It’s been over a month since my last post, due to being busy. We had the Grandies for some of the school holidays and since with sickness, which keeps one on one’s toes.
But I’ve reached the magical 10,000 words so I have been doing some writing. I have come to a bit of a standstill as I need to do some more research. I’ve been reading about Bishop O’Reilly who brought the Good Sams to Port Pirie and Bishop Killian who bought the original house in Crystal Brook to open a girls school. He also asked the Provincial of the Good Sams to send more Sisters to Crystal Brook. One of the priests here in Adelaide has researched both these bishops and written about them in a publication available at the Catholic Archives. So another trip to the city for me in the next couple of weeks to check out the bishops. Also Liz Smart from the CB History Group contacted me because she had lost an early photo of the orphanage. I didn’t think she had given me a copy, but looking at my photo file the other day I came across the photo she was looking for. I’ve emailed it to her and hope it is the correct one. Looking at this photo it has some similarities to the orphanage, but some differences to ie the roofline. This has ‘Convent 1930’s’ printed on it in ink and may have been how the house looked in 1930’s. Somewhere I read that there were extensive renovations made to the house especially the roof but I think it was in 1925 before St Catherine’s Girls College opened. So that doesn’t fit. However maybe there were other renovations after 1925 and maybe that was when to roof was changed. So there is plenty more research to be done.
I’m heading off to Peterborough in a couple of weeks for a Humber Club event. While we are there I’ll be asking the locals if they know a couple of the boys who came from there. I hope I find them.
Crystal Brook Orphanage 