Our College

College History

From Burke and Wills, Eureka, and the first Melbourne Cup, to the world’s wars, depressions, and the age of technology, ‘the city school for girls’ has endured on the original site of its foundation. Our position on the edge of the CBD intrinsically links us to what has happened, and continues to happen, within the city of Melbourne and surrounds. Use the tabs below to navigate your way through the history of our College (black font) and our community (blue font). 

  • 1800
  • 1900
  • 2000
  • 1850s
  • 1860s
  • 1870s
  • 1880s
  • 1890s
  • 1850s

    1850s

    • Gold Rush, 1851–61, Eureka Stockade, 1854
    • Victoria separates from NSW, 1851
    • University of Melbourne founded, 1853
    • National Museum of Victoria opens, 1854
    • Victorian State Library opens, 1856
    • First recorded game of Australian Rules Football, 1858
    • Bishop Goold invites Ursula Frayne to Melbourne to provide education and welfare for the rapidly expanding Victorian population, 1857
    • Our Immaculate Lady of Mercy School Academy opens on 20 April 1857
    • Kate Flynn, our first pupil, attends Academy as a result of her father’s success in the Gold Rush
    • Boarding begins at Academy, 1859
  • 1860s

    1860s

    • Burke and Wills expedition, 1861
    • First Melbourne Cup, 1861
    • NGV founded (the oldest, largest, most visited in Australia), 1861
    • Indigenous cricket team first sporting team to tour OS, 1868
    • Royal commissions investigate the Victorian orphanage problem – Ursula Frayne gives evidence at both, 1862 and 1870
    • House of Mercy opens at Nicholson St, 1860
    • Sisters of Mercy take over the St Vincent de Paul Orphanages in Sth Melbourne, 1861
    • Infant and primary schools established on Academy site, 1863
  • 1870s

    1870s

    • The Education Act 1872 (Vic) introduced government schools.
    • The National Gallery School established, 1867
    • Melbourne Town Hall opens, 1878
    • Victorian Legislative Assembly rejects bill allowing women to own personal property, 1875
    • Palmer St building – enrolments grow rapidly. Children from different social classes are taught separately, 1869–1881
    • Our Lady’s School established in Palmer St building – a ‘ragged school’ for 100 children from the notorious Collingwood flat area, 1870
    • 400 primary-aged children are being educated in the Palmer St building, 1875
    • Various different schools operating in Palmer St amalgamate to form Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish Primary School (which remains on site until 1961), 1877
    • Exhibition days are held annually at the Academy for students to display their talents in music, dancing, dissertations, languages, and drama. These showpiece days are attended by parents, religious and secular dignitaries.
  • 1880s

    1880s

    • Before his execution, Ned Kelly requests a visit from the Sisters of Mercy. Ursula Frayne applies to visit him in prison, but the authorities deny her request, 1880
    • Ned Kelly is hanged in Melbourne Gaol
    • The Royal Exhibition Building opens, 1880
    • International Exhibition held in newly constructed Exhibition Building – AMI students and sisters win with lace and handmade vestments, 1880
    • Women admitted to university
    • Mother Ursula Frayne dies, 1885
  • 1890s

    1890s

    • The Australian Economic Depression, 1890–1893
    • Victorian Labour Party forms, 1890s.
    • First registered Victorian female doctor in opens practice in Melbourne, 1890
    • Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital for Women & Children (Melbourne) established, 1898
    • Arrival of 18 Irish postulants who volunteered for the ‘overseas missions’, 1891
    • Some Academy students take Public Service examinations to gain employment as switchboard operators at the Telephone Exchange
  • 1900s
  • 1910s
  • 1920s
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
  • 1900s

    1900s

    • Federation, 1901
    • Victorian Women win right to vote, 1908
    • Design for the Australian flag was chosen in September, 1901
    • Golden Jubilee of the Academy – celebrations include a pontifical high mass, a garden fete, and a ball, 1907
    • College Crest designed by John Hennessy and the Academian magazine (still in print today) makes its first appearance, 1908
  • 1910s

    1910s

    • The Great War (WWI), 1914–1918
    • Spanish flu (influenza) pandemic, 1919
    • The Exhibition Building is used as a temporary hospital, 1919
    • Nursing sister Alice Ross-King, a former Academy student, awarded the Military Medal, 1917
    • Academy closes for the first three months due to Spanish flu
  • 1920s

    1920s

    • Vegemite was developed by an Australian chemist, 1923
    • Federal Parliament relocates from Melbourne to (Old) Parliament House, Canberra. Dame Nellie Melba performs at opening, 1927
    • Anzac Day was declared a statutory holiday in all states, 1927
    • Academy has a reputation for fine music with a number of talented vocalists, instrumentalists, and a well-regarded orchestra, 1928
    • Students are routinely being entered for junior and senior public examinations. They achieve a significant number of passes and honours and government studentships. Numbers of students studying at tertiary level continue to grow
  • 1930s

    1930s

    • Wall St crash -The Great Depression, 1929–1932
    • Centenary of Melbourne, 1935
    • Phar Lap wins Melbourne Cup, 1930
    • Indigenous artist, Albert Namatjira, first exhibition (paintings) in Melbourne, 1938
    • Scholarships offered to girls to persuade them to study past Year 8
    • Sr Claudia Barry starts commercial classes to equip students for the workforce – these classes run until the 1970s
    • New uniform introduced
  • 1940s

    1940s

    • WWII, 1939–1945
    • Establishment of (various) Australian Women Defence Forces, 1941-42
    • First women (2) win election to federal parliament, 1943
    • Science subjects introduced for matriculation at the Academy – a number of students study science at university
    • Young Catholic Students (YCS) movement gives students opportunities for leadership and socialising
    • House system introduced at Academy
  • 1950s

    1950s

    • Immigration from Europe scheme, 1948–1970s
    • Melbourne Olympics, 1956
    • First Australian TV broadcast, 1956
    • Annual enrolment doubles from 83 in 1947 to 150 during 1954–1955
    • First new building in 60 years – ‘N’ Building (now Walsh Building)
    • Academy Centenary celebrations, 1957
  • 1960s

    1960s

    • Australian involvement in Vietnam War, 1962–1972
    • Decimal currency introduced in Australia, 1966
    • Aboriginal citizenship referendum, 1967
    • Man walks on the moon, 1969
    • Sacred Heart School moves from Palmer St to new premises, 1961
    • Over 1000 students enrolled at Academy – largest number in school’s history, 1961–67
    • Perpetua Wing built; hall and new science facilities, 1967
    • Lay teachers outnumber religious staff, 1968
  • 1970s

    1970s

    • West Gate Bridge collapses, 1970
    • First International Women’s Day March, 1972
    • Universities tuition fees abolished, 1973
    • Academy boarding facilities close, 1971
    • Academy hosts Years 7–12 only, 1975
  • 1980s

    1980s

    • Ash Wednesday fires, 1983
    • Advance Australia Fair became national anthem. Green and gold official national colours, 1984
    • Office of Multicultural Affairs was established, 1987
    • Internet arrives, 1989
    • Mr Frank Rogan is appointed the Academy’s first and only male principal (acting), 1980
    • Year 12 retention increases dramatically from 25%–50% in the 1960s to 75% in the 1980s
    • Academy becomes a zoned school with an inner-city catchment
    • Survey finds 36 different cultural backgrounds represented at Academy – 56% student population have Italian background, 1981
    • Junior School campus opens in Pelham St, 1985–1993
    • Decline in interest in the creative subjects in favour of academic pursuits
  • 1990s

    1990s

    • Nelson Mandela freed from jail in South Africa, 1990
    • Native Title Act passes in Australia, 1993
    • Port Arthur massacre, 1996
    • First Harry Potter book released, 1997
    • Dillon Centre opens, 1996
    • Susan Danckert, a former Academy student, appointed Academy’s first lay principal. She introduces ‘Talk and Tours’ to increase student numbers, 1999
    • Major refurbishment of the Art Rooms and landscaping of the grounds
    • Renewed interest in performing arts and sport
  • 2000s
  • 2010s
  • 2000s

    2000s

    • Facebook launches, 2004
    • Barack Obama becomes the USA’s first African-American president, 2008
    • Federal Parliament’s Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples, 2008
    • Black Saturday fires in Victoria, 2009
    • Academy celebrates 150th Anniversary. Sr Mary Moloney becomes the 27th principal, 2007
    • Academy students represented at World Youth Day, Sydney, 2008
  • 2010s

    2010s

    • Saint Mary MacKillop is appointed Australia’s first saint, 2010
    • Pope Francis is elected, 2013
    • World experiences increasing acts of terrorism
    • Renaming and blessing of Academy buildings, 2013
    • McAllen Science Centre opens; first lift at College, 2014
    • Academy – ‘The City School for Girls’ celebrates 160th anniversary. Memorial statue unveiled of Foundress Ursula Frayne on Foundation Day, 2017