eHive Object Details

Name/TitlePioneers' Memorial, St. Finbar's, Brighton, Vic, c. 1920s

About this objectThis is a photograph of a large stone Celtic cross on a square base with a slightly larger square plinth. The centre and arms of the cross are decorated with lighter coloured stonework. The cross has been photographed to show two faces of the square base where plaques of the same light-coloured stone as the cross have been attached. The plaques record when the cross was erected and the names of the Catholic pioneers buried in St Finbar's churchyard surrounding the memorial.

Plaque reads:
This Cross is Erected - to - The Memory of
THE CATHOLIC PIONEERS WHOSE BODIES ARE BURIED IN THIS GROUND
29th OCTOBER 1922
REQUIESCANT IN PACE

Base plaque reads:
RICHARD MARTIN DIED 1851
AND HIS WIFE
ISABELLA DIED 1849
WHOSE BODIES ARE BURIED IN THE NORTH EAST
ERN CORNER OF THIS GROUND
TO THEIR EFFORTS WAS MAINLY DUE THE BUILDING
OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF ST PATRICK
ON THIS SITE 30th APRIL 1848

The other two plaques, recording the names of 24 pioneers and their year of burial, are not so easily read from the photograph. A list of 11 of the dead, those that can be found in church records, were published by Mr Mackle in The Advocate in September 1922.

The site for the Roman Catholic church of St. Finbar, located at the south-west corner of the intersection between Centre Road and the Nepean Hwy, Brighton, was donated in 1847, and a wooden chapel was built built in 1848. Brighton's Catholic pioneers were buried in the churchyard from 1848 until April 1869, although a couple were later buried illegally in 1871. The current brick church was built in 1873.

The memorial was erected 1922, "in a central position", to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the church, and because the churchyard was being repurposed for a Roman Catholic school, opened in 1925.

In 1922, Mr Francis Mackle, a church historian, wrote a small piece in The Advocate, and described how "the ravages of time and of bush fires have left only two or three headstones". He also asked, on behalf of the Rev Gibbons of the parish of Brighton, if old residents of Brighton and their descendants could supply him with the names of pioneers buried in the churchyard. He also asked for donations of money to help build the memorial. The memorial was blessed in March 1923 by the Most Rev Dr Barry.

The same photograph appeared in The Advocate in February 1940.

One of the many glass slides purchased from retailers or specifically made for illustrated lectures given by Isaac Selby between c. 1930 and c. 1955 to raise money for the Old Pioneers Memorial Fund.

Selby gave a lecture on "The Story of Old Melbourne and Old Brighton" on May 8th, 1929, at Brighton Town Hall. He numbered this slide 85.

For more information about this image contact Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

MakerT.W. Cameron (Firm)

Maker RoleSlide Maker

Inscription and MarksInscribed on bottom of slide : "Memorial to Pioneers, St. Finbar's, Brighton."
Selby might have left a black inky thumb print on the top edge of the slide.

Measurements8.2 x 8.2 cm

Period1920-1930

Object TypePhotograph

Subject and Association KeywordsSelby, Isaac, 1859-1956

Subject and Association KeywordsSt Finbar's Church (Brighton East, Vic.)

Subject and Association KeywordsOld Pioneers Memorial Movement

Subject and Association KeywordsMonuments and memorials

Subject and Association KeywordsBrighton East (Vic.)

Subject and Association KeywordsCatholic Church

Named CollectionImages collection

Object numberGS-TM-01

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved