Boarding History

The story of boarding at St Joseph’s College begins in the post-revolution French countryside of the early 19th century. A young priest, Fr Marcellin Champagnat, was appointed curate at La Valla, an isolated, culturally impoverished village on the slopes of a mountain south of Lyons. Witnessing the local children being deprived of a Christian education, in 1817 he formed an order of Brothers to teach them. The first Marist Brothers school at La Valla soon had boarders – rough terrain, long distances and bad weather meant it was simply best for many boys to stay at school rather than travel to and from their homes every day.

By 1872, the Brothers had established their first Australian school at the Rocks in Sydney; nine years later, they transferred the school’s boarding component to Hunters Hill, naming it St Joseph’s College. The first 55 students, under the care of six Brothers led by Br Emilian Pontet, lived in a temporary, two-storey wooden building with room for 75 boys. These first boarders had an average age of 15 and while most were from NSW, eight came from New Zealand, four from Queensland, and one each from New Caledonia, Victoria and Tasmania.

As enrolments grew rapidly, to 122 by 1882, the Brothers and novices built more temporary wooden buildings to provide extra dormitory and refectory space as well as kitchens. There were also stables, a piggery and a dairy farm. By the time the boys moved into the newly constructed southern wing of the permanent building early in 1884, they numbered 173.