The MacKillop Family
Mary MacKillop was born 1842 and was the eldest child of Scottish immigrants Alexander and
Flora MacKillop. The y had been married at in St Francis Church, Melbourne had
lived in what is now known as Brunswick St Fitzroy.
Mary's early working life
The family began to experience financial difficulties due to certain economic failures and
the MacKillops were never, by Alexander’s efforts, to regain financial stability.
Mary became the 'bread-winner', working first as nursery governess while still
almost a child herself. Later she was employed at stationers Sands and MacDougal until the
family thought that a move to the country would be beneficial for Mary’s health.
In 1860 Mary was sent to Penola as
governess to her cousins, the children of her Aunt Margaret and Uncle Alexander Cameron.
Mary at this time was just 18 and the older children were of a similar age. The
beginning of 1862 brought Mary back to live in Melbourne because the Cameron children had
outgrown her and she began to look for a job.
Mary returned to Melbourne in early 1862 to
teach the youngest daughter of Elisa Cameron. At the time she lived in the Cameron
household known as Fitzroy Cottage. Isabella Cameron was not easy to teach and Elisa
eventually decided to move with her unmarried children to Sydney where she could be with
the rest of her family. Mary was left without a job and so there was no support for
the MacKillop family in Melbourne.
Mary arrives in Portland
Mary's friends suggested that she sit the entrance exam for a vacant job as teacher. She
did the exam and was accepted as an assistant teacher at Portland Common School No 510.
This school was supported by the congregation of All Saints Church in Portland.
At the age of twenty Mary stepped from the
Cobb & Co coach in June 1862 to teach in Portland.The teaching position meant that
Mary now earned enough money to bring the family to Portland where all could live together
without financial worry. Mary, with assistance from her Uncle Sandy Cameron who lived in
Penola, rented Bayview House.
Bayview House
Bayview House had been built in 1850 by Rev John Browning, a Presbyterian minister, where
he set up a school for boys. When Mary felt that the family was sufficiently established
she set up a 'Seminary for Young Ladies' at the house. After Mary had left Portland the
Loreto Sisters established their convent school in Bayview House during the 1880's. The
sisters handed on this educational institution to the Christian Community of Portland in
the mid 1970’s.
| Bayview house after the
Loreto Sisters had taken it over in the 1880's |
|
