Mercedes College, Perth
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{redirect|Our Lady's College|the school in Hong Kong|Our Lady's College, Hong Kong}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Mercedes College
| logo =
| image = Mercedes College (Perth) SMC.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Mercedes College, viewed from Victoria Square
| motto = {{langx|la|Laudate Dominum}}
| motto_translation = Praise the Lord
| established = {{start date and age|1846}}
| founders = Sisters of Mercy
| type = Independent single-sex secondary day school
| denomination = Roman Catholicism
| gender = Girls
| affiliation = Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia
| slogan =
| principal = Dr Lucie McCrory{{cite web|url=https://www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/our-college/principals-welcome/|title=Principal’s Welcome|publisher=Mercedes College|access-date=1 May 2024}}
| location = Perth, Western Australia
| country = Australia
| coordinates = {{coord|31|57|22|S|115|51|59|E|type:edu_region:AU-WA|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
| pushpin_map = Australia Perth
| pushpin_image =
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in {{WAcity|Perth}}, Western Australia
| pushpin_label =
| pushpin_label_position = right
| enrolment = ~1,000
| enrolment_as_of =
| grades_label = Years
| staff = 138
| colours = Green, red, white {{colorbox|green}}{{colorbox|red}}{{colorbox|white}}
| homepage = {{url|www.mercedes.wa.edu.au}}
| sister_school = Trinity College, Perth
}}
Mercedes College is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for girls, located in the Perth central business district, Western Australia.
The school was founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, thus making it the oldest independent Catholic girls' school in Australia, and the oldest existing secondary school in Perth.{{cite news |first=Charlie |last=Wilson-Clark |title=Oldest School Shows Mercy |newspaper=The West Australian |page=13 |date=2001-07-06 }} There are currently 800 students from Year 7 to Year 12 and the college's brother school is Trinity College. The current principal is Dr Lucie McCrory.
History
The school has its beginnings in the landing at the Swan River Colony of Irish Sisters of Mercy. Led by Sister Ursula Frayne, they founded the first Catholic school in the colony on 2 February 1846{{cite web|url= http://www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=88|title= Our Heritage|access-date= 2008-01-04|publisher= Mercedes College}} beginning their teaching with just one pupil. Classes were conducted in a rented St Georges Terrace cottage, near Victoria Avenue. By the end of the first day's teaching, the numbers had swelled to six students. Enrolment grew to 100 by the end of 1846, by which time the school had moved to permanent accommodation at Victoria Square.
The first Mercy Convent in Australia was constructed in 1847 on the Victoria Square site, and remains in use today, known as "Holy Cross Convent".
Two separate schools were run from the Victoria Square site. The original was known as St Joseph's School, and was a free, co-educational school.{{cite web|url= http://www.perthcatholic.org.au/News__Events-News-2016-January-Week_2-Our_Ladys_College_class_of_1956_celebrates_60th_reunion.htm|title= Our Lady's College class of 1956 celebrates 60th reunion|access-date= 2021-04-05|publisher= Catholic Archdiocese of Perth}} The other school run from the site was Ladies' College, opened in 1896, which did charge for tuition. It was later renamed Our Lady's College. The two schools amalgamated in 1967 to form Mercedes College. The last of the school's boarding students left in 1981.
Over the years, the number of Sisters of Mercy at the site has dwindled, with the last Mercy Sister Principal of Mercedes, Sister Assisium Wright, retiring in 1996.{{cite news | first = Colleen | last = McGuiness-Howard | title = Retirement of Mercedes' principal sees the end of Mercy Sisters' era | publisher = The Record | location = Perth, Western Australia | page = 9 | year = 1997 }}
Gallery
{{Gallery
|align=centre
|width=180
|height=160
|St Joseph's School, Perth.jpg
|St Joseph's Primary School, {{circa|1895}}
|Ladies' College, Perth.jpg
|The opening of the Ladies' College in 1896
}}
Notable former students
- Lisa Baker (born 1958) – politician
- Wendy Fatin (born 1941) – politician{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122402593|title=Going somewhere: Sue Aitkin tracks the determined journey of Wendy Fatin, woman|first=Sue|last=Aitkin|date=8 March 1992|newspaper=The Canberra Times}}
- Gracie Gilbert (born 1992) – actress
- Liza Harvey (born 1966) – politician
- Frances O'Connor (born 1967) – actress
- Michelle Roberts (born 1960) – politician
- Indiana Massara (born 2002) – actress
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|Schools|Catholicism}}}}
References
{{Reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last1=Cream|first1=Sister Maureen|title=Out of These Stones: The Mercedes Story: 'The School at the Square', 1846-1996|date=1999|publisher=Mercedes College|location=Perth|oclc=222556709}}
{{refend}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [http://www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/ School Website]
{{Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia schools|state=collapsed}}
Category:Girls' schools in Western Australia
Category:Educational institutions established in 1846
Category:Catholic secondary schools in Perth, Western Australia
Category:Sisters of Mercy schools
Category:1846 establishments in Australia