Ursula Frayne (5 October 1816 – 9 June 1885), born Clara Frayne, was an Irish nun who became a Mother Superior of the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

and spent her life in missionary work, initially in Canada but largely in Australia developing schools and academies.Biography
adb.anu.edu.au; accessed 16 April 2015.Ursula Frayne Catholic College website
accessed 16 April 2015.

Early life

Clara Frayne was born to the wealthy businessman Robert Frayne, and his wife, Bridget, in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. She entered Baggot Street with Catherine McCauley the then recently formed Institute of Mercy in Dublin in 1834 and took Ursula in place of her

baptismal name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious name, religious personal personal name, name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In Anglosphere, English-spe ...

. She was appointed Mother Superior in 1842, taking charge of the Institute's first foreign mission foundation in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Arriving in Australia

In 1845 she left for

Perth, Western Australia 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 ...

in response to a request for religious sisters to staff a newly constructed school commissioned by the recently consecrated Bishop John Brady. Frayne arrived with some companions on 8 January 1846. Concerned for the conditions under which the sisters were working, the Dublin mother-house sent money for return fares. But Mother Ursula refused to abandon the mission. She realised that the sisters would have to generate their own income. It was a ‘select’ fee-paying school for the education of an almost exclusively non-Catholic clientele. It generated much needed funds and brought the mission financial stability. Using this model Frayne commissioned other schools by establishing almost simultaneously a ‘select’ fee-paying school together with an infants school and a primary school, usually on the same site and often within the same building. In 1865, despite the impending withdrawal of government aid the Sisters of Mercy schools in Western Australia were thriving.

Final years in Melbourne

After enduring a dispute with Bishop John Brady, Frayne responded to a request from the Irish-born Bishop Goold for a Victorian foundation in Melbourne. Bishop Francis Murphy of Adelaide also put a similar request to her but Frayne had already committed to Bishop Goold. Six weeks after her arrival in Melbourne Frayne had raised loans to pay off the mortgages on her convent in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. Speedy development followed and considerable construction of buildings for social and educational work was undertaken, peaking in the erection of the first wing of the present ‘Academy’ for £6000 in 1870. The Sisters of Mercy were the first teaching nuns in Victoria. She also founded the St Vincent de Paul’s Orphanage in South Melbourne. Frayne's first Victorian foundation was in

Kilmore, Victoria Kilmore () is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. Located north of Melbourne, it is the oldest inland town in Victoria by the combination of age and physical occupation, and because it had unique agricultural attributes to drive that ...

in 1875.

Death

Mother Ursula died in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy on the 9 of June 1885, aged 68. A

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

chapel to her memory was built by her successor in the convent grounds. Her remains are buried in a vault in the chapel under a Celtic cross, reminding all of her origins. She is commemorated in the name of the Ursula Frayne Catholic College, Perth, Western Australia- and also in the dementia ward of Mercy Place,

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

; renamed in 2014 to commemorate "Ursula Frayne". In 2023

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

newspaper identified the 100 people who had shaped the state of Western Australia and they included the botanist

Georgiana Molloy Georgiana Molloy (23 May 1805 – 8 April 1843) was an early settler in Western Australia, who is remembered as one of the first botany, botanical collectors in the colony. Her husband, John Molloy (Australian settler), John, was involved in ...

, settler

Emma Withnell Emma Mary Withnell (''née'' Hancock; 19 December 184216 May 1928), was the first white and female settler in north west Western Australia; a pioneering pastoralist and businessperson. A member of the Hancock family, later prominent in Western ...

, suffragist

Bessie Rischbieth Bessie Mabel Rischbieth, (née Earle; 16 October 187413 March 1967) was an influential and early Australian feminism, feminist and social activist. A leading or founding member of many social reform groups, such as the Women's Service Guilds ...

, politician

Edith Cowan Edith Dircksey Cowan (' Brown; 2 August 1861 – 9 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. C ...

, Sister Margaret O'Brien, Dr

Roberta Jull Roberta Henrietta Margaritta Jull (née Stewart, 16 August 1872 in Glasgow, Scotland – 6 March 1961 in Subiaco, Western Australia) was a medical doctor who, spurred by poor living conditions and high infant mortality, worked towards social refo ...

Amy Jane Best Amy Jane Best (1844 – 28 May 1932) was an Australian schoolmistress. She founded and led "Miss Best's" - the Central High School for Girls in Perth. She was involved in the opening of the Karrakatta Club in Perth. Life Best was born in 1844 i ...

and Frayne.

References

Further links

St Vincent de Paul's Orphanage, Melbourne. 1855-1967
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frayne, Ursula 1816 births 1885 deaths Nuns from Dublin (city) Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian educators 19th-century Australian Roman Catholic nuns Sisters of Mercy 19th-century Australian women educators