St Mary's is an independent Catholic College for girls owned by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and conducted by a Board of Directors. It was founded as a parish school in 1873 by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan under the guidance and direction of Archbishop Bede Polding, Australia 's first bishop.

Timeline…From Past to Present

1857    The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict, initially known as the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, was founded in Sydney by the first Archbishop of Sydney, John Bede Polding, OSB, on February 2, 1857. On that day the first five women to join the Congregation were gathered together in the House of the Good Shepherd, a refuge in Pitt Street, Sydney, and placed under the direction of Mother Scholastica Gibbons, a Sister of Charity. This was the first Australian congregation for religious women.

1865    Two of the Sisters accompanied Dr Polding to the South Coast  and visited Catholic schools at Charcoal and Bulli.

1868    When Polding made his visitation of the Shoalhaven District, he was accompanied by two Sisters of the Good Samaritan who prepared children for the sacraments in readiness for Polding’s visit. On this occasion they went to Kiama via Wollongong, and visited Gerringong, Nowra, Milton, Ulladulla and many other small schools on the South Coast.

1873    At the invitation of Dean Flanagan and the request of Archbishop Polding, Sisters travelled to Wollongong, to establish a foundation, the first permanent country foundation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. They were Angela Carroll, Casimir Callachor, Augustine Donovan, Philomena Maloney and de Sales Maloney. They came by sea and were accompanied by Mother Scholastica Gibbons and Mother Agnes Hart. Their first convent was the former Royal Marine Hotel on Harbour Street, acquired       by the Catholic Church in 1872 for 1,000 pounds. It was given the title, “St Mary, Star of the Sea”. Their first Superior was Mother Angela Carroll.

A week after their arrival, the Sisters began to teach in the parochial school in the grounds of St Francis Xavier’s Church where a denominational school had been set up under a lay Principal in 1838. After some time it was thought that, as the schoolroom was some distance from the convent, it would be wise to move it to the convent grounds for the sake of supervision of the unruly children during the luncheon hour; and this move was completed later in that year, 1873.

1875    The Sisters opened a “superior boarding school and day high school”. There were 24 students, 14 of them boarders. Sister M Genevieve Ennis was in charge while Sister M Anne Eyre presided over the Music and Needlework Departments.

1886    A two-storey building was erected on the north-eastern side of the Convent. The ground floor provided schoolrooms. Part of the upper floor was fitted out as a chapel, and the other half provided boarding accommodation. The Freeman’s Journal of 11 September reported that the chapel “ ...…. is to be blessed next Sunday afternoon by Cardinal Moran”. This building subsequently became known as “The Gables”. The Freeman’s Journal also reported that “the institution now comprises six Sisters, four governesses and forty-nine boarders, ranging from tender years to the extreme of teens …”.

1897    The Sisters acquired an additional two acres of land, adjacent to the convent and fronting Harbour Street. In later years tennis courts were developed on this site.

1929-30   The old hotel, which had been the Sisters’ convent since their arrival in 1873, was demolished in the 1920s. The foundation stone of a new convent, including a chapel, to be built on the northern side of the 1886 building was laid on 23 June 1929, and it was opened on 23 February 1930. When the new chapel was opened, the chapel in the 1886 building was renovated for use as a boarders’ dormitory.

1940-41   An L-shaped single-storey extension was built adjoining the 1886 building, along the Harbour Street frontage, partly on the site of the old hotel, the Sisters’ first convent. The extensions provided music rooms, a commercial college and four classrooms. A room at the end of this extension was later converted to a Domestic Science Room.

No additional classrooms became available until 1956.

1942    In 1942 the enrolments at St Mary’s were 150. At this stage there were still primary classes attached to the College until 1944, when the primary school students enrolled at the parish school of St Francis Xavier.

1953    A building programme was launched for the erection of a new wing, to house three classrooms, a science laboratory and demonstration room, Principal’s office, assembly hall and toilet block, to coincide with the proclamation of the Marian Year in 1954. The wing was named the “Marian Wing” and was opened on 15 December 1955.

1953    The Corkland flats, at the corner of Harbour and Hinton Streets, were purchased.

1958    The room above the courtyard toilets in the L-shaped building erected in 1940-41 was refurbished as a Home Science Room. Previously it was the Kindergarten Room.

1959-60   Extensions to the Marian Wing, comprising three classrooms and a canteen, were built at the end of the assembly hall.

1960    The total enrolment at St Mary’s was 457, including 30 to 40 boarders.

1963-64   A new wing, providing another science laboratory with preparation rooms, a large music auditorium, four classrooms, a small library and staff room, and linked to the Marian Wing, was built with funds received under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme for science facilities, a large donation from Bishop McCabe, subsidies from parishes and a bank loan. It was opened on 22 March 1964, and was named the “McCabe Wing”.

1967    In November 1967 extensions to the McCabe Wing were opened. They consisted of a third floor added to the McCabe Wing, providing extra classrooms and a verandah containing study carrels for senior students, and three storeys in an adjoining building which added another science laboratory and two needlework rooms.

1968    In September 1968 there were 680 students, including 36 boarders.

1970     By 1970 enrolments had exceeded 770. Henceforth boarders were taken on a week-day basis only.

1970-71   With the help of Commonwealth grants under the schemes to fund science facilities and libraries, a building was erected on the corner of Market and Hector Streets. It provided a large library and audio-visual room, two science laboratories and a small office and administration area under the library. A senior classroom block was built on the corner of Harbour and Market Streets. This also included a shelter area, to act temporarily as a gymnasium, which could provide two extra rooms when necessary, and a small staff room. These facilities were opened on 25 October 1971 by the Papal Delegate, Archbishop Gino Paro, and were named the “Paul VI Wing”, to honour the Papal visit to Sydney that year.

1973    The boarding facilities were closed, but the dormitory was retained for use by visiting Sisters.

1976    The shelter area under a section of Paul VI Wing was converted to classrooms.

1977-78   The area under the library in the Paul VI Wing was closed in to provide offices for the administration.

1981    Changes were made to the Marian Wing Hall: the gallery was removed.

1982    The Corkland flats, at the corner of Harbour and Hinton Streets, were acquired from the Good Samaritan Trustees for use by the College.

1983    A new science room for junior students was provided in the McCabe Wing, thanks to work of the Parents and Friends Association.

1984    The three-storey northern extension to the McCabe Wing was built. It provided two Home Science (Food Technology) rooms on the ground floor, two Textile and Design areas on the middle floor and three classrooms on the top floor.

1984    The original Commercial area in the L-shaped building was converted to the Art Centre.

            Music gained a room big enough to cope with the new subject, “Dance”. The renovation of the Common Room and adjacent wing meant that Photography could be included in the curriculum, and Art, always happy to expand, occupied the three remaining rooms of the original St. Mary’s. This had always been the heart of St Mary’s since the earliest days. As Sister Rita Hayes says, “perhaps this partly accounted for the constant stream of creativity that daily greeted our eyes!”

1985    Conversion of the “Old Gym” area in the L-shaped building into the new Art complex was completed.

1988    The administration driveway in the Paul VI Wing was closed in and the administration area was enlarged and renovated. Greening of the area facing Harbour Street was carried out.

1991    During 1991 the top floor of “The Gables” was completely refurbished and converted to an Independent Learning Centre, and this commenced operation in semester 2. The entry foyer and stairwell were restored, and the boarders’ recreation area became the RE resource centre.

1991-93   In view of the need to build a multi-purpose hall and gymnasium, as well as additional classrooms, the College began proceedings in 1987 to regain a section of Hector Street. The application was eventually approved by Wollongong Council in 1991. Planning ensued to move the tennis courts to that area and to build the multi-purpose hall on the tennis courts site.

            New sports courts were constructed on part of the regained portion of Hector Street; and the part adjacent to Market Street was converted into a car park. On September 18, 1992, a short ceremony was held to mark the inauguration of the new courts, and the occasion was marked by the burying of a time capsule, to be opened in 2092.

            The construction of the multi-purpose hall was completed in 1993. It was officially blessed, named the “Sister Gabrielle Nichols Memorial Hall” and opened on August 8, 1993.This was a highlight of the celebrations marking the 120th anniversary of the establishment of the College.

            The original hall became a well used Drama and Dance area.

1993    No. 1 Hinton Street was acquired, to provide Design & Technology facilities. The purchase of this house and the use of the ground floor of the Corkland flats provided space for Dark Room and IT facilities.

1994    Stage II of the building programme entailed provision of a technology centre beneath the hall and to cater for Design & Technology areas in the “to be renovated” old wing of the College. The area under the hall was enclosed in 1994, to provide four classrooms, two computer rooms, a careers area, staff room and senior study area.

1997    The Corkland flats were renovated and became the new convent for the Sisters.

1997    “Hinton House”, No. 1 Hinton Street, was set up with electrical and mechanical equipment, plus computers, to make it a centre for Design & Technology and Technical Drawing.

            The “greening” of the senior courtyard was carried out in 1997: the bitumen courtyard was transformed into a paved, leafy area and renamed “Polding Place”.

1998    A new science preparation area in the Paul VI Wing was completed. It included the latest storage cabinets and fume cupboards, and it took the College to the forefront of safe science education.

            In 1998, attention was given to the external aesthetics of Hinton House. In Term 1 a small garden was established; and in Term 3 work began on a small vegetable patch in the rear of the yard.

            Also in 1998, No. 3 Hinton Street was acquired for the College to prevent the encroachment of developers and to be available for future expansion needs of the College.

1999-2000   An application to convert the former convent into the administration building for the College was lodged with Wollongong Council on 11 October 1999. It was approved by Council on 19 December. Work commenced during the following week and continued into 2000. Rooms were renovated, new internal fire stairs were installed, toilets were installed. The rooms above the carport were converted into subject co-ordinators’ offices, and walkway accesses linking them to the McCabe Wing at both first and ground floors were constructed. The covered ground floor walkway along the back of the carport was extended to link back with the new Administration southern verandah.

            As the former convent and “The Gables” were heritage-listed buildings, the successful completion involved the assistance of Wollongong Council and its Heritage Department.

            The alterations were blessed by Bishop Wilson on 19 August, 2000.

1999-2000   During late 1999 and early 2000, “The Gables” was renovated. The first floor rooms were converted into staff areas; and the ground floor rooms were converted into a staff area and a staff common room.

2000 In 2000 the official enrolment was 1000.

2000    Early in 2000 the administration was moved from Paul VI Wing into the renovated convent, and the area it had occupied in Paul VI Wing was converted into two classrooms and the Uniform Shop.

            The library also received some extensions and half of the old Staff Room 5 became a new corridor, enabling the library to be expanded to include the old Room 19, the two adjacent small staff rooms and the large foyer area outside old Staff Room 5. Walls between the seminar rooms and the library and between Room 19 and the library were removed. Later in 2000, more changes            took place to improve the lighting and air circulation in the library. The small high windows in the new senior study area were replaced with much larger windows that provided a higher level of natural light and fresh air for the students. Extra ceiling fans were also installed in this part of the library. In addition, the overall comfort level of the library during the summer months was greatly increased by the installation of external retractable shutters over the skylight running almost the length of the library.

2001    Shade sails were erected in the courtyard.

2002    In 2002 what was known as Room 43, but had been a staff room and the previous Independent Learning Centre, was converted to a classroom with new computers for the D&T classes to use in computer-aided drawing (CAD) programs.

            In 2002 the English Department benefited from the new editing studio in Room 39, where classes could be timetabled for film work and students could edit their film productions.

2004    A new workshop, adjacent to the rear of No. 1 Hinton Street, was constructed in 2004, and the old workshop was removed in 2005.

2005-06   No.3 Hinton Street was converted for College use over the 2005/2006 Christmas vacation.

2006-07   The L-shaped building was demolished and the new three-level building constructed.