Bleischwitz, Alphonse (1910-1993)
Spent nineteen years at Balgo, five years as rector of Lombadina and ten years as parish priest in Wyndham. Witnessed the dismissal of the Pallottines from Aboriginal affairs and wrote an unpublished history of Balgo.
Alphonse Bleischwitz was a son of farmers Josef and Hedwig Bleischwitz née Rasch in Zadel (Silesia). In 1924 his siblings were Magdalena (born 1908), Joseph (born 1909), and Bruno (born 1920), and his mother was still of childbearing age. After completing Volksschule (public school) at age 14 he was granted admission to the Pallottine Herz Jesu Missionshaus in Breslau (Frankenstein) that had opened in 1919 and which had just received recognition as a private high school. The rector then sent him to Vallendar in 1929 to attend the mission college:
Bischofs, Joseph Fr. (1878-1958)
Born 21 March 1878 Dülken (Aachen)
Died 28 July 1958, George (South Africa), age 80
In the Pallottine Kimberley missions from 1905 to 1920, first as superior of Beagle Bay and then as Parochus in Broome. Was classified as an enemy alien during World War I and later became Regional Superior in South Africa.
Bachmair, Thomas (1872-1918)
5 December (Regensburg)
died 27 August 1918 Beagle Bay, age 55
Superintendent of Beagle Bay from 1910 to 1913.Struggled against his superiors in Limburg to save the mission, and turned around its finances from heavy debts to credit. Initiated the building of the famous church at Beagle Bay and died weeks after its completion.
Thomas Bachmair entered the Pallottine novitiate in Limburg at an unusually late age of 26 in 1898, received his habit in 1901, made his profession in September 1903 and was ordained in July 1906. The Pallottine histories suggest that he was appointed to Beagle Bay in 1904 to replace Fr. Rensmann, although Rensmann’s teaching replacement arrived in May 1904 in the form of a civilian.
Balgo (1940-1965)
Old Balgo was settled in 1942 after a group of Pallottines spent years wandering in the desert seeking to fulfill Bishop Raible’s vision for a Pallottine Kimberley.They found the site selected by the Bishop unsuitable and ended up settling on a private run by mistake. In 1965 the mission was relocated to Balgo Hills, now Wirrimanu.
Droste Diary
Diary of Wilhelm Droste, September 1913-May 1920
From Personalakten, Limburg
(reference: Droste, Wilhelm P. P1-17 ZAPP)
Transcribed and translated by Regina Ganter August 2011, with comments from Roberta Cowan (in red) and Br. Brian Cunningham FSC
This document is downloadable in PDF format
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Droste- Letters in 1929
Dear Rev Fr. Droste,
just a few lines to let you know that we have not forgotten you, our dear and good father........... It must be terribly cold by now in Germany. ..... 24
[Sibosado]
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Droste, Wilhelm Fr (1874-1929)
born 22 March 1874, Hofstede
died 10th December 1929 Wasserfall/Rausbeck (Westphalia) age 55
Much loved Pallottine ‘ibal’ (father) at Beagle Bay from 1909 to 1929. Left a mission diary.
Vaccari-Polding correspondence
Illustrissime et Reverendissime Domine,
Snell, Joseph (1802-1862)
One of four Passionist Fathers in the first Catholic mission in Australia at Stradbroke Island, he was of Swiss origin, multilingual, and worked alongside three Italians. The internal politics of the Catholic Church and its difficult position in early colonial Australia ensured the failure of the mission. Snell remained in the Australian colonies until his death.
Joseph Snell was born in Lyons as the son of a wealthy Swiss banker and converted to Catholicism at age 23. He entered the Passionist novitiate at Monte Argentaro [silver mountain,] to be ordained in 1830.
Flierl, Luise (1861-1934)
Luise Flierl nee Auricht, a third-generation German-Australian from Tanunda, was associated with the Dieri mission at Bethesda (SA) and helped to found the Lutheran missions in New Guinea. As the wife of pioneer missionary Johann Flierl, she was pivotal in the spread of Lutheran mission outreach into the north.
