Sevenhill in the Clare Valley. This tiny stone shrine to St Ignatius was built in 1870 and now restored. Built by two Jesuits -Brother Lenz and Brother Danielewicz.
Sevenhill village and the Jesuit centre on Weikert’s Farm ruins.
South Australia has been called the “Paradise of Dissent” as the nonconformist Protestant churches played such a significant role in the early history of this state but there have always been important enclaves of Irish and German Catholic populations in the Clare Valley. In 1848 a Silesian farmer, Francis (Franz) Weckert (Weikert) gathered together a group of people interested in forming a new Catholic community free of religious persecution in South Australia. He and his followers wanted to escape the 1848 revolutions of Europe that had only tightened regulations on them in protestant Germany. Weickert financed the voyage for needy people and they arrived in December 1848 from Hamburg on the Alfred. Weickert was 56 years old and his occupation was listed on the arrival list as Jesuit Mission leader. His wife Fransiska and their nine children travelled with him and 130 German Catholics. Weckert purchased some land at Sevenhill and he obtained the services of a Father Kranewitter, a Jesuit brother and two others called Schriener and Sadler for the SA community.
In 1849 the Catholic Church in Austria sent a sizable sum of money to Father Kranewitter on 100 acres of fertile land he had leased from Thomas Burr in the Clare Valley, with a 31 year lease with the option to buy at the land for £3 to £7 per acre by the end of the lease. Father Kranewitter gave 31 year sublet leases to Catholic farmers who expected to easily purchase their land at the expiry of their leases. This seldom happened. Kranewitter had previously leased some other land where there was a house for himself and his fellow priests. More money arrived from Austria for the proposed community in early 1850 and Bishop Murphy, the Catholic bishop in Adelaide, also gave some money. Section 91 of the Hundred of Clare was surveyed for leased town allotments which became Sevenhill. In January 1851 Father Kranewitter leased, for just £2 per acre with right of purchase, the site of the future church, seminary and college. Father Kranewitter named the locality Sevenhill and the local stream the Tiber (after the River in Rome) and the seven hills of Rome. In 1855 Father Kranewitter obtained possession of the town allotments and then gradually sold them freehold to establish the little town. Meantime Father Kranewitter established the first Catholic seminary in Australia. Local Catholics contributed substantially to Jesuit funds after their return from the Victorian goldfields and the first church was finished in 1856. At that time the Church had a seven acre vineyard and soon began making altar wine. The Sevenhill College was also established in 1856. Eventually the Jesuits owned over 1,000 acres of freehold land around Sevenhill. Until settled by act of parliament in 1940 people were unsure of whether the town was Sevenhill or Sevenhills but Kranewitter had called it Sevenhill.
The current St Aloysius church was a later structure that was started in 1861. St Aloysius was officially opened in November 1866. A crypt was constructed underneath the church, mainly for the burial of the Jesuit fathers. The Sevenhill College was gradually constructed clearly with plans for further additions which never occurred. By 1858 there were 20 boarders in the college and two were theological students who formed the basis of the first Catholic seminary in Australia. Father Kranewitter was the “professor” of Latin, History and Geography and Father Palhuber was “professor” of Poetry, Greek, Mathematics and French and Father Moeser was “professor” of German, Hebrew and Music and Mr Byrne was “professor” of English Literature and Bookkeeping. In 1859 fees for the college were £40 a year for full board and study and £5 a year for day students. The foundation stone for the new main college building was laid in 1868 and the college was completed by 1871 when newspaper advertising for students began. Prior to this Father Kranewitter moved to Melbourne where he died in 1880. Among the early students were Peter and Donald MacKillop, brothers of Saint Mary MacKillop. In 1871 the college had 52 boys, 29 boarding at the college and 23 day boys from the surrounding district. The new college building was officially opened in 1875. It catered for around 40 students, mainly boarders, until it closed in 1885. Apart from the college and church, the Jesuit brothers brought the wine industry to the Clare Valley. They established the first vineyard of the district in 1851 (about the same time as the first vines were planted in the Barossa and also at Langhorne Creek). The Jesuit Brothers still operate the Sevenhill winery.
Francis Weickert never recovered his money from the settlers’ voyage and died a poor man at Sevenhill in October 1875. He had paid for some of the families to migrate on condition that they repaid the money or worked for him on his property for no wages. Weickert also donated some of his own land to the Jesuits. He was buried in the Jesuit Sevenhill cemetery in 1875. The ruins of Weickert’s Sevenhill farm can be visited just below the church and Shrine and they include the ruins of Weickert’s house built in 1865, his dairy, stables, barns and other houses. His smoke house for his meats was later converted into the Sevenhill Shrine. The structures were destroyed in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 and some restoration work was completed in 2019 to make this a pilgrimage centre for the Jesuits in Australia. The restored complex was officially opened in March 2023 with some new structures.
Sevenhill in the Clare Valley. This tiny stone shrine to St Ignatius was built in 1870 and now restored. Built by two Jesuits -Brother Lenz and Brother Danielewicz.
Sevenhill village and the Jesuit centre on Weikert’s Farm ruins.
South Australia has been called the “Paradise of Dissent” as the nonconformist Protestant churches played such a significant role in the early history of this state but there have always been important enclaves of Irish and German Catholic populations in the Clare Valley. In 1848 a Silesian farmer, Francis (Franz) Weckert (Weikert) gathered together a group of people interested in forming a new Catholic community free of religious persecution in South Australia. He and his followers wanted to escape the 1848 revolutions of Europe that had only tightened regulations on them in protestant Germany. Weickert financed the voyage for needy people and they arrived in December 1848 from Hamburg on the Alfred. Weickert was 56 years old and his occupation was listed on the arrival list as Jesuit Mission leader. His wife Fransiska and their nine children travelled with him and 130 German Catholics. Weckert purchased some land at Sevenhill and he obtained the services of a Father Kranewitter, a Jesuit brother and two others called Schriener and Sadler for the SA community.
In 1849 the Catholic Church in Austria sent a sizable sum of money to Father Kranewitter on 100 acres of fertile land he had leased from Thomas Burr in the Clare Valley, with a 31 year lease with the option to buy at the land for £3 to £7 per acre by the end of the lease. Father Kranewitter gave 31 year sublet leases to Catholic farmers who expected to easily purchase their land at the expiry of their leases. This seldom happened. Kranewitter had previously leased some other land where there was a house for himself and his fellow priests. More money arrived from Austria for the proposed community in early 1850 and Bishop Murphy, the Catholic bishop in Adelaide, also gave some money. Section 91 of the Hundred of Clare was surveyed for leased town allotments which became Sevenhill. In January 1851 Father Kranewitter leased, for just £2 per acre with right of purchase, the site of the future church, seminary and college. Father Kranewitter named the locality Sevenhill and the local stream the Tiber (after the River in Rome) and the seven hills of Rome. In 1855 Father Kranewitter obtained possession of the town allotments and then gradually sold them freehold to establish the little town. Meantime Father Kranewitter established the first Catholic seminary in Australia. Local Catholics contributed substantially to Jesuit funds after their return from the Victorian goldfields and the first church was finished in 1856. At that time the Church had a seven acre vineyard and soon began making altar wine. The Sevenhill College was also established in 1856. Eventually the Jesuits owned over 1,000 acres of freehold land around Sevenhill. Until settled by act of parliament in 1940 people were unsure of whether the town was Sevenhill or Sevenhills but Kranewitter had called it Sevenhill.
The current St Aloysius church was a later structure that was started in 1861. St Aloysius was officially opened in November 1866. A crypt was constructed underneath the church, mainly for the burial of the Jesuit fathers. The Sevenhill College was gradually constructed clearly with plans for further additions which never occurred. By 1858 there were 20 boarders in the college and two were theological students who formed the basis of the first Catholic seminary in Australia. Father Kranewitter was the “professor” of Latin, History and Geography and Father Palhuber was “professor” of Poetry, Greek, Mathematics and French and Father Moeser was “professor” of German, Hebrew and Music and Mr Byrne was “professor” of English Literature and Bookkeeping. In 1859 fees for the college were £40 a year for full board and study and £5 a year for day students. The foundation stone for the new main college building was laid in 1868 and the college was completed by 1871 when newspaper advertising for students began. Prior to this Father Kranewitter moved to Melbourne where he died in 1880. Among the early students were Peter and Donald MacKillop, brothers of Saint Mary MacKillop. In 1871 the college had 52 boys, 29 boarding at the college and 23 day boys from the surrounding district. The new college building was officially opened in 1875. It catered for around 40 students, mainly boarders, until it closed in 1885. Apart from the college and church, the Jesuit brothers brought the wine industry to the Clare Valley. They established the first vineyard of the district in 1851 (about the same time as the first vines were planted in the Barossa and also at Langhorne Creek). The Jesuit Brothers still operate the Sevenhill winery.
Francis Weickert never recovered his money from the settlers’ voyage and died a poor man at Sevenhill in October 1875. He had paid for some of the families to migrate on condition that they repaid the money or worked for him on his property for no wages. Weickert also donated some of his own land to the Jesuits. He was buried in the Jesuit Sevenhill cemetery in 1875. The ruins of Weickert’s Sevenhill farm can be visited just below the church and Shrine and they include the ruins of Weickert’s house built in 1865, his dairy, stables, barns and other houses. His smoke house for his meats was later converted into the Sevenhill Shrine. The structures were destroyed in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 and some restoration work was completed in 2019 to make this a pilgrimage centre for the Jesuits in Australia. The restored complex was officially opened in March 2023 with some new structures.