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September 29, 1895
New Belvedere Orphanage Opened
On September 29, 1895 one hundred and twenty little girls moved into the new orphanage known throughout the province as Belvedere.
At the time that the “new Orphanage” opened it was staffed by eleven women from the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy who lived at St. Michael’s Convent, Belvedere. The new orphanage was dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel.
The little girls did not have far to move to get to their new home. Previous to the opening of the “new orphanage” the girls, who were orphans from all over the province, had lived in a property known as Belvedere.
Belvedere had been in the hands of the church since September of 1847. Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming purchased the residence for himself and the Franciscan monks. It served as their home until Fleming's death in the building on July 14, 1850.
The monks found the accommodation unsuitable because it was too far from the Henry Street Chapel (the site of the first Catholic Church) and the school on Military Road so they (the monks) moved into the apartment above the school. By 1853 they had all returned to Ireland.
The building then served as a residence for the seminarians at St. Bonaventure's College while their building was under construction.
SISTERS OF MERCY TAKE OVER ST. MICHAEL’S CONVENT, BELVEDERE
In 1859 Belvedere took on new life as an orphanage for girls under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy as St. Michael's Convent. The convent had, by the 1880s, become too small for the growing number of orphans and a new building was opened on September 29, 1885.
This structure served as an orphanage until 1967, after which it was used as a school. It was then used as the offices of the Roman Catholic School Board for St. John's, the Social Action Office of the R.C. Archdiocese and as offices for the "The Monitor" the Catholic monthly newspaper.
The Sisters of Mercy sold the Orphanage and the convent to a company called Myles Leger who had plans to develop condominiums, apartment buildings and service shops on the 7.5 acre property.
Today a section of the building is being used by Medical Care Plan (MCP), 57 Margaret's Place (off Newtown Road) in St. John's.
For a complete history on Belvedere Orphanage and St. Michaels Convent go to: www.historictrust.com/advocacy_belvedere20.shtml
For more information on the Mercy Congregation in Newfoundland and Labrador read Sister Kathrine Bellamy’s, RSM - “Weavers of the Tapestry” available in the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese and most book stores in the province www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese. www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca
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Larry Dohey
Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s
P.O. Box 1363
St. John’s, NL
A1C 5M3
709-726-3660
E-mail: archives@nf.aibn.com
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