Richard Docherty (1899–1979) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest who established the mission at Port Keats, now known as

Wadeye Wadeye ( ) is a town in Australia's Northern Territory (NT). It was formerly known (and is still often referred to) as Port Keats, a name originating from Port Keats Mission, which operated from 1935 (originally at a different location, known as ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Timeline

In 1899, Docherty was born in Urwin, Western Australia. 28 years later, in 1927, he was ordained as a priest,

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; ; ) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Jules Chevalier at Issoudun, France, in the Diocese of Bourges. The motto of the Missionaries of the S ...

(M.S.C.). A year later, he moved to Darwin, and then to Werntek Nganayi 7 years later, in 1935. 4 years after this, in 1939, he moved to

, where he stayed for 19 years, his longest place of residence since being ordained. In 1958, he moved to the city of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, over 2500 miles away, where he stayed for a year before moving to Hammond Island, a small island in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

between Australia and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. He remained here for 9 years, before returning to the town of Darwin in 1968. 4 years later, he moved south to Daly River. In 1978, he was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, becoming a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

. He died the following year, while visiting

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and was buried in Wadeye.Martin J. Wilson
Father Richard Docherty MSC
''Tracks'' 2 (1979), 4-8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Docherty, Richard 1899 births 1979 deaths Roman Catholic missionaries in Australia People from the Northern Territory Members of the Order of Australia Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Australian Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests Catholic Church in the Northern Territory