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Reverend George Henry BackhausPrint Page Print this page

Plaque Inscription : 14-November-2014
Plaque Inscription : 14-November-2014

Photographs supplied by Sandra Brown

The bell tower commemorates Reverend George Henry Backhaus (1812 - 1882) who held his first mass at Bendigo near the site of this church.

Reverend Backhaus sailed from Adelaide in the Marshal Bennett on 4 March 1852 , and arrived in Melbourne eleven days later. He  volunteered to make the gold diggings his mission field. An entry made by him in a family Bible states that on Sunday, 25 April 1852, he, 'having been appointed the first priest to take charge of the Catholic population on the Victorian goldfields, celebrated the first Mass in the Gold Commissioner's camp at Forest Creek diggings'. He said the first Sunday Mass in the Bendigo area on 2 May 1852.

Location

Address:181 McCrae Street, St Kilians Catholic Church, Bendigo, 3550
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -36.755226
Long: 144.284218
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Structure
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Religion
Approx. Event Start Date:1852
Approx. Event End Date:1882
Link:http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/adbonli…

Dedication

Front Inscription

This tower has been erected to the memory of the Very Rev Dr Backhaus

Pioneer priest of Bendigo 1852 - 1882

Who died Septr 1882 Aged 72 years

May he rest in peace

By J O`Connell nee Halfpenny


 

Source: MA, ADB
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au