Welome to St Joseph’s Building

The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Perth from Ireland in 1846, led by Mother Ursula Frayne. After arriving in Perth, in 1846 the sisters became the first female religious teaching order to establish a school in Australia. Having navigated sectarism in Ireland, they decided to offer a general education to all Christians. The sisters prioritised Aboriginal people, immigrant Irish orphan girls, the poor and the uneducated. The sisters established a fee-paying school, benevolent institution and Western Australia’s first high school. 

When the Sisters of Mercy opened their first school in 1846, the number of students slowly grew year by year. But population expansion brought about by goldrushes of the 1890s and amendments to the Education Act in 1893, created the need for the establishment of further schooling facilities. 

Establishing St Joseph’s Day School 

In 1895 (the Golden Jubilee of the Sisters arrival in Australia), the foundation stone was laid for a new school building, St Joseph’s Day School designed by Cavanagh & Cavanagh (Our Lady’s College was constructed at the same time). The building was constructed using Cottesloe freestone with Sydney freestone dressings. 

The building was blessed and opened by Bishop Gibney on 15 August 1896. Bishop Gibney donated the school to the Sisters of Mercy in recognition of their years of service to the Church. St Joseph’s Day School was initially a free school, while Our Lady’s College attracted fees. 

In 1909, extensive improvements were carried out. The building added to and renovated frequently over the following years. Between 1916-21, a new two storey building was added to the east of St. Joseph’s School, known as the ‘Serisier’. The Sisters held a week-long bazaar to finance the construction. 

The ‘Serisier’ Wing was demolished in 1977.
In 1964, the place was the first Catholic school to receive a grant from the Menzies Government promoting the establishment of science labs. 

In 1967, St Joseph’s and Our Lady’s College were amalgamated to form Mercedes Catholic Girls School, later Mercedes College. In 1984, further classrooms were added. It is the oldest Catholic School in WA. The building continues to function as a school.