Bishop davis osb : a new portrait

Following from the previous post on this blog, I am pleased to present this digital portrait of the first Bishop of Maitland, Charles Henry Davis OSB (1815-1854).  This new image has been prepared as an official portrait for use by the Diocese of Maitland & Newcastle, and has been approved for publication by the present Bishop, Most Rev'd Michael Kennedy.

Right Reverend Charles Henry Davis OSB
1815 - 1854
First Bishop of Maitland and Coadjutor to Archbishop Polding.

 
When the subject of a portrait is long dead, with no-one living having known him and when we rely on contemporary images of him which are not themselves detailed likenesses, but somewhat basic, attempting to create a new portrait is not a straightforward matter.  

In this post, I would like to outline how this portrait was prepared, to support its claim to be an authentic likeness of the Bishop.  The previous post examines the various portraits of the Bishop in order to ascertain which of them are better likenesses than others.

The general presentation of this portrait is based on the oil-painting in the collection of Downside Abbey (Bath UK), of which Charles Davis was a monk before coming to Australia in late 1848.  The choice of the Downside portrait as a paradigm was intended to ensure some continuity between an existing portrait and a new one.  Although the Bishop’s pose is based on the Downside portrait,  the details of his face and head differ significantly.

The process used in this instance was to base the production on an existing image (the Downside portrait) and enhance (in some cases reconstruct) every aspect of that image to ensure a natural and faithful likeness.  

Artists use paint (oil, acrylic or water-based), pencils and brushes to create their works of art on canvas or paper, ceramic or a wall.  With digital art, many more tools are available as components of computer software in order to produce an electronic image.  Digital art can render portraits in a variety of styles, but the method I used was to create an image presented in the classical manner of formal portraiture.

 
I do not wish to give the impression that I believe that digital portraiture has the same degree of artistic achievement as portraits rendered by the traditional methods of painting.

 
Every aspect of this portrait of Bishop Davis received close attention, and was based on evidence in the portraits and surviving documentation : 

The Bishop’s episcopal clothing (choir dress); 

His very tall clerical collar; 

His pectoral Cross and chain; 

and his spectacles (which were small and sat on his face unevenly).  

Especial attention, nevertheless was paid to his bodily dimensions and physical features, including :

His slight proportions and sloping shoulders;  

The size of his hands;

The colour, style and gloss of his hair;

His complexion; 

The shape of his head; 

The colour and shape of his eyes; 

The shape and thickness of his eyebrows; 

The shape of his nose and ears.   

Perhaps the greatest attention, however, was paid to the shape of his mouth, which differs slightly, one from another, in the verified portraits of him.

The Bishop had a large philtrum  and Cupid’s bow  (illustrated in the adjacent diagram).  These were not unnaturally large, merely distinctive.  In seeking an authentic depiction, I studied photographs and videos of a number of men (famous and otherwise), with mouths of similar shape, to observe how they appeared when smiling and otherwise.

Anatomy of a male mouth.

 
I attempted to give the Bishop a slight smile, which would alter the way his mouth appeared from the verified portraits, where there are no smiles.

When all this work of many hours was carried out, I submitted the likeness to a number of people for their views on the result : these were historians, artists and other colleagues.  I received some constructive advice and was able to make improvements.  It is my hope that this new portrait will be accepted as a likeness worthy of its venerated subject. 

Out of respect for my efforts, I ask that this image not be reproduced without seeking prior approval. 

Michael Sternbeck

Newcastle

July 2026.

AMDG.

New Prayer Card

 

This new card is presently being prepared for publication.  It commemorates the holy lives of Benedictine bishops John Bede Polding and his coadjutor, Charles Henry Davis.

The card has been approved for publication by the Bishop of Maitland & Newcastle, Most Reverend Michael Kennedy.

Artwork copyright of the Saint Bede Studio.

Seeking the Bishop's Likeness

Figure 1.
The illustration of Bishop Davis
which appears in Cardinal Moran's
History of the Catholic Church in Australasia

Making an occasional appearance on this blog is the English Benedictine who assisted Archbishop Polding as coadjutor-bishop in Sydney between 1848 and 1854. Charles Henry Davis (1815-1854 ) was born into an old Welsh Catholic family and became a monk of the Benedictine Community in Downside (Bath) before being selected as the first Bishop of Maitland and coadjutor-bishop of Sydney. He arrived in Sydney at the end of 1848. Unfortunately, the Australian climate did not suit the bishop and he had several episodes of serious illness, leading to his untimely death from heart disease at the early age of 39.

I came to know about Bishop Davis whilst I was still a school boy with a keen interest in history. Over the years, I have admired and studied the life of this kindly, scholarly, talented and pious man and I have met others who have also admired him.  At another post on this blog may be found a summary of his life.  A further post describes his claim to be the first Bishop of Maitland.  We do hope to publish further articles on this blog about this saintly bishop whose memory should be reverenced by Australian Catholics.

This article describes my quest to determine the authentic likeness of Charles Henry Davis.  The several likenesses of him which exist are illustrations and a painting; but there is no extant photograph of him. If a photograph did exist, it disappeared more than a 130 years ago.

Figure 2.
The illustration of the Bishop in
Dom Henry Norbert Birt's study
Benedictine Pioneers in Australia.

In addition, a number of older historical studies feature images of the bishop. An illustration, for example, is found facing page 118 in the second volume of Dom Henry Norbert Birt’s book Benedictine Pioneers in Australia (1911).

Another illustration appears facing page 88 in Cardinal Moran’s History of the Catholic Church in Australasia (1895), which opens this article.

The illustration found in Dom Birt’s work is a re-drawing of an earlier likeness of the bishop. The same also applies to the image found in Cardinal Moran’s history.  This will be further discussed.

Also well-known is the beautiful stained glass window in the eastern transept of Saint Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. This depicts Charles Davis as a mediaeval bishop vested in pontificals.  The bishop's  fellow-Benedictine bishops, John Bede Polding  and  William Bernard Ullathorne  are also depicted.  Never intended to be seen at close-range, this window - produced by the English manufacturer of stained glass Hardman - gives a fair likeness of the three bishops in a compressed form.

Figure 3.
The stained glass window in S. Mary's Cathedral
Sydney depicting Charles Henry Davis OSB.
Image : Giovanni Portelli.

THE THREE PRINCIPAL LIKENESSES

Amongst the handful of portraits of Bishop Davis only three are thought to be portraits “from life”.  I define this as a likeness produced by a person who is looking at, or who had previously sketched, the subject. The first of these three is a framed oil painting in the Benedictine Abbey at Downside England. This was commenced (but not necessarily completed) before the bishop left England for Australia in August 1848. Nothing is known of the artist who painted this portrait since a signature was not left on the painting.  Documentary evidence concerning its production does not exist at Downside Abbey.  We may observe that the artist was neither well-known nor particularly talented at portraiture.  This portrait is very dark and the facial details, although well-outlined, lack sufficient definition or texture.  The Benedictine historian mentioned above, Dom Henry Norbert Birt (1861-1919), described it as "a poor portrait."  

Figure 4.
The anonymous oil painting of the Bishop, 1848.
A contemporaneous portrait kept by 
Downside Abbey UK.
Image : Downside Abbey.

A second likeness, held both by Downside Abbey and the Abbey of Benedictine sisters in Jamberoo NSW, is a print of an engraving made by the famous London lithographer Thomas Fairland.  It was printed and published by M & N Hanhart before the bishop left for Australia.  This lithograph was the basis for the illustration that appears in Henry Birt’s history (see above).  This is a very clear illustration, the face containing better detail than the oil painting.  The lithograph bears the Bishop’s seal, signifying that he personally approved its publication.

Figure 5.
The 1848 engraving of Bishop Davis by Thomas Fairland.
This was prepared as a reverse image and printed for publication.
Image : Downside Abbey.

A third likeness was engraved in Australia in Sydney between 1852 and 1854 by Walter George Mason.  It was most likely engraved onto a wood block for the purposes of printing.  It is the least clear of the originals portraits, which is a puzzle, given that Mason was a well-respected engraver from a family of artists who produced very fine engraving work.  A copy of the print is kept in the State Library of NSW.  As yet, I have been unable to trace the provenance of the engraving or verify whether its publication commemorated the death of the Bishop in May 1854. 

Figure 6.
The 1852-54 engraving by Walter George Mason of Sydney.
This is a good likeness of the Bishop, but prepared with
minimal facial details.
Image : State Library of NSW.

Comparing this engraving with the illustration in Cardinal Moran’s history (previously mentioned), it seems to be the case that the Mason engraving was the basis for Cardinal Moran’s illustration. But the Moran illustration includes much more facial detail than the face in the old engraving.  

Figure 7.
The Mason engraving compared with the illustration (right) in
Cardinal's Moran's History of the Catholic Church in Australasia.

SIMILARITIES IN THE PORTRAITS

Certain features are shared in common with the three portraits. We see the shape of his head; the dark colour of his eyes; his dark, glossy hair  and his receding hairline. He has dark, thick and arched eyebrows. He has distinctive lips. Many of these features are common among people of Welsh ancestry. The bishop’s bodily frame was very slight and his shoulders sloping. He wears small oval-shaped metal spectacles. There is no record of his height.

A physical peculiarity of the Bishop came about as a result of an accident with a horse when a boy.  The fourth finger of his left hand was severed at the metacarpal joint. The Downside oil painting and the Mason engraving disguise the missing finger by the careful placement of the Bishop's hands.  The Fairland engraving, being a reversed image, works a sleight of hand and the Episcopal ring is placed on the wrong hand, carefully avoiding shewing the missing part of the finger.

In each likeness we also see that the bishop is depicted sitting and dressed in the choir dress of a Benedictine bishop, namely black cassock, with a bishop’s surplice (or rochet) and black mozetta. The rochet is different in each portrait. In one likeness he is wearing a black skull cap or zucchetto; in another a biretta; in the third, no headdress.

FACIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE PORTRAITS

The complication arising from these three images is that the facial appearance of the bishop in each case differs one from the other, to a greater or lesser degree. Although the three portraits have common features (as described above) the differences between them make it difficult to judge at first glance which is an accurate likeness of the man.

Somewhat different in each portrait is the shape of the mouth, in particular the upper lip. The nose and ears in each portrait also have discernible differences.

Of the three portraits, the oil painting at Downside gives clearest details of the bishop’s Benedictine choir dress, his pectoral Cross and his episcopal ring, the style and colour of his hair, his complexion, the colour of his eyes; but the facial features are not particularly well captured, including the shape of the face.

The engraving made in Sydney does not clearly show the facial features of the bishop, but perhaps it does illustrate the face of an older man in poor health. It has strong contrast and is typical of those basic engravings or wood-cuts which were made to illustrate newspaper and printed journals of the earlier 19th century. It was common for such engravings to be made from a sketch. In this instance the sketch might have had more detail than was transferred in the engraving process. The sketch might have survived and was used for the illustration in Cardinal Moran’s history. This, however, is speculation.

Figure 8.
A section of the Fairland engraving shewing the hands of Bishop Davis.
The missing joint on the 4th finger of the left hand is disguised here by the reversal of the image.
Image : Downside Abbey

ENGRAVINGS & THE THEORY OF A LOST DAGUERREOTYPE

The distinctive characteristics of the 1848 Fairland lithograph suggest that it was engraved from a daguerreotype photograph taken after Davis' consecration as bishop in February 1848. I must qualify this theory by indicating that there is no documentary evidence of the existence of a daguerreotype.  This does not preclude it always having been in private hands rather than a collection.

At this point, I wish to describe the term engraving, which has been used several times above.  Engraving was a process whereby an artisan (usually also an artist) would carve an image onto a stone or steel or timber block.  It was a time-consuming and sophisticated process.  The process was devised to create images intended to be reproduced in books as illustrations, or as a stand-alone prints.  The same process was used to create plates to print paper-based bank notes.  In the Eighteenth century, long before photography was understood, it became very fashionable to obtain prints.  There was a desire among the public to obtain illustrations of famous people or of beautiful landscapes or monuments, for personal use or domestic decoration. We still do this today, but with other mediums.  Even so, old prints are still much sought-after by collectors.

Figure 9
An 18th century engraving of Captain James Cook
based on a sketch.  Note that the image is created from the skilful 
arrangement of very fine dots.
Image : State Library of NSW.

The daguerreotype photograph was a good fit for the industry of creating prints.  Unlike later photography, the daguerreotype could not be reproduced multiple times via a negative or, as we have today, with a digital file.  The daguerreotype was a stand-alone image. The image was unique.  If, however, a copy was needed to illustrate a book or to provide numerous prints, then the daguerreotype image had to be engraved and then printed.

These daguerreotype photographs, where the image appears on polished metal (protected by glass) rather than photographic paper, are fascinating and much more life-like than the print-based photographs which became commonplace during the 1850s and normative thereafter.

For those who are not familiar with the photographic process termed daguerreotype, I include this link.

The following are images of an actual daguerreotype in its case, and give an indication of their unique character.

Figure 10.
A daguerreotype made in eastern USA in the 1850s.
It is enclosed in an embossed timber and cloth case.

Figure 11.
The opened case reveals the reversed daguerreotype image
behind glass with a facing panel of embossed velvet,
surrounded by a gilded frame.

Figure 12.
An enhanced reproduction of the daguerreotype photograph
flipped horizontally for an accurate depiction
of this unidentified couple from the 1850s.

There is one further thing that I would like to clarify concerning the daguerreotype process and that is that the image that it produced was a reverse image of the subject : reversed horizontally.  This was a limitation of the daguerreotype photographic system, although it does not seem to have troubled people at the time very much.  When we look at a daguerreotype we must imagine it flipped horizontally in order to get an accurate likeness of the subject.  We know that one side of a person’s face is different from the other; they are not two identical halves.  If a photograph of a man is flipped horizontally, he looks somewhat different from the usual way we would see him.

I suggest that the Fairland 1848 lithograph of Bishop Davis is a reversed engraving of a daguerreotype photograph.  Unlike the Downside oil painting, the Fairland lithograph was intended to be published and made available to the public in England and Australia.  It also bore the bishop’s official seal.  It was like receiving an autographed studio-produced photograph of someone, not an happy-snap.

This theory of a lost daguerreotype of the bishop is solely based on the evidence presented in the Fairland lithograph itself, which I describe below in detail.

First, the lithograph shows a reverse image of the bishop (that is horizontally reversed) just as a daguerreotype would be. This is deduced by his hair being parted on the opposite side from the Downside oil painting; by the buttons on his mozzetta (or elbow length cape) not being on the man’s side of dressing; by his elbows being raised into the air as if resting on something which is not illustrated, but which might have been evident in an original daguerreotype photograph. Last, I refer to the uncomfortable pose in which the bishop is sitting, quite different from the other two likenesses we have been discussing.

I include here illustrations of the concealed mechanism that was used by photographers in order to prevent the subject from moving during exposure with the consequence of blurring the image.  Sometimes, sitting for these earliest photographs required the subject to be motionless for up to a minute (even more).  The awkward pose of the bishop in the Fairland lithograph makes more sense if we consider that his back and neck were being held in place by a metal prop.

Figures 13 & 14.
Two images which illustrate the apparatus used by a
photographer to keep the subject motionless 
during the process of making a photographic exposure.

Considered together, the points above make a compelling case for the Fairland lithograph being engraved directly from a very early photograph which no longer exists or is unknown in private hands.

CONCLUSIONS & PREPARING A NEW LIKENESS

It is not impossible that another image of Bishop Charles Henry Davis exists which has remained unknown for more than a century, but it seems unlikely.  The survey of likenesses in this article I hope clarifies what has been confusing.  Although no documentation is known to exist of the production of the three portraits "from life", there are nevertheless some other significant clues.

The oil painting at Downside Abbey by the anonymous artist was described by the Downside historian Dom Henry Birt (1861-1919) as "a poor portrait."  Did he mean that it was amateurish attempt or did he mean that it was not a good likeness of the Bishop?  Although Birt was born after the Davis' death, he might well have known other monks who did know him, including the bishop's priest siblings.  

The other clue is that the engraving by Thomas Fairland held at both Downside and Jamberoo Abbeys, was published under the official seal of the Bishop.  Whilst this does not guarantee he approved every detail of the engraving, surely it suggests that the Bishop was satisfied with the result and approved it for publication.

When we compare Fairland's 1848 engraving with the later engraving made in Sydney by Walter Mason, there are distinct facial similarities, more than there are troubling differences.

Figure 15.
The two engravings of the Bishop compared :
the Mason engraving 1852-54 (left); 
the Fairland engraving of 1848.
Side by side, these engravings illustrate the two halves
of the Bishop's face and obviously depict the same man.

In conclusion I would like to suggest that these two engravings are the most faithful likenesses of the Bishop, whilst the portrait in oils at Downside Abbey captures his face imperfectly.

The illustration in Cardinal Moran's History of the Catholic Church in Australasia show are rather different man, with a more severe face, rather than kindly expression shown in other likenesses.  The stained glass window in Saint Mary's Cathedral appears to have transferred facial features from the illustration in Moran's book.  I regard these as less accurate likenesses of the Bishop.

Setting aside the question of which images of Bishop Davis are better likenesses, it has to be admitted that none of these images is of remarkable quality.  Because of my life-long devotion to the Bishop, I am trying to prepare a new portrait of the Bishop which captures both his kindliness and his sanctity.  To this end, I have been using various digital techniques to combine the images.  This has allowed me to observe which facial features align and how they differ.  In preparing likenesses of the Bishop, I will be using the Mason and Fairland engravings as my principal guide.  

It is not possible to create an ideal portrait when the subject has been dead for 170 years and given the differences in each of the three portraits we have discussed. 

Nevertheless, I hope to prepare an image which is a fair representation, based upon careful assessment, comparison, the opinions of other artists and scholars, but also some prayer for guidance.  The results will be published on this blog in the near feature.

Figure 16.
A section of the title of the published lithograph of Bishop Davis (1848)
The Bishop's seal is reproduced, with his episcopal coat of arms surrounded by the words (in Latin) :
Seal of the Lord [Bishop]
Lord Charles Henry 
Bishop of Maitland.
Image : Downside Abbey.

Written and published by :

Michael Sternbeck

Newcastle NSW

5th July 2026.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank for their advice, information and guidance in preparing this article :

Dr Simon Johnston (Downside Abbey);

Mr Nicholas Beveridge (New Zealand);

Dr Graeme Pender (Victoria)

The Sisters of the Benedictine Abbey Jamberoo NSW.

CITED WORKS :

Dom H N Birt OSB

Downside, London, 1902. 

Benedictine Pioneers in Australia, London, 1911.

PF Cardinal Moran

The History of the Catholic Church in Australasia, Sydney, 1895.

Brian Andrews

Pugin in the Antipodes : Creating a Gothic Paradise, Hobart, 2002.

Ut in omnibus Deus glorificetur.

Historic Images of Saint Mary's Cathedral Sydney : 4

Saint Mary's Cathedral 1922.

We continue our series of historic photographs of Saint Mary's Cathedral with this street photograph taken in 1922. 

This photograph, taken in Hyde Park and looking north-east, shews the Cathedral during its enlargement according to William Wardell original design.  The walls and twin southern towers are half-built.  This phase of the building of the Cathedral was completed in 1928.  

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

AMDG

NOTES

The photographs in this series are taken from a variety of sources, some in online Archival collections, some from books, some original images in the editor's collection.  They are presented here in a "modernised" digital form, and with as much detail of the structure of the Cathedrals enhanced in order to make them more accessible to a new generation of Australian Catholics.   Please do not reproduce these unique images without permission. 

Father Therry : Pioneering Priest

The forty-four years in which Father John Joseph Therry (pronounced "Terry") laboured as a missionary in colonial Australia may be summarised in several paragraphs, but how inadequate such a summary would be in encompassing the fundamental contribution he made in planting and nourishing the tree of the Catholic Church in Australia from the time of his arrival in 1820.  

We must start somewhere, however, and the following article, giving an outline of the course of his life and work, is a comprehensive and fair account.  It was written for the Australian Dictionary of Biography in 1967 by the historian Father John Eddy SJ.  Father Eddy's article has been substantially edited for inclusion here.  Over a period of time, further articles about Father Therry will be posted to this blog, which we hope will tell anew the remarkable story of this indefatigable Apostle of Australia.

ARCHPRIEST THERRY
a photograph taken in the early 1860s.
Digital restoration by the Saint Bede Studio

John Joseph Therry was born in the city of Cork, Ireland in 1790, and was educated privately before he studies for the priesthood at St Patrick's College, Carlow.  Ordained a priest in 1815, he was assigned to parochial work in Dublin and then Cork, where he became secretary to the bishop, Dr Murphy. Father Therry’s interest in the colony of New South Wales, aroused by the transportation of Irish convicts and the publicity surrounding the deportation from Sydney of Father Jeremiah O'Flynn in 1818, came to the notice of Bishop Edward Bede Slater, the Vicar-Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, Mauritius, and New Holland with the adjacent islands. At the same time, the British Colonial Office had consented to send two official Roman Catholic chaplains to New South Wales. Recommended by his own bishop as a capable, zealous and “valuable young man”, Father Therry sailed from Cork with Father Philip Conolly, in the Janus, which carried more than a hundred prisoners. They arrived in Sydney, authorised by both Church and State, on 3rd May 1820.

Father Therry described his life in Australia for the next forty-four years as “one of incessant labour very often accompanied by painful anxiety.” Popular, energetic and restless, he appreciated from the beginning the delicacy of his role. He had to be at once a far-seeing pastor making up for years of neglect, a conscientious official of an autocratic British colonial system, and a pragmatic Irish supporter of democratic freedoms. Though respectful of authority and grateful for co-operation, he was impatient of any curtailment of what he considered his own legal or moral rights as a Catholic priest in a situation governed by extraordinary circumstances. The two priests immediately immersed them in their duties of instruction, visitation and administration of the sacraments.

The Colony’s Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, although not hostile, was initially abrupt in his regulation of the activities of the two priests. In 1821, Father Conolly, after a series of disagreements with Father Therry, left Sydney for Hobart, leaving Father Therry for five seminal years as the only priest in the Colony. 

A panorama of Sydney in 1821 looking north from Observatory Hill.
Fathers Therry and Conolly arrived in a well-established township.
Image : The State Library of NSW. 

Articulate and thorough, Father Therry set himself the task of attending to every aspect of the moral and religious life of the Catholics. He travelled unceasingly, living with his scattered people wherever they were to be found, sometimes using three or four horses in a day. His influence was impressive among the Protestant settlers and outstanding among the convicts. His correspondence shows the trust they placed in him. For the rest of his life he was banker, advisor and arbitrator to many of them as well as spiritual director and community leader. He also early formed a lasting interest in the Aboriginals, who became very attached to him. He also pleaded the cause of aboriginal education to a later Governor, Sir Ralph Darling.

The building of a church in Sydney, planned from the first days of the chaplaincy, was one of Father Therry's main preoccupations. The assistance or substantial tolerance of the leading colonists was assured, and on 29th October 1821 Governor Macquarie laid the foundation stone of St Mary's chapel on a site he had assigned at the edge of Hyde Park, near the convict barracks. The convict artist and architect Francis Greenway made himself available for consultation on the architecture and construction. Government help was promised, but Father Therry was criticised for the elaborate design and size of the building, and the project quickly got out of hand financially. His accounts - never very coherent though always scrupulously maintained - became progressively more chaotic as his charities multiplied and the financing of schools and churches in Sydney, Parramatta, and the outlying townships involved him in attempts to raise funds by farming and stock-breeding. The scattered and casual nature of his dealings, the absence of a reliable and able book-keeper and his own sanguine character made financial crisis inevitable. His failure to separate private and public matters hampered and indeed later crippled his apostolate. But demands for his service came from the hospital, gaols, farms, the government establishments, his own day and Sunday schools, and from road-gangs and assigned convicts. He went, whenever summoned, to Wollongong, Goulburn, Maitland, Bathurst, Newcastle with their neighbouring districts.

The Hyde Park Barracks  : a watercolour from 1820.
This place of confinement for the settlement's convicts was built in 1817.  All the pioneers priests
(including Bishop Polding) regularly visited this Barracks to bring Christ to those imprisoned.
Image : State of Library NSW

Oppressive behaviour by officials or settlers towards the soldiers or convicts angered him, particularly where religious issues were involved. He was bitterly resentful of his exclusion from certain government institutions, especially the Orphan School, where he was unhappy about children whose parents were Catholic being baptised and instructed by the Anglican chaplains. By 1824, however, the patronage of Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane and his own growing experience encouraged him to hope for impartiality and support. He was confident that, with the arrival of new priests to share his work, a remarkable expansion of Catholic practice and activity was possible. With the aid of his committees, trustees and friends, and the advent of what he termed “a free, liberal and talented press”, he began to feel secure. Father Therry had even been held up by the Governor as a model of discrimination and good judgment to the zealous (and horrified) Presbyterian minister, John Dunmore Lang.

The formal withdrawal of Government support for his ministry in 1825 – the result of his being misquoted in the press in his opinion of Anglican ministers - caused Father Therry continual prohibitions and hindrances in the exercise of his priestly work, especially in the visitation of the sick and dying in gaols and hospitals, and in the celebration of marriages. Nevertheless, Father Therry remained their pastor in the eyes of the colony’s Catholics.

In December 1826, another Catholic Chaplain arrived from Ireland, Father Daniel Power. The two priests had more work than they could deal with, but Father Therry's impetuosity and Father Power's inadequate health led them into a series of collisions, particularly when the building of St Mary's Chapel came to a standstill and Father Therry demanded more vigorous action. Father Power died in March 1830 and Father Therry was again left alone with his mounting debts and worries. His genius for publicity and organisation is illustrated in the repeated representations made on his behalf by the principal officials and magistrates, and supported in March 1830 by over 1400 householders. The Colonial government permitted him to continue to act as chaplain – but without status or salary. A further Chaplain, Father Christopher Dowling OP, arrived from Ireland in September 1831.

Old Saint Mary's Cathedral (at right) founded by Father Therry and Governor Macquarie in 1821.
The adjacent buildings of the Hospital & Hyde Park Barracks are also shewn in this 1840 aquatint.
Image : The Sydney Museum.

The arrival of Sir Richard Bourke as the new Governor of the Colony (1831), the news of the British Government’s Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), and the appointment of the Irish Catholics Roger Therry as Commissioner of the Court of Requests (1829) and of John Hubert Plunkett as Solicitor-General (1832), both loyal friends of Father Therry, offered new opportunities for Catholic progress. Yet Father Therry was still frustrated and unrecognised when a further Chaplain, Father John McEncroe arrived in June 1832. Father McEncroe was quite capable of managing the indomitable but stubborn veteran and the two became lifelong colleagues and confidants. A dispute about the land on which St Mary's Chapel was being built had become deadlocked through Father Therry's obstinacy. Disastrous litigation was in prospect when Bishop Morris, the Vicar-Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, Mauritius, and New Holland, appointed the English Benedictine, Father William Ullathorne, as his Vicar-General in the Colony. Despite his youth, Father Ullathorne's confidence and ecclesiastical authority enabled him to take over the reins from Father Therry when he arrived in February 1833. The first bishop, John Bede Polding, came in 1835 and Father Therry went willingly as pastor of Campbelltown, with an area extending beyond Yass in his immediate care. By Governor Bourke's Church Act of 1836, the principle of religious equality had been accepted in the Colony, and in April 1837 Father Therry was restored to a government salary.

Since by 1838 several others priests had arrived to minister to the Colony’s Catholics, Bishop Polding was able to send Father Therry to Van Diemen's Land as Vicar-General. In Hobart, Father Conolly had become estranged from his people, and the all-too-common difficulties about jurisdiction, salaries and the deeds of church land had arisen. Father Therry reconciled Father Conolly before the latter's death in August 1839. He visited the interior of Tasmania and attended to the convicts. His church building at Hobart and Launceston was assisted by the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir John Franklin's spasmodic patronage, but on St Joseph's Hobart, and on the schools demanded by the free settlers, he overreached himself. Loneliness, responsibility, illness and debt pressed heavily on him and he found himself again struggling for justice and religious equality in the government institutions. In July 1841 he visited Sydney briefly to get help and to try to clear up some of his business entanglements. There he was consulted by Caroline Chisholm, whom he was able to help and advise about her first plans to work among the emigrants. Though sick, he was thinking of a mission to New Zealand and perhaps the Pacific Islands, and formed an interest which in 1860 prompted him to implore Governor Sir William Denison to put an end to the Maori wars and to offer his own services as mediator.

Robert Willson arrived as first Bishop of Hobart Town in May 1844. He had not expected the church debts to be so great or so complicated, and he and Father Therry fell out. A long and dreary dispute arose, defying resolution and the efforts of a number of intermediaries. In September 1846, Father Therry went to Melbourne as pastor and remained there until April 1847.

The old church of Saint Augustine at Balmain circa 1870.
This was Father Therry's last Parish and he died in the adjacent presbytery in 1864.
Image : The State Library of NSW
Digital restoration by the Saint Bede Studio.

Father Therry was at Windsor NSW as pastor until June 1848 when he returned to live in Tasmania for a further six years. His efforts to settle affairs there were unsuccessful and he subsequently was appointed in May 1856 to Balmain where he spent the rest of his life. Mellowed and serene, he continued to be an energetic pastor, watching the growth of the church in whose establishment he had played such a definitive part, the coming of the Religious orders, and the enlargement both of the Pugin-designed church at Balmain and of the first St Mary's Cathedral, generously contributing whenever he could to every new development. He became spiritual director to the Sisters of Charity at St Vincent's Hospital, and in 1858 he was accorded the dignity by Pope Pius IX of Archpriest. In 1859 he was elected a founding fellow of the Council of St John's College within the University of Sydney. He had been given or had bought a number of properties which he tried to develop for the provision of more schools and churches for the growing Catholic community. Notable among these were his farms at Bong Bong and Albury, another property, which is now the suburb of Lidcombe, and 1500 acres (607 ha) at Pittwater, where he tried unsuccessfully to mine coal.

This Gothic Revival monument
was erected over the graves
of Archpriest Therry and 
Archdeacon McEncroe in
the former Devonshire Street
Cemetery.
Both priests are now buried in 
the crypt
of Saint Mary's Cathedral.

Simple and unselfish, a firm democrat and a zealous priest, John Joseph Therry was a man of large notions and considerable achievement. He was an unsophisticated man with no clear ideas of social systems or political reform. Yet his energy and persistence proved a continual source of trouble to those who opposed his ideas of what was right or possible. “Pious, zealous, and obstinate”, despite his peculiarities and limitations he undertook many obligations and responsibilities which would in the circumstances have crushed greater men. His enthusiasm and sincerity assure him of a firm place among the founders of the Catholic Church and in the history of civil liberties in Australia. He firmly believed in a distant future for which he built, often regardless of existing conditions. Truly legendary in his own lifetime, Father Therry died peacefully on 25th May 1864, at the Balmain Presbytery and was buried from old Saint Mary’s Cathedral in the Devonshire Street Cemetery (now the area of Central Station). His was the largest funeral Sydney had seen to that date. His remains are now in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral.

AMDG

NOTES

1. Amongst prominent historians who have written books or articles detailing the life of Father Therry are : Sir Roger Therry, Dean John Kenny, PF Cardinal Moran, Archbishop Eris O'Brien, "John O'Brien", Father James Murtagh, Timothy Suttor, Patrick O'Farrell, James Waldersee, James Hugh Donohoe, Father Ralph Wiltgen, Monsignor Con Duffy. This list is very far from complete.

2. Three photographs of Father Therry are known to have been taken.  The first was a daguerreotype from a sitting at the studio of Wheeler & Co in Sydney in 1853 or 1854. From this daguerreotype, an engraving was made and prints published; consequently, this 1853-54 image is frequently reproduced.  Two photographs were taken in one sitting in the studio of the Freeman Brothers in Sydney.  One of those photographs was in Father Therry's own collection, the other, having been in private hands, is now in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Sydney.  Of the Freeman's Studio sitting, there might have been more photographic prints produced which have since been lost. All these photographic images were used after the time of Father Therry's death to paint portraits of him.  Sad to say, none of the artists was up to the task and the various 19th century paintings of Father Therry are unremarkable.  A more recent effort by Sydney artist Paul Newton is also based on the Freeman Brothers photographs and adorns the walls of Domus Australia in Rome, along with those of other Catholic pioneers.