From the Parish House

For the last three weeks I have been providing information in relation to the proposed amalgamation of the three parishes of Camberwell, Balwyn Deepdene and Surrey Hills Wattle Park.  Today I would like to reflect on the history of our parishes.  It is a fascinating, one hundred and thirty-five year history, and surprising to see how connected our parishes have been throughout.

In 1889, the Parish of Camberwell was established from the Hawthorn Mission.  Prior to the establishment of Camberwell, if Archbishop Carr (Archbishop of Melbourne from 1886) had left the Cathedral and driven eastward, he would have passed through Richmond Parish to Hawthorn and remained in Hawthorn Parish till somewhere around Springvale Road, when he would have crossed into Heidelberg Parish, which included all the Lilydale-Healesville district.  The next parish would have been Mansfield.  So, 1889 was a significant year in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.  Archbishop Carr subdivided the vast parishes of Hawthorn and Heidelberg.  He cut off the districts of Camberwell, Surrey Hills, Box Hill and Nunawading from the Hawthorn Mission and created, what was known at the time as, ‘St Brigid’s Surrey Hills’.

In spite of the name, ‘Surrey Hills’, the first Parish Priest recognised that the centre of the new parish was Camberwell, and he built his presbytery there.  A church-school had already been erected on that site by the Hawthorn Parish.  It had been dedicated to the newly canonised, young Jesuit Saint, John Berchmans.  That was the name of the Parish of Camberwell (Surrey Hills) until 1918 when the newly erected Church was completed and the name of the parish was changed to Our Lady of Victories. 

In 1901 the Parish Priest of Camberwell purchased land on the corner of Mont Albert Road and Barton Street, Surrey Hills in order to erect a Church.  It didn’t take long for the building to take place and on 11 May 1902 the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer was opened.  Two years later a school-hall opened and the first school began.  And for the next decade Surrey Hills continued as part of the Camberwell Parish.  In 1911, Surrey Hills became a parish in its own right and the Irish-born priest Father David Gleeson was appointed as Parish Priest.  The newly formed Parish of Surrey Hills went on to give birth to twelve new parishes between the years 1911 and 1967.  The first territory to be broken off is now known as St Francis Xavier, Box Hill (1927) and the last was St Gregory the Great, Doncaster (1967).  In-between Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Wattle Park (1955) and All Hallows, Balwyn (1959) were established from Surrey Hills.  The All Hallows school-Church had been part of the Surrey Hills Parish since 1922.

So, the territories, communities and priests of Camberwell, Surrey Hills, Wattle Park and Balwyn have been intertwined since the earliest days of Catholic parishes in Melbourne’s east.

Deepdene has a slightly different but connected origin and history.  In 1919 a local Deepdene resident, Stanislaus Day, wrote to Archbishop Mannix requesting that a Church be erected in Deepdene for the maids in service at Camberwell who found it too far to walk to Kew or Camberwell for Mass.  It is unsure whether this letter was the impetus or not but in 1922 the Parish of Deepdene was established with boundaries drawn from Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.

By 1959 the five parishes of Camberwell (1889), Surrey Hills (1911), Deepdene (1922), Wattle Park (1955) and Balwyn (1959) were all in existence as distinct parishes with common histories.  Within fifty years the demographics had changed.  While the population has grown, it has also diversified.  Christians now make up less than half the Australian population.  Cars and trams flood the roads of the inner-East.  Very few people walk to Church.  Our history moves forward, and it is once again time to rethink the way that we organise our parishes.  In 2013 Deepdene and Balwyn formally amalgamated.  In 2017 Surrey Hills and Wattle Park formally amalgamated (or re-united) their parishes.  The proposed amalgamation of our current three parishes, Camberwell, Deepdene Balwyn and Surrey Hills Wattle Park, almost returns us to the situation of 1901.  The proposed Parish of Our Lady of Pentecost will provide continuity with the past and a fresh way into the future.

To find out more about the proposed amalgamation visit our Building Stronger Partnership’s for Mission page on our website and read our Frequently Asked Questions.  To participate in the discussion leave your comments or questions on the proposed amalgamation form and register online to attend one of three Parish Briefings on the amalgamation proposal on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 or Sunday 26 May.

By Fr Brendan Reed

Published: 3 May 2024