Our Heritage

St Matthew's was started as early as 1835 according to Henry N. Brit in ‘Benedictine Pioneers in Australia’, Volume 1, in which he quotes Archbishop Poldings return of 1836 to Governor Bourke regarding Catholic Schools.

"In Windsor, Boys 50 payment ... £ 54
                  Girls 40 payment ... £ 30

Mr Jas Steele's book ‘Early Days Of Windsor’, published in 1961 states...

"The first Roman Catholic School in Windsor was conducted by James and Esther Cassidy, from 1835 to 1844. There were one hundred and four scholars on the roll in 1838."

A record can also be found of a Catholic School in Windsor in the ‘Australian Catholic Directory, 1841’ in which it states…

"At Windsor there are from 90 to 100 children in daily attendance; the school is conducted on the Irish system by M J Cassidy and Mrs. Cassidy."

St Matthew's School had a very humble beginning with inadequate accommodation and very poor facilities. We know this from the following report, dated 13th March 1848, written by Father Therry (Australia's first Parish Priest) to the Board of Education.

"In reply to the queries that have been recently addressed to me in the printed circular I have the honour to state for the information of the Board of Education that there is but one School connected with the Catholic Church of this town that receives Government aid. The Master's name is Joseph Carney. He is in my opinion perfectly competent to the proper discharge of his duties. His wife who is competent to instruct the younger children is the Mistress attached to the School. The number of children in daily attendance is very inconsiderable in consequence of the protracted illness and final retirement of the late Schoolmaster Mr. Can and the inconvenient distance of the Schoolhouse (which is an unfurnished and not very fit one) from the canter of the Town. The Master states that there are 23 boys and 35 girls on his list, but I have not seen so many in attendance at any one time."

Recorded teachers of that early period 1845 to 1882 are C. A. McCan, J. Carney, M. Hynes and finally W. B. Langton.

Of these early teachers Mr. William Langton, 1863 to 1882, distinguished himself as an educator of some note by his earnest and conscientious work of which School Inspectors commented favourably.

William Langton gave a good foundation to the brothers E. J. and T. Butler, who, after going to Lyndhurst College, had brilliant careers at University. The first brother became a priest and the second was the first native born Professor of classics at Sydney University.

Inspectors wrote that Langton maintained a good spirit in the School. In August, 1881, Langton suffered ill health. He applied for leave but was refused by the Council of Education, who felt that his wife and son could manage the School in his absence. The arrangement was found unsatisfactory and the Council of Education appointed a teacher to replace Langton. After convalescing for a period of five weeks, Langton sent a telegram to the Council of Education advising them of his return to teaching.

Following the Public Instruction Act of 1880, which created the Department of Education as we know it today, Langton resigned his position in 1882 and became Riverstone's First Public School teacher in 1883.

As stated in the ‘Annals of Sisters of the Good Samaritan Order, 1857 to 1938’ after the closure of the School in 1882.

"All the girls belonging to the denominational School came to us. Father Austin (Sheehy) secured a teacher for the boys, only the infant boys came to the Convent. When Father Austin left Windsor in December of 1886, there was not a single Catholic child, boy or girl, at the Public School"

The teacher secured by Fr. Austin was a Mr. M. Phelan and he was paid by the Parish. Mr. J. Reidy replaced Phelan in 1884. After Reidy the nuns (Sisters of the Good Samaritan) took over the running of the Primary School.

When reviewing the 1890's to 1950's period the most written and discussed events undoubtedly were the end of year School Concerts that were held in both the School Hall and the Local School Of Arts. These concerts best capture the great energy and pleasure that both children and Sisters gave to, and received from, their days at St Matthew's School.

From 1952 to 1985 the school enrolment tripled. To accommodate the increasing enrolment the Parish completed four major building projects during this period.

All of the building projects above except the 1985 project have been completely funded by the Parish. A testament to the Parish's commitment to Catholic Education.

St Matthew's School Principals from 1900 to the present day:

Only a handful of Children landed at Sydney Cove in 1788, yet within a short time several Dame Schools had begun operating. Other schools followed in the 1790's. These early schools developed because it was believed that unless the "rising generation" were rescued by schools the children would grow up to be as bad as their convict parents.

Later schools emphasised the need for students to grow up literate, well behaved and Christian. The Governors of the Colony, supported by the Clergy, were heavily involved in the establishment and maintenance of Schools for the ‘lower orders’. Those settlers who were well off, looked after their own children's educational needs by sending them to private schools or back to England to boarding schools.

In the 1820's, (in order to give the Church of England the resources to develop a system of Schools; Primary, Secondary; Technical and University) the British Government granted the Church one seventh of all land in New South Wales, an area of land a little smaller than the whole of Victoria. As the land at the time was undeveloped it failed to produce the revenue expected and the experiment failed.

When Governor Bourke arrived in the Colony in the early 1830's there was no System of Schools. All agreed that the Government should finance Schools but the real question, one which would cause much concern for the next half century, was whether the Churches or the Government should control them.

Governor Burke wanted to give Government aid only to Schools which were non denominational like the present day Public Schools. The Churches, believing that Education and Religion could not be separated, wanted only Church Schools funded by the Government. Because of the Churches' objections neither Governor Bourke nor his successor, Governor Gipps, was able to introduce a "Common System". Instead denominational Schools were financed by Government on a pound for pound basis.

In the 1840's Depression showed that the Churches could not educate all children in a Colony with such a scattered population. Half the number of school aged children never saw the inside of a school room. As a result, a compromise was worked out so that a Board continued to distribute Government aid to denominational Schools while at the time another Board set about establishing a system of Public Schools in country districts where the shortage of Schools was greatest.

The number of Public Schools grew steadily but the system of two Boards proved unsuitable. In 1867 a Council of Education replaced the Boards and took charge of all Government assisted Schools, whether Public or Denominational. This arrangement favoured the Public Schools, which grew rapidly in number as settlements spread following the passing of the Free Selection Acts and the growth of the railway system. In this period some denominational Schools were converted to Public Schools and by the late 1870's there were 1,100 Government Schools, 150 Government assisted Schools and hundreds of private and non-assisted denominational Schools.

There were still complaints about this arrangement for giving Government assistance to Schools: many people felt it was not right for a Government to finance the teaching of particular Religious beliefs in Schools. Consequently, following a period of intense anti Catholic feeling in the late 1870's the Public Instruction Act of 1880 was passed.

The Public Instruction Act of 1880 was believed to be the "Final Solution": all Government aid to denominational schools was stopped and only Government Schools were to receive Government assistance. Most Protestant denominational Schools either closed or were converted to Public Schools. By the use of Teaching Orders the Catholic Church was able to maintain a system of Primary Schools and later developed Secondary Schools as well.

The 1880 Act is also important because it introduced State High Schools, made Education compulsory for the first time and established a Department of Education to replace the Council of Education.

The number of new Schools under the Department of Education increased rapidly as the Department tried to ensure that a Primary School Education was available to all children, no matter where they lived in New south Wales. y the end of the nineteenth century there were more Government Schools in NSW than there are now, but they were mostly one teacher schools.

Although Primary Schooling was available to almost all children, Secondary Schools were few in number. The growth in Industry and Commerce, however, in the early years of the Twentieth century, demanded better trained and educated people. Government Secondary Education proceeded to develop quickly after 1910.

At first the System divided students into those going on to Tertiary Studies and those who would enter industry, Commerce or the home. Gradually these distinctions faded and comprehensive High Schools emerged, offering a more general Secondary Education to students.

The Wyndham Scheme, introduced in 1962, confirmed the move towards comprehensive High Schools. It introduced a 4 year course of General Studies for all students and a subsequent 2 year course for those who wished to deepen their Secondary Education. The changes in Government Secondary Schools were followed in Catholic and non Government Secondary Schools.

The 1880 "Final Solution" proved less final when in 1963 the Federal Government began to give financial assistance to non Government Schools; and even less so in 1965 when the State Government once again began giving financial aid directly to non Government Schools.

Since 1848 New South Wales has had a mixed Education System, made up of Government, Denominational and Private Schools. Today the majority of Students (over 70%) attend Primary and Secondary Schools operated by the Government.

Most of the rest attend Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools. A small percentage attend attend other Denominational Schools or Private Primary or Secondary Schools. These non Government Schools are funded partly by Government and partly by fees paid by students' families.

None of the handful of First Fleet children who splashed ashore was expected to go to School. In just over 200 years, all New South Wales children are required to be in School until at least 15 years of age and a third of them remain until they are 17 or 18. A year after European Settlement in New South Wales, one teacher taught a small hut full of children the “3R's". Today, in Government and Non Government Schools, over 70 000 teachers are responsible for over two million children.

The Call to Windsor

Archbishop John Bede traveled to Windsor on a number of occasions. After a visit in 1836 he wrote to his cousin in England:

"I went the Sunday before last to Windsor, and celebrated Mass in the temporary Chapel there. It was a barn and will be one again, made of slabs. A man by the name of Doyle died there a few weeks since, and left £500 to build a church and £200 for a school ... Windsor is situated on a long-backed eminence on a flat country, well cleared and cultivated; the vicinity is beautiful. As I looked towards the Blue Mountains about 200 miles distant, I saw a resemblance to the tract of Somersetshire ...; only the mountains are not so tame in outline, stand more in and out than the insipid Mendip Range." (1836)

As early as 1859 two Good Samaritan Sisters accompanied Polding to Windsor to help with the preparation of children and adults for the Sacraments.

In 1874 Fr Austin Sheehy, O.S.B. became Pastor of Windsor Parish which included Richmond, Kurrajong and Wisemans' Ferry, as well as the smaller stations of Riverstone, Nelson and Cattai.

Towards the end of the year Fr Sheehy invited Mother de Sales Maloney and Sr M Stanislaus McDonald to prepare a number of children and adults for Confirmation. This was so successful that Fr Sheehy decided to apply for a community of Sisters to live in Windsor.

Pioneer Sisters

An old diary kept at the time by one of the first community members has recorded the event as follows...

"Moved into the new convent today... Up at four O'clock. Mass at six, said by Father Austin. Half a dozen drays waiting at the door for the furniture while we were making our thanksgiving after Holy Communion. Had a hurried breakfast and began work. Father Austin, Mother Cecilia and Sister Stanislaus receiving the furniture at the new convent. Father Maurus, Sister Casimir and myself packing up at the old house, by half past eleven the house was empty ..."

Further interesting extracts from the Sister's diary include the following:

October 23 1878
“Archbishop Vaughan blessed the Convent today. A great crowd of people at the ceremony...”

November 22 1878
“Schoolroom finished. Got furniture in today. We have had classes in refectory, children's dining room and music room for three weeks...”

After the December 1878, Christmas holidays
“School reopened with 27 boarders, by Easter had 34 boarders, as many as could be accommodated...“

In 1879 a Girl's High School was opened by the Sisters. St Joseph's High School.

Besides being involved in Primary and secondary Education at St. Matthew's School and St. Joseph's School, two Sisters would accompany the Priest whenever he traveled to an "out station" where Sisters would instruct the children while the Priest heard Confessions.

They also traveled long distances by horse or buggy, borrowed from a kindly neighbour, or by Cobb and Co coach to give religious instruction in places that a Priest could seldom visit.

These were happy days for the Sisters although they were not without trials, but at all times they were supported by the love and helpfulness of the people of the Windsor district.

The following quote from the "The Good Samaritan Annals 1857 to 1938" vividly illustrates the real commitment and care the Sisters had, and still have for the people of Windsor.

"One wet week, the school fees were very low, and Mother Ceciia who had been told to pay for everything as she got it was very sad (as there was scarcely anything in the pantry on Saturday night). Sunday morning when she went to the kitchen after first Mass, she found the window had been opened and a basket slipped in onto the table. It contained a large loaf of home made bread, 3 lbs of lovely butter, a piece of bacon, a tin of tea, some coffee, some new potatoes and other things. It was nearly three months before the generous benefactor was discovered, who proved to be no other than dear old Mrs Cassidy"

Catholic Education

Good Samaritan Ministry in Catholic Education is closely interwoven into the history of Catholic Education in the Hawkesbury area. From the earliest days of settlement in the area the people have valued the Catholic School.

Esther and James Cassidy conducted the first Catholic School in Windsor from 1833 - 1844. In 1838 there were 104 students on the School Roll. This was the beginning of St. Matthew's Primary School, which continued to flourish in the hands of capable and committed Educators until the Public Instruction Act of 1880, which stopped all Government aid to denominational Schools.

Subsequently the Good Samaritan Sisters took charge of St. Matthew's School in addition to St. Joseph's High School which had opened in 1882 and became a successful country Boarding and Day School for girls.

The Benedictine ideal in Education has included in its scope the fashioning of the young mind to a love of the beautiful and the good, as well as to a keen pursuit of the Truth. The Sisters were eager to follow in the path of their Benedictine heritage. The teaching of music, art and a love of literature formed an intrinsic part of the education they offered to their students.

Local History records a Grad Concert in the School of Arts Windsor by students of both Convent Schools.

Over the years many young people came to the Convent to be taught music by the Sisters.

Among those Sisters fondly remembered are Sr Scholastica Cullen, Sr Jean Marie McDonald, Sr Aelred Woolland and Sister Oliver O'Dowd.

St. Joseph's High School continued to provide Secondary Education Education for Girls until 1963, when significant Education Reforms under Wyndham Scheme forced its closure.

In the following years parents were persistent in their requests to reestablish a Catholic Secondary School in the area.

From 1970 - 1981 the Hawkesbury Catholic High School Committee of local Priests and parents worked t to overcome the almost insurmountable problems, such as possible location and funding and to convince the Archdiocese that a Catholic High School was desperately needed in our area.

A decision was made in 1981 to establish the much needed Catholic High School in 1986. And so began Bede Polding College whose motto: "Called to Bring Peace" represents the spirit of the College.

From small beginnings Bede Polding College has grown to a large and vibrant School community. The Sisters value their association with this fine College named after their founder.