From the Archives - Florence Honoria O’Reilly

Florence Honoria O’Reilly (1848-1929)

On 28 January 1872, a cold winter's day, a young single woman travelled from her home city of London to Brisbane. You might wonder why this young lady at the age of 24 is so important to St Laurence’s College and consequently to all Catholics in Queensland.

Between 1871 – 1872, Florence had already sent four letters to the Mother Mary Bridget Conlan, the Superior of the All Hallows Convent and School, from the very fashionable suburb of Bayswater announcing her imminent arrival in Brisbane and offering a loan to pay off Adderton. Dr James Quinn, the Bishop of Brisbane, had purchased Adderton in 1863 for £6,000 at 10% interest and the Sisters were struggling with the remaining mortgage.

Who was Florence and why would she help the Sisters in Brisbane, and how did she find out they were in need?

Florence was born in the seaside town of Brighton in Sussex on 25 June 1848. Her parents John and Mary Ann had both passed away by November 1869. With her older sister now married and living in Scotland, and her younger brother still a student living with family, Florence was alone and able to make her own decisions about her future. Her father had appointed her and her older sister as executors of his will. Florence was also the executor for many distant relatives. Her education and how she acquired her business skills are unknown, but her father and relatives placed great faith in her.

Florence arrived in Sydney on 20 May 1872 on the Silver Eagle with 12 other young women who had had volunteered to be the founders of the Brisbane Sisters of Mercy - some of them already professed Sisters. Among them was Sister Mary Benigna Desmond, who later became the Reverend Mother in Townsville. Included in the party of travellers was Bishop Quinn, returning from a trip to Europe and the link between Florence and the Sisters of Mercy. There was also Archdeacon Rigney appointed to St Mary’s Sydney, Rev Peter Capra and several young men seen by the Bishop as prospective clergy. Among these was the engineer and later priest, Joseph Canali, who designed the All Hallows gates. Also in the party was Achille Simonetti, the sculptor who was later to immortalise the Bishop Quinn in marble.

On 24 May 1872, the party boarded the Lady Young to travel to Brisbane. Florence, who was already noted as being eccentric, stayed at All Hallows. She had inherited some money and paid off the debts of Adderton. As Florence had arrived in Brisbane as a single female who was self-funded, she was then able to acquire land grants from the Government and took advantage of the concession and soon acquired land throughout the State.

Florence obtained land on the corner of Gipps and Wickham Street that became part of the Holy Name Cathedral site, now called Cathedral Place. She acquired land at Wooloowin, New Farm, Nudgee, Toowong, Warwick, Rockhampton and Maryborough. She owned 6,000 acres in the Samford Valley, Warner and Parker along the South Pine River. She operated as a grazier in Samford with a licence to slaughter cattle. Florence was responsible for Holy Cross Wooloowin being opened free of debt.

Her real estate acquisition included properties at South Brisbane, on which the Mater Hospital and St Laurence’s College now stand.

The property that eventually became St Laurence’s College consisted of three lots. The first lot came from an almost rectangular parcel of land which was purchased by the Catholic Church in 1870. St Kilian’s School was built atop the hill near the western boundary of the block. The scene was set for a significant Catholic school on the southside of the river.

Florence funded the establishment of St Kilian’s seminary for the Archdiocese.

Original access to the school was from Annerley/Boggo Road via a cart track. This access way is still named in the road network of the Mater Hospitals as College Hill Road. Later access using Hancock Street was established.

The other two lots (A & B) which eventually formed St Laurence’s College property were located at the western boundary and expanded the property to five acres, stretching from Hancock to Graham Streets. This provided a long boundary along the street that became Stephens Road.

The first of these lots which is marked on maps as ‘A’ was a small parcel purchased by Fr Cani on behalf of the Archbishop in 1878. In 1892 it was purchased by Florence O’Reilly but in 1894 was gifted back to Archbishop Dunne. This lot gave access to the property from Hancock Street and soon became the access to the St Kilian’s site. This lot was originally part of a parcel of land granted to John Graham in 1856.

The second of these lots, marked as ‘B’ on the map, was acquired over time by Archbishop Dunne. He had a plan for this site which extended well beyond a school for boys. In 1878 a small piece was purchased by Fr Cani, then in 1892 Florence O’Reilly added a substantial four acres and this was transferred to Archbishop Dunne in 1894. However, three acres were resumed in 1892 to construct a tunnel for the new southern railway line.

In the early 1900s the original St Kilian’s site was subdivided so that the eastern side of the property became the Mater Hospital conducted by the Sisters of Mercy with Florence’s assistance. The remaining land became St Laurence’s College.

Florence eventually moved to Rockhampton living in St Bridget’s Convent and was the first President of the Rockhampton Children of Mary in 1872. Florence left in November 1895, returning to England. In 1902 her property assets were valued at £105,885. Florence passed away on 10 March 1929 at St Joseph’s Home in Edmonton London, a facility run by the Daughters of Charity.

What an amazing lady of great faith. We are indebted to her for her business sense and investment strategies.

We thank Sr Pauline Smoothy RSM and Cathy Clem, Archivist, All Hallows School for generously sharing their research on Florence