Move FM Australian News

PERTH, Western Australia – Brother JA (Tony) Kelly, the founder of the modern day Trinity College on the Perth foreshore was farewelled on Monday.

Brother Kelly, who died on Friday 12 June, just 3 months prior to his 100th birthday, oversaw the sale of the old Christian Brothers College in St George’s Terrace, Perth, and the birth/rebirth of Trinity College in East Perth.

He spent two terms at the colleges, from 1960 to 1966, and 1978 to 1984.

Around 1984 he offered to help out for one term when a friend who was headmaster at Aranmore Catholic College in Perth was caught short-handed. He completed the term and another fourteen years at the college.

Born in New South Wales in 1920, Kelly was of Irish origin, his father hailing from Tipperary, and his mother from Bathurst in the New South Wales Central West, but whose family was also of Irish background.

Kelly entered the Novitiate at the age of 14. As he joined the teaching force he graduated to become principal of CBC Fremantle.

In 1960 he became headmaster at CBC Perth.

With the Empire Games designated for Perth in 1962, Brother Kelly fielded significant interest from the Perth City Council who wanted the prized site of the college for a new Chevron/Hilton Hotel. As the original college had been built in 1994, it was becoming somewhat run down, although a new science block had just opened in the school grounds.

Nonetheless Brother Kelly saw the potential to get a brand new school with many additional facilities, and significantly more space for sports grounds and for future expansions=. It is understood Kelly negotiated aggressively with Council officials, demanding the council provide land for the new school, and to pay the cost of building it, estimated at 270,000 pounds. Eventually a price for the old college was agreed at 267,000 pounds plus land for the new college. Construction of the new school began under the oversight of Brother Kelly who led the planning and design of what was to become one of the largest schools in Australia. It was built in record time, opening in time for the 1962 year. (Chevron meantime ran into financial doifficulty and the operator Hilton had to wait until the Parmelia Hotel was built on the site of the old Adelphi Hotel, the hotelier of which was Bill Brockwell, whose two sons Maurice and Chris were students at CBC Terrace, and later Trinity College).

The funeral service for the respected and much loved educator and administrator was held at the chapel of Trinity College on Monday morning. Attendance was restricted due to the Covid-19 coronavirus, but the Mass was live streamed. A memorial Mass is expected to be held in the future when restrictions are lifted.

“Tony was a much loved and highly esteemed Christian Brother who was respected as an educator, mentor and leader,” the college said in a statement at the time of his death.

“He contributed much to Catholic Education in WA where he laboured for many years. Much admired by his fellow brothers, staff, parents and students for his energy and foresight, he will be greatly missed by all who have been touched by his presence.”

The current principal of the College Darren O’Neill described Brother Kelly as “a much loved and highly respected leader of our Community.” He said he was “a true ‘Men for Others’. He dedicated his life to the true formation of others and leaves a most wonderful legacy to Trinity College.”

During the service those in attendance were told Brother Kelly was once asked what he considered his greatest achievement, expecting it to have been the sale of the old college, and/or the construction of the new one, but no, he said it was the establishment of the Trinity College Irish Pipes and Drums.

Peter Torre (Class of 1989) on behalf of the band’s members past and present posted recently:

“The traditions established, the heritage handed on, and the treasured bond of band and school are highlighted each year at Presentation Night when the lone piper, high above the stage of the Concert Hall, brings to a close the school’s academic year with his haunting rendition of “Abide with Me.”

“The band is truly an integral part of Trinity College’s personality.”

“Rest in Peace Brother Kelly knowing you have had a significant positive impact on the lives of so many Trinity College men,” said Torre.

“As the song that will be played by the lone piper for the generations to come concludes:”

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;

Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

The original Christian Brothers’ College, St George’s Terrace, Perth, was founded by Bishop Matthew Gibney and Brother Ambrose Treacy in 1894.

From the beginning, both boarders and day students were enrolled, but as the business section of the city expanded, the site became increasingly unsuitable for a boarding school. In 1938, the boarders were transferred to Mount Henry, Manning, to found Aquinas College.

Christian Brothers’ College, Perth on the Terrace in 1961, it’s last year.

CBC Perth) continued at the St George’s Terrace site as a school for day students only. In 1962 the building was demolished after a sale brokered by the Perth City Council, and staff and students were transferred to the College’s present location in 1962 when the school was renamed Trinity College.

In 1968 Trinity became a member of the Public Schools’ Association of Western Australia.

In 1994, after a century of dedicated service by the Brothers to CBC and Trinity, a lay Headmaster, Mr Anthony Curtis, was appointed. The College now operates as a Catholic School for Boys in the Edmund Rice Tradition with an entirely lay staff.

Heritage

The school says it owes much of its current success to the tremendous work of the Christian Brothers who have modelled their life and work on their founder Edmund Rice. Edmund Rice founded the Christian Brothers in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland. He was then 40 years of age. He was a very successful businessman but his young wife had died in an accident some twelve years previously. Their daughter, Mary, whom Edmund cared for, had a disability.

Edmund’s faith was vital and manifested itself in practical action for the good of others as well as in participation in parish worship and personal prayer. His faith was never a private matter; his love for God and his belief in the Gospel led him to an extraordinary change of life.

Edmund Rice turned his attention to the uneducated and uncared for street kids of Waterford. He devoted his energy, his business skills, his property and surrendered his considerable wealth to develop an education system for those who were discriminated against by the laws and social customs of the time.

Rice said he listened to the inspirations of the Spirit coming to him through his personal reflection on life, and especially through the scenes he witnessed daily in the streets of Waterford. His friends thought he was crazy giving up his extremely prosperous business for the sake of neglected children.

His chances of success were slim. Helpers came and went. He faced enormous difficulties and frustrations. He persevered with his vision. He stood by the young people of Waterford. He didn’t just teach them; he was a brother to them. He gave of himself and not just of his knowledge.

The Christian Brothers’ Tradition

During the 200 years since Edmund Rice began his work, a strong tradition of generosity, of hard work, of dedication to youth, of care for the disadvantaged, of excellence in education, of active interest in all aspects of student life, has developed and has been maintained.

Even today, despite some recent controversies, Christian Brother schools and other educational ventures of many kinds are now scattered throughout the world in Ireland and the UK, in India, in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Tanzania.