Community & Business
23 December, 2024
Irish settlers help establish Catholic Church in Cambooya
Arthur Hodgson is believed to be the second European to settle on the Darling Downs after Patrick Leslie in 1840 when he established his Eton Vale Station.
While not of the British aristocracy, Hodgson was educated at the exclusive Eton College and saw himself as a member of the “gentlemen” class of British society.
As such he believed it was his right to become a land owner in the new colonial settlement and the prospect of becoming a squatter appealed to him.
His Eton Vale station covered a vast area of just over 26,000 hectares of prime land he saw as his pathway to wealth and power.
As the station prospered Hodgson moved from slab hut to eventually move his family into a comfortable colonial home.
However, the various land acts from 1863 onward slowly reduced the size of the property.
In 1877, 6,500 acres (2,600 ha) of land was resumed from the Eton Vale property to establish smaller farms.
Many of the new settlers taking up these selections were Irish Catholics and they brought their religion with them.
The first Catholic church in the district was built at East Greenmount about 1884, with a priest visiting the district about every three months.
Mass in Cambooya was celebrated at the Court House (now the Police station), and at Keating’s Hotel (since burnt down).
In October 1913 local Catholics decided to erect a Catholic church and so on Sunday 9 August 1914 local priest Father O’Connell performed the stamp capping ceremony for the new church.
The church was designed by Harry Marks of Toowoomba and the contractors were Messrs Heiner and Olsen.
The Cambooya Catholic Church was officially opened on 9 November 1914 by Archbishop James Duhig, before a crowd of about 600.
By the 1960s it was decided a new brick church building was needed and on 25th April 1965 a new church was officially opened and blessed by Bishop of Toowoomba William Brennan.
The new church is adjacent to the old wooden church which is still standing and used for band practice.
At the centenary celebrations in 2014, descendants of the men who helped build the church were among the crowd for the celebration.
The Sacred Heart Church in Eton Street Cambooya is a modern well equipped church that is a far cry from the adjacent old 1914 timber church that served Cambooya well.
Arthur Hodgson eventually returned to England in 1870 where he was knighted and lived out his remaining years as an English squire.
Our nation’s history does not always portray the early squatter class in a positive light but squatters such as Arthur Hodgson and Patrick Leslie paved the way for others.
The battling small farmers who took up selections of land on the Darling Downs and established towns such as Cambooya were attracted to the region by the success of the squatters.
The Catholic Church established a firm foothold in the district due to the second wave of settlers such as the Irish who were predominantly catholic.
