
1896 Coolgardie Miner (WA: 1894-1911), 13 January, p. 7., viewed 29 Dec 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page24248740
1896 Coolgardie Pioneer (WA:1895-1901) 19 December, p.14., viewed 29 Dec 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page27929945
1897 ‘Roman Catholic Concert.’, Coolgardie Pioneer (WA: 1895-1901), 4 December, p.22., viewed 25 Jul 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251441319
1898 The Western Australian Goldfields Courier (Coolgardie, WA: 1894-1898) 4 June, p. 11, viewed 22 Jul 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251204947
1898, Coolgardie Miner (WA: 1894-1911) 28 Oct,-Local and General)
1899 ‘St Mary’s Concert’; The Coolgardie Pioneer (WA:1895-1901), 30 December., p.32., viewed 25 Jul 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251983512
1900 The W.A. Record (Perth, W.A. 1888-1922) 6 Jan, p.4., viewed 29 Dec 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212394380
1902 The W.A. Record (Perth, WA: 1888-1922) 4 January, p. 6., viewed 22 Jul 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212498311
1903 The W.A. Record (Perth, WA: 1888-1922) 17 January, p. 1., viewed 22 Jul 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.-news-article218108679
1905 ‘St Mary’s Convert School’ Coolgardie Miner (WA: 1894-1911), p.3 22 December.
1904, Coolgardie Miner (WA: 1894-1911), 21 December, p. 1., viewed 29 Dec 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page24248740
1905, Coolgardie Miner (WA: 1894-1911) 22 December, p 3., (St Mary’s Convent School)
1911, Kalgoolie Western Argus (Kalgoolie, WA: 1896-1916), 19 December, p. 13., viewed 22 July 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33401301
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