From the goldfields of the 1850s to the diverse community of central Victoria today, faith has been woven into the way people have lived, worked and related to one another.
A new book, Believing on Upside Down Country: The Changing Faith-scape of Bendigo, explores that often-overlooked part of the region’s history, examining how faith, spirituality and belief have shaped everyday life, cultural relationships and social cohesion across Bendigo and Victoria’s central goldfields.
The book brings together more than a decade of research by La Trobe University historians and researchers, exploring the experiences of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist communities, as well as the resilience and continuing spiritual life of the Djaara people.
It looks beyond the history of religious institutions to consider faith as it was actually lived – in family and community traditions, rituals, social relationships, acts of service, and the everyday encounters between people of different cultures and beliefs.
The book reveals that diversity was particularly pronounced on the goldfields, where people from very different cultural and religious backgrounds lived and worked in close proximity to each other, and explores how communities negotiated those differences, sometimes through tension and conflict, but also through relationships and shared practices that helped form a cohesive regional society.
The research grew from an initiative of the Aspire Cultural and Charitable Foundation, the cultural and charitable auspice of the Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst, which recognised the need to better understand the role faith had played in Bendigo’s social history.
Aspire helped bring together La Trobe University and the City of Greater Bendigo to undertake the research, which was supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, with additional support from Aspire and La Trobe University.
The project has drawn on a wide range of historical sources, including the archives of the Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst. Diocesan Archivist, Dr Donna Bailey was a Partner Investigator and made diocesan archives available to the researchers, assisting the authors in their work.
For Bendigo’s Catholic community, Chapter 6, ‘Building an Irish Roman Catholic Church on the goldfields and Northern Victoria, 1852–1914’, by local historian Charles Fahey, will be of particular interest.
Charles traces the development of Catholicism in Bendigo from the ministry of Fr Henry Backhaus through the leadership of Bishop Martin Crane and Bishop Stephen Reville. He argues that while Backhaus established the first Catholic church in Bendigo, Crane and Reville had a more enduring influence on the character of Catholic life across Bendigo and northern Victoria.
Bishops Crane and Reville brought devotional practices rooted in Ireland at a time when large numbers of Irish Catholic migrants were settling across northern Victoria. Their influence helped establish a strong culture of Catholic devotion, expressed through the building of churches and schools and the practices of faith that sustained communities well beyond the decline of the goldfields.
The building of Sacred Heart Cathedral was part of this development. Construction began in 1896, financed in part by money borrowed from mining magnate George Lansell, and the cathedral was consecrated in 1901, the year of Bishop Crane’s death.
Other chapters examine religion and social cohesion on the goldfields, religious diversity and interfaith relationships, and the resilience of Djaara people following the profound disruption of Country caused by the gold rush.
Believing on Upside Down Country offers a richer picture of Bendigo’s past – one that doesn’t reduce the importance of faith to a history of churches and institutions, but an integral part of the everyday story of the people and communities who have shaped the region.
Representing Aspire Foundation and the Diocese at the book launch, diocesan Business Manager, Greg Westbrook, paid particular tribute to the late Gordon McKern OAM, Aspire Foundation’s inaugural Chair, and the late Monsignor Frank Marriott OAM, an Aspire board member and co-founder of the Bendigo Interfaith Council, established in 2014 amid growing agitation around the proposed mosque in Bendigo. He also acknowledged the work of Gordon, Frank and the Hon. Howard Nathan AM in fostering respect and understanding among faith leaders and the wider community.
“I thank those who had the vision to address the vibrant history of diversity and faith in Bendigo over time,” said Greg. “I warmly congratulate everyone involved in researching and writing Believing on Upside Down Country. The outcome of your collaboration will undoubtedly make a valuable contribution to ongoing discussion and understanding, sparking further conversation and debate, while igniting curiosity for future generations.”
ANU Press has made Believing on Upside Down Country available for free digital download: https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n15024/html/ch06.xhtml?referer=&page=13#