Parish History

Her Majesty Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent to form the colony of Queensland on the 6^th of June 1859. A proclamation was read by George Bowen on the 10^th of December 1859, whereupon Queensland was formally separated from New South Wales. In 1859 the Diocese of Brisbane comprised the entire colony of Queensland, a vast diocese with few people.

St. Mary’s Parish Beaudesert had its beginnings as part of a much larger Parish, Reverend James Quinn, Bishop of the Diocese of Brisbane was concerned with the plight of Catholics in Ireland suffering from widespread famine as well as social and political problems and so Rev. Fr. Quinn formed the Queensland Immigration Society bringing willing Irish Catholics from an overcrowded Ireland to underpopulated Queensland.

The first ship, the Erin-Go-Bragh, arrived in 1862, more ships quickly followed and inside twelve months nearly four thousand Irish Catholics had arrived in Queensland, many of whom settled in the Logan area. This influx of Catholics necessitated the formation of the Parish (or Mission) of Logan. This parish extended from Brisbane to the Tweed River in the south and westward to Mount Lindesay, Fr J. Connolly was the first priest to be given the responsibility for the region, riding on a horse from Brisbane to conduct services, but due to the vastness of the area, priests from other regions, including Brisbane and northern New South Wales also tended to the needs of parishioners.

The Church of The Assumption, the first Catholic Church on the Logan River, was a slab hut built at Logan Reserve in 1865.

The first resident Parish Priest for the Logan Mission was Fr. Benedetto (Benedict) Scortechini, recruited by Bishop Quinn during a visit to Rome in 1869, he arrived on the Logan at the end of 1874, taking up residence in Logan Village. The first entry under Fr. Scortechini was for the Baptism of, Francis Mylett, recorded in the Beaudesert Baptismal Register as December 28^th in 1874. For a little over nine years he remained at Logan Village ministering to his widely scattered flock, an entry in the Queensland Catholic Almanac Directory for 1880 gives an idea of the distance Fr. Scortechini had to travel every three months.

The Almanac entry states these Churches were visited in turn: Logan Reserve – Church of the Assumption, Cleveland – Star of the Sea, Yatala – Immaculate Conception, Tamborine – St Patrick’s, Veresdale – St Joseph’s, Tallebudgera – All Saints and Coopers Plains – St Patrick’s. Mass visits were also made to Lytton, Logan Bridge, Teviot Brook, the Hulk “Proserpine” (former Prison Ship used as a Reformatory for Boys), St Helena’s Penal Establishment, Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, Eight Mile Plains, Beaudesert, Kerry, Christmas Creek, Coochin, Upper Coomera, Nerang Creek and Southport.

Fr. Scortechini left the Parish in January of 1884 and was replaced by Fr. James Enright, the railway was soon to be extended to Beaudesert and as such Fr. Enright decided to establish the parish headquarters there, land was purchased and a Presbytery was duly erected in 1885, with the largest room intended to house the congregation. Although minor additions have since been made and more than 100 years have passed, this building continues to be used as the priest’s residence.

In 1886 nine churches were being administered by Fr. Enright in the Albert and Logan district, the churches were: Yatala – St Mary’s, Tamborine – St Patrick’s, Veresdale – St Joseph’s, Logan Reserve – St Bridget’s, Kerry – St Columba’s, Nerang – St Bridget’s, Southport – Not Blessed, Tallebudgera – All Saint’s and Coopers Plains – St Patrick’s.

Fr. Enright’s mission was extensive from Southport to Mount Lindesay and Tweed Heads to Tingalpa Creek. In 1887 the Archbishop sent Fr. James O’Reilly to assist him in his work.

On November the 11^th of 1887, Archbishop Dunne arrived in the parish to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Presbytery, arriving from Brisbane on Friday evening, prior to spending Saturday in Beaudesert and Veresdale, the purpose being the examination of the candidates for Confirmation, Confessions were also heard on this day. On Sunday morning, about eighty people attended Mass in the Presbytery with the Archbishop presiding, whilst Fr. Enright delivered Mass to a similar sized congregation at Veresdale, where, Archbishop Dunne and Fr. O’Reilly arrived at 10:30am prior to the 11:00am Mass, after which, Confirmation was administered to 51 children, being 24 girls and 27 boys.

It was during this visit that it was decided a church would be built in Beaudesert with the work to commence in 1889.

On March the 3^rd of that year Archbishop Dunne laid the foundation block for the new church. On Sunday June the 2^nd, 1889, the Archbishop Blessed and opened Our Lady of the Purification, known ever since as St Mary’s. The Blessing and opening were to have been held on the second Sunday of May but inclement weather and heavy roads prevented this, as such the Solemn Dedication was held outside the Month of Mary, the Virgin – Patron’s special month.

The huge parish was divided in 1892, Cleveland and Dunwich were attached to Brisbane, while Southport was made a separate parish, later Boonah was also separated from the parish.