Tuesday 12 April 2022

Poor Sisters Of Our Lady...Subiaco (1951).

Poor Sisters Of Our Lady...Subiaco (1951).

This is another wonderful story from Ken Spillman's book 'Tales of a singular city. Subiaco since the 1970's' about the work of the Poor Sisters of Our Lady in Subiaco from 1951 to 1999.

The Poor Sisters of Our Lady established a home which they named 'Marianum' at 14 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco. The home was opened in 1953 and reported in newspapers on Trove...

"A festival will be held on Sunday to mark the opening of the first home in Australia of the Hungarian order of the Poor Sisters of Notre Dame of Kalocsa. A house at 14 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco, will be the new home for 16 Hungarian sisters of the order. They came to this State last year after having worked for 25 years in China. They were forced by the Communists to leave China. They hope soon to open a home for elderly women and later a home for the children of working mothers. The new premises will be opened by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth (Dr. Prendiville) on Sunday at 3 p.m. " (West Australian, 18 June 1953).

This is from Ken Spillman's book 'Tales of a singular city. Subiaco since the 1970's'. No copyright infringement intended. 

"Selfless Sisters. 

In April 1991, four remarkable women departed the City of Subiaco after forty years of service to the community. Hungarian nuns Maria Eichinger, Remingia Kovacs, Kidvina Konig, and Gertrudis Schmidt belonged to the order of the Poor Sisters of Our Lady, and had come to Perth in 1951 at the invitation of Perth's Catholic archbishop. After woring in the dining rooms, sick rooms and laundries of Clontarf and Castledare, they established a convent which they named 'Marianum' at 14 Heytesbury Road, Subiaco. When Marianum opened in December 1952, the nuns' intention was to run a creche and kingdergarten and teach music - but they soon recognised a more pressing need. Catering to the needs of Subiaco's aging population, they converted Marianum to a rest home for more than twenty elderly women. During 1990, Subiaco's Poor Sisters of Our Lady were asked to return to Hungary by their religious superiors. On 26 March 1991, Mayor Helen Passmore present them with a Certificate of Appreciation at a special ceremoney marking Subiaco Day, 1991. Two weeks later , they moraded their aeroplane, and Subiaco was left with on the memory of some extraordinary selfless residents "

The articles and photograph are from Trove, the database at the National Library of Australia. No copyright infringement intended. 

The article is from Ken Spillman's book  'Tales of a singular city. Subiaco since the 1970's'. No copyright infringement intended. 

West Australian, 13 January 1953.

Hungarian nuns who were forced by Communists last year to leave China where they had been teaching and nursing for some years are now happily settled into welfare work in Perth.

Sister Mediatrix is shown yesterday with two children who are temporarily living at a creche the sisters have established in Heytesbury-road, Subiaco. Veronica Tibore (12), (left), and Haenz Adrigan (6), who are having a brief holiday, were taken by the sisters to play in King's Park. Other children are being cared for at the creche while their mothers are in hospital or at work. The care of young children whose mothers are ill will be the main purpose of the home, and the sisters, who are qualified teachers. hope to have a kindergarten established soon. The majority at the creche are Australian children, but there are several Hungarians. 

"Everything had become so difficult for us in China that we were forced to leave." said Sister Mediatrix yesterday. The The sisters were grateful for being able to continue their work in such a "peaceful and happy" country.





Sister Mediatrix is shown yesterday with two children who are temporarily living at a creche the sisters have established in Heytesbury-road, Subiaco. Veronica Tibore (12), (left), and Haenz Adrigan (6), who are having a brief holiday, were taken by the sisters to play in King's Park.


Stories From The Perth Children's Hospital (1930 - 1950).

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