A Trial by Fire

The conflagration which engulfed Notre Dame, Paris on 15th April cannot help to remind us of a similar disaster that befell the Australian Church on the night of 29th June 1865.  After nightfall, it was noticed that the original Cathedral of Saint Mary in Sydney was ablaze.  It is sometimes claimed that charcoals falling through the floorboards of the sanctuary during Vespers and Benediction earlier in the evening, were responsible for the blaze.

Within a short time, the old Cathedral was engulfed in fire.  Its interior, being almost entirely polished timber, was alight rapidly.  The efforts of fire-fighters were of little avail.  The courageous efforts of a few were responsible for the rescue from destruction of many of the Cathedral's treasures, and not least so the Blessed Sacrament, Reserved in a side chapel.  A huge crowd of Sydney-siders gathered in Hyde Park and neighbouring roads to witness this terrible event.  No such fire had hitherto been seen in Sydney.

A sketch of the Cathedral fire on the night of 29th June 1865.

By morning, it was clear that the entire Cathedral had been devastated, the interior completely gutted and the walls alone standing.  Some of the stonework, notably the apse of the Cathedral, had collapsed in the blaze.  Old Saint Mary's was not insured ... the scale of the loss was quite dreadful.  We know now that a new and greater Cathedral was built after that disaster;  but for Catholics, the destruction of their Mother-Church that night, was a terrible blow. 

On the night itself a few artists seem to have sketched the events of the fire and a number of illustrations appeared quickly in newspapers and magazines.  We include here one of those sketches, which shews in great detail what was happening.  Firefighters, assisted by volunteers, try to control the blaze, whilst many people, their faces lit-up by the flames, look helplessly on.

The next day, a photograph was taken of the ruins of the Cathedral, looking south-east from Hyde Park.  It shews the complete destruction of the timber roof as well as the interior of the Cathedral.  The apse of the Cathedral did not withstand the intensity of the heat and had collapsed.  The final plumes of smoke can be seen emerging from the tracery window in the western facade (facing Hyde Park).

The devastated shell of Saint Mary's Cathedral the day after the fire.

Looking at these images and comparing them with those of Notre Dame in this week past, reminds us how quickly can be destroyed what has taken so long and so much to build.

Ut in omnibus Deus glorificetur.

First Australian Catholic Historian

Apart from the short reminiscences of some Catholic pioneers, Australia's first book of Catholic history was published in 1886 by a senior priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney.  This was the Very Reverend John Kenny.  Dean Kenny's book was titled A History of the Commencement and Progress of Catholicity in Australia up until the Year 1840.  These days, we would use the word Catholicism in place of "Catholicity".

He began this work with the following explanation :

The object that I had in view in writing the history of Catholic events in Australia, was to correct the mistaken notions in the minds of many, in regard to our history, and to reduce them to something like chronological order ; and to show the wonderful progress of Catholicity in Australia in such a short time.  I have been witness of many events recorded in the history.  I came to the colony in the year 1835, with Bishop Polding, as an ecclesiastical student : it will soon be fifty years ago ; and I was not unobservant of what was passing.  I was ordained a priest with four others, by Archbishop Polding, in the year 1843, and have laboured ever since on the Australian Mission.

Dean Kenny 1816 - 1886.
A carte-de-visite photograph of the 1870s.

John Kenny was born in Fife, Scotland in 1816.  In 1834, whilst still an ecclesiastical student, he was selected by Bishop Polding to be among the small party that accompanied him to the colony of New South Wales.  Amongst this party, John Kenny seems to be the only one who was not himself (nor did he become) a Benedictine.  In Australia, whilst still a student for the priesthood, he was mostly engaged as a catechist, whilst living at the seminary attached to Saint Mary's Cathedral.  But after his ordination, Father Kenny was appointed to Queanbeyan (1843) and afterwards to Penrith (1844-45), Macdonald River (1845-47), Geelong (1847-48), East Maitland (1848-67) and finally North Sydney (1867-78), where he lived until his death in 1886.

Although not in any respect a comprehensive account of the formative years of the Church in Australia, Dean Kenny's History is nevertheless much more than a mere curiosity.  Perhaps its principal value is where it records events which Dean Kenny witnessed at firsthand during the first five years following the arrival of Bishop Polding in Australia, and the inclusion in the volume of sermons and speeches of Archbishop Polding and Father William Ullathorne, the Vicar-General, which otherwise might have been lost to posterity.

As an appendix is included A Short Essay on the Aborigines of Australia.  If nothing else, the inclusion of this Essay demonstrates that the culture and welfare of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia was not something ignored by the Catholic Church in the nineteenth century.

Because Dean Kenny's History is such a rare volume, we take the opportunity to include some photographs of it.  AMDG.

Title page of Dean Kenny's History.

Conclusion of the Preface.
Dean Kenny was resident at Saint Leonard's in Sydney when he wrote his historical volume.

This particular copy of Dean Kenny's History bears his autograph :
"With the Author's Compliments John Kenny Dean."

Portrait of Archbishop Polding

Archbishop John Bede Polding OSB
Image : The Saint Bede Studio

This portrait of Archbishop Polding, depicting him in his 70s, is the frontispiece to a rather rare historical volume, A History of the Commencement and Progress of Catholicity in Australia up until the year 1840, written by Father John Kenny, a priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

When the volume was published in 1886, certain rare engravings and photographs of pioneering clergy were reproduced in it as a photographic plates.  It would seem that the portrait of Archbishop Polding was based on a photograph taken in the later 1860s, but enhanced with some artistic detailing for the purposes of publication in 1886.

In this photograph, we can see the Episcopal stole which the Archbishop wore for several photographic sittings.  It was a very long stole, terminating in tassles and untypical of the style of the period.  Almost certainly the stole was made in Europe.  It is embroidered with medallions depicting the saints, the two visible in this portrait being Saints Peter and Paul.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.


NOTES

The image has been digitally coloured and enhanced from the very faded sepia original.

AMDG

The Gothic Revival in Australia : 2

Archbishop Roger Bede Vaughan OSB
Archbishop of Sydney 1877 - 1883.
An engraving of 1878.

When Archbishop Polding died in March 1877, his Coadjutor, Roger Bede Vaughan, succeeded him as the Archbishop of Sydney.  Archbishop Vaughan had been a monk at Downside Abbey, England, before arriving in Australia in 1873.  He also shared the enthusiasm for Gothic taste in liturgical paraments and architecture.

In January, 1878, Archbishop Vaughan received the symbol of his office as Metropolitan Archbishop when the pallium was conferred upon him in Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral.  To commemorate this occasion, several photographic portraits were taken of the Archbishop, vested in pontificals.  One of these photographs was reproduced as an engraving, which we are pleased to include here.  

Noteworthy is that the Archbishop is vested in a simple white Gothic Revival chasuble and an elaborate Gothic Revival mitre. He is also wearing Episcopal gloves and the pallium.  The mitre and the crosier are still preserved in the treasury of Saint Mary's Cathedral.  A photograph of the mitre, in its present rather faded condition, is given below.  It is extensively embroidered, with jewels enriching it.  One peculiarity - distinctly Gothic - is the metal filigree work which runs along the upper edge of the mitre on both sides of the front, terminating in a jewelled Cross.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The precious mitre of Archbishop Roger Bede Vaughan OSB.
Image : Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.