John Therry

John Therry (1790 - 25 May 1864) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest in Sydney, Australia.

John Therry was born in Cork and was privately educated at St Patrick's College in Carlow. In 1815 he was ordained as a priest. He did parish work in Dublin and later on was secretary to the Bishop of Cork. He had heard that Catholic convicts in Australia were without a priest to minister to them, and let it be known that he would be willing to go there as a missionary. On 5 December 1819 he sailed on the Janus with another priest, the Rev. P. Conolly, as a companion. They arrived at Sydney on 3 May 1820. Unlike Father O'Flynn, who had previously arrived without government sanction and had been deported, the two priests were accredited chaplains with a salary from the government of £1000 a year each. The two men were of different temperaments and found it difficult to agree, and in 1821 Conolly went to Tasmania and remained there until his death in 1839.

Therry set about his work with great enthusiasim. His chief anxiety was the need of a church, and in view of the increase in the population of Sydney in future years, it was decided that it should be on a large scale. Almost by chance the site on which St Mary's Cathedral now stands was granted by the government, subscriptions were given by generous people, including many non-Catholics, and by 1823 it had been agreed that if a fresh subscription were opened the government would give a sum "equal to the sum total of all such additional donations". Governor Macquarie had laid the foundation-stone on 29 October 1821. Governor Thomas Brisbane, who succeeded Macquarie, was tolerant and helpful, but when Governor Darling arrived in December 1825 a period of anxiety for Therry and his church set in.

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