Person MacKillop, Mary (1842 - 1909)

Mary Helen MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne on 15 January 1842. When baptised six weeks later she received the names Maria Ellen. In 1867 Mary became the first Sister, and Mother Superior, of the newly formed Order of the Sisters of St Joseph and moved to the new convent in Grote Street Adelaide. Dedicated to the education of the children of the poor, it was the first religious order to be founded by an Australian. The rules written up by Father Woods and Mary for the Sisters to live by were; An emphasis on poverty, a dependence on Divine Providence, no ownership of personal belongings as God would provide and the Sisters would go wherever they were needed. The rules were approved by Bishop Sheil. By the end of 1867 ten other Sisters had joined the Josephites.

Mother Mary MacKillop died on 8 August 1909 and was laid to rest at the Gore Hill Cemetery, a few kilometres up the Pacific Highway from North Sydney.

Online Resources

• Thorpe, Osmund, 'MacKillop, Mary Helen (1842 - 1909)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050199b.htm. Details