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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

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

Wadeye Wadeye ( ) is a town in Australia's Northern Territory. It was formerly known (and is still often referred to) as Port Keats. At the , Wadeye had a population of 2,280. Wadeye is the 6th most populous town, and the largest Indigenous community ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

of Australia.

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; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

(M.S.C.). A year later, he moved to

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, 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, 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, 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, the northernmost extremity of the Australian ma ...

between Australia and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. 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 honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

, becoming a

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

. He died the following year, while visiting

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, 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