Church and Shire history paralleled as St Aloysius celebrates centenary

The original church / school was built in 1917 on the site where the present church stands, but it was part of Penshurst parish until 1924 when it became a separate entity, covering all of Sutherland Shire.

In preparing a potted history for the centenary, parishioners decided to give it extra relevance by paralleling the the development of Sutherland Shire.

In 1885 the railway from Hurstville to Sutherland opened and, in the early 1900s there was a horse-drawn bus to Cronulla beach from Sutherland, which was replaced in 1911 by steam tram, which brought more permanent housing.

Priests from Penshurst visited Cronulla to say Mass in parishioners' homes, with the Giddings residence used most frequently.

The pioneering Giddings family built the nearby building in Gerrale Street, which is still standing, which was the social centre of the village, housing the post office, newsagent, real estate office, and coaching station.

In 1917, the church / school was built and the Sisters of St Joseph arrived to teach, living in house given to them by the Giddings Family, where the Parish Centre, across the road from the church, now stands.

The Giddings family also donated the block of land for the school.

In 1921 a new school was built on the site of the present primary school.

In 1911 the population of the shire was 2869.

The decade 1950-1960 was the biggest growth period for the shire.

By 1954, the the population had increased to 65,760 as a result of many returned service people marrying and buying up new, cheaper land sub-divisions south of the Georges River.

The earliest State school, Sutherland Public School, started in 1887. By 1928 it was an Intermediate High School finishing at Year 9. To continue schooling, students had to leave the shire until the 1950s.

Jannali Girls High (1953) and Jannali Boys High (1956) were established as Intermediate High Schools. In 1959 Port Hacking High, a new era co-education, full high school opened at Miranda.

A Court of Petty Sessions opened in 1953 at Sutherland, and Sutherland Hospital opened in 1958.

On the church front, the shire was served by two parishes - Cronulla and Sutherland until Engadine parish was established in 1947, largely associated with Boys Town.

New parishes were established at Caringbah in 1951 and, in the same year the first Mass was celebrated at Our Lady of the Way at Bundeena, which is part of Cronulla parish. Previously, Mass was regularly held in the local RSL club.

Como parish was established in 1954, Gymea and Miranda in 1958 and Sylvania in 1959.

All these parishes moved quickly to build and staff Catholic primary schools.

Secondary schooling also expanded. The De La School at Cronulla continued to grow into the 1950s and the Brothers opened a Year 7 to 10 school for boys at Caringbah in 1958.

The full history