The Catholic Church in our area

Richmond

The Parish of "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" is a relatively young Parish yet our Catholic history goes back to when Nelson was formed in 1842, and the first settlers arrived bringing with them the Catholic faith.

Various efforts were made by the growing Richmond Catholic population to erect a Church, and this was finally realised in 1939, when the old Richmond Hall in Oxford Street was purchased and converted into a Church. Up till that time the Richmond Catholics attended Mass in various homes. In 1952, 4 acres of land was purchased in Croucher St., just behind the "Star and Garter" Hotel, for a Church and a School.
The development of the wider areas of the Nelson Parish in the late 1950s prompted Archbishop Peter McKeefry to form a new Parish in its suburban and country districts and so the Parish of Richmond was formed. This new parish included Stoke, Waimea West, Wakefield and Tapawera and Fr. Merton Bradford came from Motueka to be its first Parish Priest. Fr. Bradford obtained a house in Queen St. for a Presbytery and renovated the Church Hall in Oxford St. A Church Hall, named after St. Francis, was built in Stoke and opened by Cardinal Peter McKeefry on the 29 September 1963.

It was during Fr. Bradford's term as Parish Priest, that the Cook Family donated Lansdowne Hall to the Parish. This proved to be of great benefit and many social functions were held there. In 1965 Fr. Bradford went on an overseas holiday and Fr. J Mutch acted as Parish Priest in his absence. It was during his term that a 10-acre property in Salisbury Road was procured by the Archdiocese for future possible schooling. Also in that year because of extensive road works in the Buller Gorge, Richmond served Murchison, which had previously been part of the Reefton Parish. This continued for some years until Murchison was transferred to the Westport Parish.

In 1968 Fr. Bradford was transferred to Inglewood and died there in 1973. Fr. James McNeill took over in 1969 and it was in his time that the Pastoral Council came into being. The Motor Mission also began in 1969. In 1971 Fr. Brendan Kenny was appointed to the Parish, and was here for 11years.

It was now obvious that the Church at Oxford St. could no longer cope with the increasing number of Catholics, so a new Church was the next priority. The land in Croucher Street, purchased for a Church and School years earlier, had been re-zoned and consequently could not be used for Church purposes. In 1972 two acres of land with a small house in Roeske St. were purchased and then a property fronting William Street, which provided access to the Church land with room for parking and further expansion. A Building Committee was formed to plan for a new Church and it was decided to entrust the construction to "Lockwood" of Christchurch.

The Church was opened and blessed by Cardinal Reginald Delargy on 18 January 1976. Money received from the sale of the Croucher Street property (1973) and the old Church in Oxford Street (1976) helped towards reducing the debt incurred by the above development.

In 1974 Stoke became a separate Parish under Fr. Ray Stachurski. In 1976 the Appleby Play Centre negotiated use of the Lansdowne Hall at a peppercorn rental and this arrangement continued until 1991, when the Hall was sold.

A Presbytery was built and completed next to the Church in 1979 and the old Presbytery in Queen Street was sold. It became apparent that the establishment of a School on the Salisbury Road land was something of a 'pipe dream'. The land was sold in 1979 after Cardinal Williams was appointed Archbishop of Wellington.

In 1982 Fr. Pat Greally replaced Fr. Kenny as Parish Priest and in the same year Sister Lesley (Cosgrove) of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Mission was appointed Parish Assistant and worked in that sphere for 3 years.

The Parish Centre was built in 1984 and was officially opened and blessed by Cardinal Williams in February 1985. Fr. Greally was transferred in 1990 and Cardinal Williams appointed two Priests, Frs. Pat Williams and Barry Gall.

Fr. Gall left in 1992, and Fr. Williams in 1993.  Fr. Owen Sinclair replacing him in 1994

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church was established in 1960 and is situated at 35 William Street, Richmond.

Priests of the Richmond Parish
Merton Bradford (1960-1968). John Mutch (relieving 1965). Jim McNeill (1968-1971.  Brendan Kenny (1971-1982). Frank Whitaker (relieving 1977). Pat Greally (1982-1990). Pat Williams (1990-1994). Owen Sinclair (1994-2003). Bill Warwick (2003 - 2006). David Gruschow (2006- )

Curates
Sean Flynn.  Bernie McGettigan.  Tom Fouhy.  Con Stapleton.  Rex Begley.  Kevin Hurley.  John Kavanagh.  Michael Madden.  Murray Keegan.  Glen Noble.  Cyril Donohue.  Pat Cooke.  Jim Parry.  Barry Gaul.

Wakefield

In 1868 the Wakefield Catholics desired to have a Church built at this southern end of the Waimea Plain. Fr. Garin was responsible for the new Church, but it was his Curate, Fr. Chareyre who was more directly involved in the building of St. Joseph's, which was officially opened on the 7th May 1870. Mass is now celebrated at St. Joseph's every Sunday.

The church is located on Pitfure Road, Wakefield

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Waimea West

A Church was erected at Waimea West and opened on 8th December 1855. With the passage of time the condition of the Church deteriorated and in 1889 it was pulled down and a new one erected on the same site, where it remains today. In 1935 Waimea West became part of the newly created Parish of Motueka and was then administered by Diocesan clergy, with Fr. E Carmine as the first Parish Priest.  In 1950 Fr. M Bradford was appointed Parish Priest of Motueka, which began an 18-year association with this area. Waimea West remained in the Motueka Parish until the Richmond Parish was formed.

In latter years mass has been celebrated according to circumstances, currently on the last Sunday of every month at 5pm. This fulfils the expressed wish of the will of Miss Emma Ann O'Connor who endowed the Parish generously for the maintenance of the Church and graveyard.

The Church is on the corner of Waimea West Road and Moutre Highway

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The Archdiocese of Wellington

Following the arrival of Catholics to New Zealand the Wellington Diocese in 1843 had its first priest in Fr. Jeremiah O'Reily, an Irish Capuchin, who in 1844 celebrated the first Mass in Nelson, followed by another at Waimea West on 9 May 1844. In 1849 Rome created two new Dioceses, Auckland and Wellington. In 1850 Bishop Philippe Viard arrived, with 8 priests, to be Wellington's first Bishop. In the same year, Nelson Parish was established with Fr. Antoine Marie Garin S.M. as its first Parish Priest. Initially, his Parish took in the whole of the South Island. Fr. Garin remained Parish Priest of Nelson for 40 years until his death in 1889.

Fr. Garin founded a Catholic school in 1848, and one of its pupils was Francis Redwood, from Waimea West, who in 1854 left for France to study for the priesthood and, in 1874 replaced Bishop Viard as Bishop of Wellington.

Bishop Viard, Fr. Garin and Archbishop Redwood were all Marist Priests and the Richmond, Wakefield and Tapawera areas were all served by Priests of the Marist Order, as part of the Nelson Parish, until 1960.

The Diocese of Dunedin was created in 1869, followed by Christchurch in 1887. The boundaries were such that the ten current Parishes, in the top third of the South Island, remain in the Archdiocese of Wellington. These Parishes are Kaikoura, Reefton, Westport, Richmond, Motueka, Takaka, Stoke, Nelson, Picton and Blenheim. The current Archbishop of Wellington is Cardinal Thomas Williams DD, ONZ.

Stoke

In the late 1950’s, while Stoke was part of the Richmond Parish, Masses were celebrated in rooms hired at the Stoke Memorial Hall.  This was most uncomfortable and eventually in 1963 a new Church / Hall was opened.  The Altar could be hidden-away with the use of folding doors and many Richmond / Stoke functions were held there.  In accordance with Vatican II directives Fr. Jim McNeill established a combined Richmond /Stoke Pastoral Council in April 1971. It became separated into two Councils soon after, presided-over by Fr. Brendan Kenny.  Stoke became a separate Parish in 1975 under Fr. Ray Stachurski.

Tapawera

Up to 1960 Priests of the Nelson Parish would visit the Catholic families once or twice a year and say Mass at their homes. After the district became part of the Richmond Parish in 1960, Mass Centres were established at the Golden Downs Forestry Village and at Tadmor, where Mass was celebrated in the kitchen 'Lean-to' in the now defunct Tadmor Store. Mass was celebrated in these Centres once a month and in 1967, these two Centres were combined and relocated to Tapawera Memorial Hall.

In 1972 the Mass Centre was relocated to St. Peters Church across the road. This Church, opened in 1937, had been built by inter-denominational co-operation and effort and has since been administered by the Anglicans. Changes in the congregation and staffing of the Parish have brought occasional changes to the Mass timetable.

The Lych-Gates at our Churchyard Cemeteries

The historic churches at Waimea West and Wakefield have Churchyard cemeteries. To mark the Jubilee Year 2000 the Parish built lych-gates at each cemetery with plaques in them listing those buried there in unmarked graves. On Sunday, 19 March 2000 a Pilgrimage was made to them after Mass and they were blessed and dedicated by Cardinal Williams. Both cemeteries have since been enlarged.

Catholic Schools

Saint Paul’s Catholic Primary School opened on January 27. 1999. This was the first new Catholic Primary School to be opened in the Wellington Diocese in 36 years. There were 47 students enrolled for day one, which was celebrated with a liturgy led by staff and students. Parents, friends and parishioners shared in the very special occasion.

Saint Paul’s School serves the Catholic community of Richmond and Stoke and their environs, drawing students from the southern part of Nelson City, through the Waimea Plains to the Moutere Hills in the southwest.

Saint Paul's School is situated on Salisbury Road, and caters for pupils from new entrants up to Year 8.

The Wellington Archdiocese built a Catholic co-educational College in Champion Road. This was named Garin College after Nelson's first Parish Priest who established schools in his time. Garin College was blessed and officially opened on 23 February 2002. There are boarding hostels in Munro Place off Templemore Drive to cater for students from other areas.

This brief history has been written up from the following sources: The booklets written by the late Roddy O'Connor about the Waimea West Church for its centenary in 1955, and its 125th anniversary, also the one about the first 25 years of the Richmond Parish. The late Eileen Stobie wrote the booklet for St. Joseph's Church centenary. Leo Jelinek provided the Tadmor and Tapawera story. Previously printed Parish Directories and “'The History & Heritage of Richmond Catholic Parish 1855-2000'.” This last book is a combination of all the above books with additional information and photos. It is available to parishioners for $25.