St Virgil's College


St Virgil's College, about 1950 (AOT, PH30/1/4641)

St Virgil's College, a Catholic boarding and day school for boys, was established by the Christian Brothers in 1911 in Barrack Street, Hobart, on a central site overlooking St Mary's Cathedral. The first day boy was Leo Doyle, father of the current Archbishop of Hobart, Adrian Doyle. Numbers progressively increased and to allow for growth, in 1962 a second campus was opened at Austins Ferry, for Grades 7 to 9. It was the only Australian school with a dedicated train service. Boarding ceased in 1970.

In 1995 the restructuring of Catholic education in southern Tasmania saw Barrack Street become the campus for the new combined Senior Secondary College, and St Virgil's was centred at Austins Ferry from Grades 7 to 10. In 1996 the College took over St Peter's School, next to the Cathedral, which became St Virgil's Junior School. While the Christian Brothers retain ownership and governance of the College, the first lay principal was appointed in 2001.

Further reading: T Jetson, St. Virgil's College, Hobart, 1994; Christian Brothers, St. Virgil's College, Hobart, Hobart, [1961].

Christopher Smith