Catherine Heydon, 1858 to 1868: from Subiaco to Carcoar.

Catherine Heydon was my great-grandmother. Although she would become Catherine Connolly in marriage, in the ten years under consideration in this article she was still Catherine Heydon. They were the years of her journey from Subiaco to Carcoar: Subiaco--the Benedictine monastery at Rydalmere; Carcoar--one of the oldest towns beyond the Blue Mountains, and now a National Trust village. It was a journey both in a geographical sense and in the sense of a woman seeking her role in life. The story starts in 1858 with Catherine, a twenty-three year old Benedictine novice, writing to her father from her monastery by the Parramatta River.

Wintertime, 1858: Subiaco

Catherine headed the letter 'Subiaco, July 31st 1858', and began:

   My dear Father, Wednesday next is the day fixed for my leaving the
   Convent. I know that you are busy and cannot well spare tile time,
   but as I should not like to leave without some protection, I hope,
   if that day is inconvenient to you, what my mother will be kind
   enough to come for me.

Catherine was leaving the convent, so she asked that her secular clothes be sent upriver by the steamer on the Tuesday evening.

Catherine Frances Heydon was born in 1834 in England, her parents being Jabez King Heydon and Sophia, nee Hayes. Four years later, the family of four--which now included Emily emigrated to Australia and settled in Sydney, where J. K. Heydon, who had worked as a compositor in his uncle's printery in England, did well in various business ventures. Seven years after arriving in Australia, Heydon, who had been raised a Methodist, became a Catholic. This he regarded as a defining event in his life. (2) Catherine, who had been christened in the Church of England, soon followed him into the Catholic Church. For three years J. K. Heydon was the proprietor and editor of the Catholic paper, the Freeman's Journal, where he made a name for himself by his vigorous criticism of Archbishop Polding's administration. Shortly before Catherine left Subiaco, the bishops of Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, with J. K. Heydon in mind, retaliated by warning the laity against interfering in Church affairs.

There were nine Heydon children, of whom Catherine was the eldest. Because only three of their seven children born in Sydney survived beyond childhood, the Heydons moved, in 1854, from Sydney to the healthier airs of Ermington on the Parramatta River. The home influence on Catherine's development cannot be overstated: it was a loving home where the Catholic religion was all-important, where books were read, the events of the day discussed and, importantly for posterity, where the children were expected to write home whenever they were absent.

Catherine and her sister Emily went it may have been in 1852--to the school and the finishing-school at Subiaco. This convent, which had been founded by two nuns from England in 1849, began operating as a school in 1851. Catherine stayed on there and entered the Benedictines. When she left the convent in 1858, she was in a state of anxiety, caused both by her struggle to determine if she had a genuine calling to the religious life, as well as by her embarrassment at being in a Benedictine monastery while her father was in dispute with the Benedictine Archbishop.

Having left Subiaco, Catherine applied, in the same year, to become a school teacher in the National system. This system, which began under the Board of National Education in 1848, would evolve into the state education system that operates in New South Wales today. The Military Hospital was converted into the Fort Street Model School, and teaching commenced there in 1850. William Wilkins, an outstanding young headmaster in England, was invited out to undertake a similar role at Fort Street. He did so in 1851, and soon progressed to higher offices, becoming the leading figure in the field of education for many years. Catherine Heydon's first appointment was in 1859 to the Fort Street Model School, where she would remain for four years and undergo two severe ordeals.

1859 to 1860: Principal Female Teacher at Fort Street

From the time Catherine joined the National system, she impressed William Wilkins, who was now Inspector and Superintendent, with her ability. In her first year she was promoted to the position of first assistant--she was actually the principal female teacher. In her second year Wilkins said she was good enough to be the headmistress. There had been no headmistress for two years, because there had been no one with sufficient talent. The Girls' Department therefore was under the control of a master named William McIntyre.

Catherine's mettle was demonstrated in 1860 when two school girls stole four shillings and three pence from her room, as well as pencils and indiarubber. Following the interrogation of the children by Hams (the headmaster), McIntyre and Catherine, the penalties suggested by Catherine were adopted. Two of these were that she give the children 'a flogging' and that their parents be requested to send nothing more than a piece of bread for their lunch each day during the next two weeks. It is a pity that the headmaster did not describe the nature of the flogging) lie did, however, note, almost with a sense of horror, that, although Miss Heydon pointed out to them the enormity of their offence, they exhibited no signs of compunction)

As Catherine's reputation grew, William McIntyre came to look on her, I believe, as a threat to his own position in the school. He then made several erroneous accusations against her in an attempt to save his position. Fortunately for her, Wilkins and the headmaster of Fort Street, both of whom ranked above McIntyre, were on her side. We now come to Catherine's first ordeal at Fort Street. She will win this case. Only a small sampling of the arguments is given here.

First, McIntyre accused Catherine of not running the needlework class properly. Wilkins, in her defence, repeated what he had told McIntyre earlier m the year: 'Miss Heydon is supreme in that department and a male teacher cannot interfere with propriety'. (5) He also remarked on Catherine's ability in the art of needlework.

Next, McIntyre acccused Catherine of being sometimes late for school without reporting the matter to him. The headmaster wrote: 'I am satisfied that Miss Heydon's lateness was caused in each case by circumstances beyond her control, and also that she would have mentioned the matter to Mr McIntyre but for the knowledge that he had brought unfounded allegations against her on the subject of needlework.' (6)

Thirdly, McIntyre accused her of neglecting the French class. Catherine's reply was, in summary: It is well known that the French class is a private venture, one that I took over from the previous teacher. The French class is not even on the school curriculum, and it takes place outside school hours. Her next remark was withering: 'I was responsible to [no-one], certainly not to Mr McIntyre, who is quite unacquainted with the language'. (7)

McIntyre had to be desperate to make these baseless accusations. At last. however, a serious incident did occur which led him to think that he had Catherine trapped. It happened this way. McIntyre said that he went to Catherine's class one day and, while there, gave certain instructions to Catherine's assistant. When he approached Catherine, she said to him, 'Don't speak to me', and stormed from the room; or, as he put it, 'I was left standing alone'. (8) He charged Catherine with behaving towards him in an insolent manner.

The incident had certainly occurred. However. Catherine's version of it was different. She said McIntyre went to her room, where he gave some instructions to her assistant. What angered Catherine was that his instructions were a reversal of the very instructions she had just given to the assistant. Catherine tried in vain to tell McIntyre that the assistant was acting under her instructions. McIntyre ignored her and peremptorily ordered the assistant to do as he said.

Catherine told Wilkins that McIntyre should have shown more respect for her senior position in the school; he should have asked for her reasons. She then described how he had behaved towards her during the year:

   He has taken care that every moment of my day shall be fully
   occupied in the manner prescribed by him ... He watches me as he
   does few others. Ever since he has been in the school t have felt
   myself a particular object of his surveillance. (9)

Wilkins supported Catherine. Having become aware, earlier in the year, that McIntyre's manner was very confrontational, Wilkins advised him then that, whenever he had to approach a teacher about a particular issue, he must, before he took any action, first enquire for the reason behind the teacher's actions.

Catherine still had to explain to Wilkins why she had spoken angrily to McIntyre and stormed from his presence. There was vitriol in her explanation:

   I acknowledge that, provoked beyond endurance by the events of the
   morning, I did so far forget my own self respect as to give
   expression to the bitter and contemptuous feelings with which Mr
   McIntyre's conduct had inspired me. I regretted it afterwards for
   many reasons. (10)

I believe McIntyre used his authority improperly. Insecure as to his own position, he was rude and angry towards Catherine. His false accusations and constant surveillance of her amounted to abuse.

It was now the end of the year, and time for new appointments. William McIntyre was posted to the north of the colony. Catherine was appointed headmistress of the Girls' Department of the Fort Street Model School. (11) In the episode with McIntyre Catherine revealed herself as a resolute woman. Also noteworthy is her superb control of English. She could write with power and intensity, and come to the point with a few well chosen words.

1861 to 1862: Headmistress

Catherine was headmistress of Fort Street for the next two years, but she and her department were still under the control of the headmaster. Everything went successfully for eighteen months. The situation changed with the arrival of a new headmaster, Mr James Webber Allpass. Ten weeks alter his arrival, the five female pupil-teachers came to Catherine to complain about his behaviour. Pupil-teachers may be likened to apprentices. Aged in their teens, they received a low salary, but were compensated by receiving lessons outside school hours.

The female teachers complained, in general, that the headmaster's behaviour was indecent and improper. Catherine agreed with them, and informed William Wilkins, who in turn ordered all the pupil-teachers, male and female, to submit written statements. Catherine's second ordeal at Fort Street was about to begin. It was more serious than the first, and was of a delicate and sensitive nature. This time Catherine will lose the case.

The male pupil-teachers had no problem with the headmaster. In essence, the case revolved around the fact that Catherine considered he had behaved improperly in the presence of the young women. Once again I can only give the bare essentials of the story. To begin with I have summarised the statements of the female pupil-teachers under seven headings: (12)

Firstly, the headmaster failed on many occasions to give them the lessons they were entitled to as part of their remuneration. And the lessons he gave were full of anecdotes, most of which had no connection with the lesson. As this accusation related to internal school matters it should have been a simple matter for any headmaster to give a satisfactory explanation. And in fact the Board did accept Allpass's explanation. We can pass on to the other accusations they were of a different complexion.

Two of the female pupil-teachers complained at being asked by the headmaster, when they were late for school, if they were 'unwell'. (13) Webster's Dictionary describes 'unwell', in its secondary meaning, as being indisposed due to menstruation.

On another day the headmaster had a bottle of spirits by him. He asked one female pupil-teacher to have a drop, another to smell the bottle.

Fourthly, the headmaster's language was not the language that a gentleman would use in the presence of females. For example, he used the word 'rump' publicly. Furthermore, the pupil-teachers objected to his use of the word 'fat'--presumably they considered it was bad manners to refer to a person's size. On one occasion Allpass described a trainee teacher as 'fat all round', and, to make matters worse, he used gestures to describe what he meant. On another occasion, a female pupil-teacher was reading aloud the life of Queen Mary. When she came to the part describing how Queen Mary became fat at the end of her life, she was unable to say the words, the Queen 'became fat'. Allpass said that, if she was afraid to read those words, he would do so. When he came to the word 'fat', he paused a few seconds and then shouted 'fat' as loudly as he could, and stamped his foot. (14)

Again, when speaking with the pupil-teachers, he ridiculed the trainee teachers' efforts at teaching. These were adults who were being trained as teachers.

While reminiscing about his exploits in his own young days, he winked at the male teachers, saying, 'I know what you are laughing at'. (15)

Finally, the female pupil-teachers stated that the headmaster had admitted to them that he was of a jocular disposition. They may have said this out of fairness to Allpass. It is difficult to know if they meant it as an accusation. It is possible, of course, that they were making the point that they did not enjoy the extremes to which his jocular conduct led him.

Whatever one thinks of those accusations in 2003, it is clear that, in 1862, the female pupil-teachers considered that the headmaster had infringed the accepted code of conduct.

Catherine agreed with them. No doubt she exercised an important influence on their thinking. Catherine said it was humiliating for any respectable person to have to associate with the headmaster and that she herself had heard him speak to the girls of Fort Street as no gentleman would have done. Unfortunately, Catherine then made an accusation against him that could not be sustained. She reported an incident that had occurred in his previous school, an incident that she knew from hearsay only. Her account of the incident was incorrect, a fact that would not have helped her case. (16)

Allpass was shown the accusations and given the chance to reply to them. This he did most vehemently, at the same time making a counter-attack on Catherine and some of the pupil-teachers. (17) He said that the headmistress was behind the whole affair. He protested that he could not be answerable for the impure thoughts of these girls. Regarding his use of the word 'unwell', he declared, 'on my honour, l meant "indisposed", and nothing more'. To back up this claim, he said that a study of his journal would show that he frequently used the word to describe his own indispositions.

The Board members ruled in favour of the headmaster. (18) They read the statements of the pupil-teachers with pain, and stated that, not only were the accusations exaggerated or even invented, but such exaggerations were detrimental to good order in any establishment. When they considered Allpass's use of the word 'unwell', they agreed with him that he had not intended to offend against delicacy. Rather, they were much grieved that the headmistress should have adopted her 'misinterpretation'. The Board considered that the other charges were exaggerated and not serious. The worst the headmaster could be charged with, said the Board, was 'occasional flippancy of speech', and he should guard against this in future. The Board thought that the conduct of the accusers was more deserving of censure.

Then the attitude of the Board softened as it looked to the future. A consideration of the long and creditable career of the headmistress in the Board's service led the Board to hope that she would, in future, support the authority of the headmaster, and that he would cooperate with her in promoting harmony and good order among all the teachers.

This conciliatory language did not placate Catherine at all. Having said at the outset that no respectable person should have to associate with the headmaster, she was true to her word. She resigned from her position at Fort Street.

It seems to me that the Board was too harsh in its judgement of Catherine and the female pupil-teachers, and too lenient towards the headmaster. Allpass had received a slap on the wrist, Catherine a severe reprimand. Even allowing for some exaggeration by the pupil-teachers, there do seem to have been grounds for complaint in some of the accusations at least. The following questions suggested themselves to me as being helpful in getting to the truth of the matter: Were Catherine and the teachers justified in making their accusations? Was the headmaster guilty of nothing more than flippancy, or was his behaviour improper? To answer those questions, however, you would need to know what was socially acceptable or not at the time.

I was fortunate that another way of getting at the truth presented itself, when, during my research, I came across two documents that suggested flaws in Allpass's character. They refer to complaints that two other headmasters made against him. in the first document, the headmaster of Balmain charged him with reciting a parody upon a prayer. In other words, Allpass had insulted religion. He was compelled to apologise. (19) The second document shows that, about six months later, Allpass publicly insulted the headmaster of Paddington, who was not present at the time. When the latter found out, he demanded an apology. Allpass gave him a private apology to begin with, but later, despite his protests, was forced to make a public apology. (20)

I would suggest that, once it is established that Allpass had acted in an ungentlemanly manner towards his peers, a different light is cast both on his character and on the complaints made against him by the female pupil-teachers. You can argue that in all probability there was merit in their complaints and therefore Catherine and the pupil-teachers did not deserve the censure they had received. In fairness to the members of the Board, it must be stated that, when they made their ruling, they were probably unaware of the incident contained in the first document, and they were certainly unaware of the incident referred to in the second, because it did not occur until six months later.

I suggest that, when the new headmaster came to Fort Street, Catherine quickly assessed him as being a vulgar person. And because she was not one to sit back and ignore a problem, she did what she was entitled to do she took the matter to the proper authorities. It should be pointed out that the National system was in its early stages and was proving very popular, the number of its schools was increasing rapidly, and therefore some problems were only to be expected.

Catherine was always honest. Her letters contain no suggestion that she was the sort of person who would tamper with the truth or be reckless with a person's reputation. Catherine made a very brave stand in supporting the young teachers, and having done so, she needed courage to accept the consequences.

1863 to 1864: Catherine's school

Although Catherine had resigned from Fort Street, she did not lose in the long term. She began her own private school in central Sydney. It proved very successful. She charged high fees and made a handsome profit. In other words, despite her stand against the headmaster in 1862, or perhaps because of it, she was held in high regard.

Money, however, was the last thing on her mind. As a highly motivated Catholic Catherine was searching for spiritual perfection and began to think of entering the convent again. This time she was inclined to join an unenclosed religious congregation, one with a school or hospital attached to it; and she would like a congregation where the Divine Office was recited. (21) In April of 1864 she expressed such thoughts to Father Ambrosoli, the chaplain of Subiaco. Ambrosoli then wrote to his superior in Milan to ask him about suitable convents, and explained that Catherine was regarded as 'the best female teacher in the colony'. (22) In August Catherine, who was now quite determined on her course of action, told Ambrosoli that she believed she would save her soul, not if she remained in the world, but only if she entered the convent. She admitted, however, that she would find it difficult to give up her material comforts. (23)

Catherine also received help from her brother, George, who, nine years her junior, was in Ireland at the novitiate of the Marist Fathers. He made enquiries on her behalf and suggested she try the Society of the Sacred Heart. Catherine sold her school at the end of 1864 and, early in 1865, sailed for England in the Walter Hood, hoping to look at convents there and on the continent before making her decision.

1865-1868: Roehampton, Strasbourg, St Vincent's

Two weeks into the voyage Catherine realised she was making a big mistake. She no longer wanted to be a nun and so arrived in London in a miserable state. There she was met by Father Rocher, a Marist Father, who knew the Heydons well. He had spent many years at Villa Maria in Hunters Hill--and had even used the Heydons' home as a centre for Sunday Mass, while their parish church at Ryde was being built. He helped to calm Catherine.

Catherine spent a miserable fortnight in London. Hoping to find some relief for her tortured soul, she visited the Benedictine nuns at Princethorpe Priory in Warwickshire. Three of them, who had spent five years at Subiaco on loan, knew Catherine well. They assured her that she would never make a nun and advised her to forget all about the idea. After that, her misery began to lift and she returned to London. She thought of returning to Sydney immediately. However the nuns had suggested she stay for a while, do some teaching on the continent and improve her French. As she saw the sights of London her morale began to improve.

Catherine was also corresponding with her brother George in Ireland. She decided, despite her doubts, to follow his suggestion and visit the Convent of the Society of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton in Surrey. This institute had made its first English foundation at Berrymead, Acton in 1842, before moving to Roehampton, which was then outside London, in 1850. There Catherine made a retreat 'under the guidance of a very experienced Jesuit' and decided to enter that convent after all but on a trial basis for a period of three months. (24) It was a disastrous experiment. Soon after entering Roehampton, she wrote to Monsignor Marinoni (Ambrosoli's superior) in Milan about her problems. Catherine bared her soul to Marinoni in a beautiful piece of self-analysis:

   My difficulties in the religious life are very great, and I can
   scarcely see nay way through them. I am by nature quite unfitted for
   the common life. I have [been] used to the society of grave thinking
   persons, and to all other, I prefer absolute solitude. My tastes in
   many things are perhaps scarcely feminine. For me to
   become a child, is neither easy nor pleasant to nature. (25)

It might well be asked, why did she enter the convent in the first place? The superior and mistress of novices was Mother Marcella Goold. Catherine informed her of her difficulties. She also discussed her plight with Thomas Grant, the Bishop of Southwark, and Father Henry Coleridge SJ, the editor of the Month. She continued on her trial at Roehampton in a wretched state of mind.

She had high praise for the spirituality of the Society of the Sacred Heart. There she acquired the knowledge 'of the mystery of our Blessed Lord's Humanity as my salvation and the mystery itself as the keystone to Christianity'. (26) Catherine's profession of faith in the mystery of the Incarnation, so succinct and profound, would seem to be the fruit of deep reflection. The Jesuit influence at Roehampton was to her liking.

Her most serious concern was the method of teaching used at Roehampton. She thought it backward, in that it did not cultivate the children's judgment; the children were not trained to think. It hurt Catherine to have to follow this method. Clearly Roehampton was not the place for her. Mother Goold saw how unhappy she was and advised her to give up the trial--which led to another problem. Where could she go? She was alone in England with very little money.

The Benedictines of Princethorpe came to her rescue again by inviting her to stay with them at St Mary's Priory for as long as she wanted. The Priory had been built by French nuns who fled from France during the Revolution and established Princethorpe in 1835. Catherine arrived there towards the end of 1865.

She was in a fragile state of mind when she arrived: 'A dreadful melancholy has fallen upon me, such as I have never known since I was at Subiaco, a sadness mixed with horror, which would in a short time deprive me of my reason or my faith.' (27) Her distress was caused by a number of factors: her inability to find a suitable convent; her uncertainty about the future; and by a sense of failure she had travelled so far from Australia for so little. It would be a long time before she was well enough to leave Princethorpe.

During her stay there, she analysed where her plans had gone wrong and planned for the future. On the positive side, she admired the spirituality of the Society of the Sacred Heart, and the fact that there was a Jesuit influence to it. She wondered if there was another institute with similar features. There is no doubt that Catherine still wanted to be a nun. Her suitability is another question. She corresponded with her brother George and they exchanged ideas about various religious institutes. Finally she read about a newly formed institute, the Society of Mary Reparatrix (Marie-Reparatrice), which had been established at Strasbourg in 1857. It engaged in Eucharistic adoration and reparation, in giving retreats for women, in giving religious instruction to children and in works for the poor. The institute also worked in India. And it had a strong Jesuit influence. This was the congregation for her.

After spending fore months with the Benedictines of Princethorpe, Catherine felt well enough to move on. In April of 1866 she travelled to Paris where she made a retreat at the head house of the Society of Mary Reparatrix, and then, having decided to enter that congregation, departed for the novitiate at Strasbourg.

Her family reacted to the news in different ways. Whereas George did not think she would remain in the institute, her father was more circumspect: 'And the result [of all her searching] is, as she says, that now we have no more anxiety about her in that order she will live and die'. (28) J. K. Heydon was careful to add the qualifying 'as she says'. We have no details of Catherine's stay with 'Mary Reparatrix'--it was brief nor of her departure. What we can be sure of is that, just a few weeks alter entering, she would have been shocked by some unexpected news. Her brother George, having become ill, was sent by his superior to London to recuperate. There his illness was diagnosed as typhoid and he died soon afterwards. Catherine had come to depend on him, and she would have been broken-hearted. She returned to Sydney before the end of the year.

In 1867 Catherine opened a new school. This time the venture was unsuccessful, because the school was too far away from town, being situated in Liverpool Street, near the gaol at Darlinghurst. Her father wrote: 'She is down in the dumps ... In her chagrin she talks of giving up school altogether; but of course that is all talk.' (29) He was wrong. Catherine would soon give up school altogether and enter, what was for her, a new world. But before then, there was the matter of her fourth convent.

The source this time is Archbishop Polding. Writing to Abbot Gregory, Polding said: 'Jenny Makinson had gone to the French Sisters of Villa Maria--Cath. Heydon to St. Vincent's'. (30) In April of 1868 Catherine had entered the Sisters of Charity they conducted St Vincent's Hospital as well as a school (St Vincent's College, Potts Point today). A fortnight alter arriving there, Catherine received a visit from Father Joly, a Marist Father, who was taken aback when she enumerated the many reasons why she ought to leave. (31) We have no details of her departure.

If ever a woman knew disappointment it was Catherine Heydon. Ten years had elapsed since she left Subiaco in a state of anxiety. At Fort Street she experienced success, as well as two severe ordeals. Her own private school did not satisfy her. After arriving in England in distress, all her plans had come to nothing. In her last letter to George before he died, she had written: 'Don't give me up in despair, dear George, and think i am hopelessly dreamy ... God only knows I wish to be taught'. (32) She was a woman of faith and imagination prepared to follow her dreams--which so far had brought her failure. But her fortunes were about to change.

Springtime, 1868: Carcoar

In the spring of 1868, a letter from Catherine Heydon reached her parents. It was full of excitement and hope. The letter came from Carcoar, a town two hundred and fifty kilometres from Sydney, and beyond Bathurst. Catherine began:

   My dear Mother, I have reached my new home all right, and I am
   delighted to tell you that I like it very much. I think I am settled
   here as long as there is a child to be educated, until they are old
   enough to be sent away. (33)

She had undertaken the position of governess at the country property of Nathaniel Connolly, a widower with seven surviving children. His wife Sarah, nee Boland, had died in February. Nathaniel was now aged thirty-nine, and Irish-born. Catherine was thirty-three.

With an unnamed companion she had taken the train from Sydney to the end of the railway line at Mount Victoria. Here she boarded the coach for an arduous nine hours journey to Bathurst, arriving there at night. The next day she rested and visited the Sisters of Mercy. On the following day Nathaniel Connolly drove them out to Werajel, his sheep property at Carcoar, a journey that took eight hours.

Catherine felt this was the place for her:

   [Mr. Connolly] is as kind as can be, and the children are good,
   amiable little things, the two little boys especially are little
   darlings. I feel quite at home already, and you need not expect to
   see me for a long time.

In Catherine's next remarks there is a new realistic attitude. Perhaps the earthiness of the Australian countryside was already seeping into her. As she concluded this, her first letter from Carcoar, she knew that she was on solid ground at last:

   The people are all after your own heart, sensible and practical.
   There is nothing visionary here. Mr. Connolly is wrapt up in his
   children and very anxious for their improvement. I shall do the
   best I can for them, and I think they will pay for the trouble.
   With love to my dear Father, the boys and Emily, I am, my dear
   Mother, Your affectionate daughter, Catherine Heydon.

Here the article must end. However, the reader can rest assured that Catherine's hopes were not dashed this time, but were to be fulfilled in many beautiful ways. But that story, the story of the courtship and marriage of Nathaniel Connolly and Catherine Heydon, must wait. They would have four children, the most famous of whom, Richard, became a Benedictine monk of Downside Abbey and a patristic scholar. He is said to be the only Australian in the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. The boys referred to at the end of Catherine's letter were her brothers, Charles and Louis. Her sister, Emily, would soon enter the Sisters of Charity.

Catherine Heydon deserves to be known. Her father and her brothers, Charles and Louis, are the subjects of articles, in which she receives one mention, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. William Wilkins considered that she was the most talented female teacher to have taught at Fort Street up to that time, good enough, in fact, to be headmistress. His hope that she would exercise a good influence on the younger teachers had an unexpected result--she taught them to take no nonsense from anyone, including the headmaster. Not finding satisfaction in the success and financial rewards she gained from teaching, she renounced them, and then, answering the call of religion, courageously set forth to investigate convents in England and on the continent, only to find failure, suffering and anxiety. At Roehampton, almost in despair, she cried, I 'offered myself to our Lord to live here or anywhere else He chooses, if only He would let me know His will'. (34) She could never have dreamt, following that act of abandonment, that she would, in three years time, be the governess at Werajel; and that, ten weeks after taking up the position, she would be telling her mother, 'The anticipations which Emily and I indulged in have been realised. I have given my promise to marry Mr Connolly'. (35)

Catherine's story is that of an intelligent and determined woman whose tenacious pursuit of a life that had worth and meaning for her led her along unusual and fascinating paths. Her career path is remarkable by any standard. Her story is womanly, Catholic and Australian. The teaching skills she gained at Fort Street and the spirituality she absorbed in four religious houses, far from being wasted, would find their purpose in the years ahead, when she would transform Werajel into her home, a unique school and a holy place. (36)

(1) Catherine Heydon to J. K. Heydon, 31 July 1858, from the author's private collection (GFCC).

(2) 'What a glorious thing for all of us that we arc Catholics.' J. K. Heydon to his son, Louis, 16 January 1866, Marist Fathers Archives, Hunters Hill, (MFA).

(3) See Clifford Turney, William Wilkins, His Life and Work (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1992) 120, in which Wilkins instructed the inspectors to observe whether a teacher ruled chiefly by moral influence or by corporal punishment. The children's theft was undoubtedly outside the normal course of events.

(4) SRNSW: BNE, CGS 613, [1/408 pp.452-454], reel 4015, Harris to Wilkins, 30 July 1860. I acknowledge the State Records Authority of NSW as the source of this material about Catherine Heydon at Fort Street.

(5) ibid., [1/410 p.446], reel 4016, Wilkins to Wills, 6 November 1860.

(6) ibid., [1/410 p.465], reel 4016, Harris to Wilkins, I December 1860.

(7) ibid., [1/410 p.467], reel 4016, C. H. to Wilkins, 1 December 1860.

(8) ibid., [1/410 pp.462-463], reel 4016, McIntyre to Wilkins, 10 November 1860.

(9) ibid., [1/410 p.468], reel 4016, C. H. to Wilkins, 1 December 1860.

(10) ibid., [1/410 p.463], reel 4016, C. H. to Wilkins, 3 December 1860.

(11) ibid., [1/411 p.61], reel 4016, Wilkins to Wills, 12 January 1861, shows the headmistress' salary in 1861. Then [1/412 p. 170], reel 4017, Harris to Wills, 1 May 1861, shows Catherine receiving that amount. It indicates she was headmistress (or acting headmistress) in 1861.

(12) ibid. [1/422 pp.76-85], reel 4023, Statements of pupil-teachers, 3-5 November 1862.

(13) ibid. [1/422 p.79] reel 4023.

(14) ibid. [1/422 p.83] reel 4023.

(15) ibid. [1/422 p.78] reel 4023.

(16) ibid. [1/422 p.75], reel 4023, CH to Wilkins, 3 November 1862.

(17) ibid. [1/422 pp.89-94], reel 4023, Allpass to Wilkins, 5 November 1862.

(18) ibid. [1/422 p. 104], reel 4023, Board's finding (a rough draft), undated.

(19) ibid. [1/420 pp.70-71], reel 4022, Allpass to Wills, 8 January 1863.

(20) ibid. [1/422 p.325], reel 4023, Allpass to the Board, 21 August 1863.

(21) CH to Ambrosoli, 10 April 1864, Archives of Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere, Rome (PIME).

(22) Ambrosoli to Marinoni, 20 April 1864, PIME. I am indebted to Bishop Bede Heather for translating Ambrosoli's letters from the Italian.

(23) CH to Ambrosoli, 17 August 1864, PIME.

(24) CH to Marinoni, 13 August 1865, PIME.

(25) CH to Marinoni, early September 1865, PIME.

(26) CH to George Heydon, 15 December 1865, GFCC.

(27) ibid.,

(28) J. K. Heydon to Louis Heydon, 24 June 1866, MFA.

(29) J. K. Heydon. to Louis Heydon, 6 September 1867, MFA.

(30) Polding to Gregory, 19 May 1868, in Xavier Compton sgs and others (eds), The Letters of John Bede Polding OSB, vol. 2, Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Sydney, 1998.

(31) Claude-Marie Joly to Francois Yardin, 18 May 1868, MFA.

(32) CH to George Heydon, 9 March 1866, GFCC.

(33) CH to Sophia Heydon, 3 September 1866, GFCC.

(34) CH to George Heydon, 30 November 1865, GFCC.

(35) CH to Sophia Heydon, 12 November 1868, GFCC.

(36) I acknowledge the late Marie Gregory Forster osb who encouraged me in my research, followed it with interest and then, having read the letters of Catherine Heydon (Connolly), declared that she had to be the outstanding female student in the history of Subiaco.

Reverend George Connolly is the parish priest of St Anthony's, Clovelly. He is pursuing Ian interest in the three relatively unknown children of J.K. Heydon: Catherine Connolly (the author's great-grandmother), Emily Heydon rsc, and George Heydon.