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Father Tucker by Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Tucker, Gerard  Kennedy (1885  - 1974)

The Reverend Father Gerard Tucker, founder of the Brotherhood of St Laurence.  (1930)

 

Tucker, Gerard Kennedy (1885–1974)

by Ruth Carter

This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, (MUP), 1990 (This is a shared entry with Horace Finn Tucker)

Horace Finn Tucker (1849-1911) and Gerard Kennedy Tucker (1885-1974), Anglican clergymen, were father and son. Horace was born on 13 October 1849 at Cambridge, England, third child of Joseph Kidger Tucker, clergyman, and his wife Elizabeth, née Finn. Joseph was appointed Australian agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the family arrived in Sydney in 1861.

Educated at Moore Theological College, New South Wales, Horace was made deacon in 1873 and ordained priest in 1874. On 10 September 1873 he had married Caroline Lavinia, daughter of William Adams Brodribb at St Andrew's Anglican Church, Brighton, Melbourne. His first parishes were in central Victoria where his sermons and pioneering spirit attracted the attention of Bishop Moorhouse. Promoted in 1880 to the prosperous Melb

ourne parish of Christ Church, South Yarra, Tucker set up three mission churches and established a grammar school.

During the depression of the 1890s Horace and Rev. Charles Strong promoted a scheme for resettling the unemployed in country areas. In 1892-94 Tucker Village Settlements, of about 200 families, were established in Gippsland and central Victoria, but were unable to continue due to lack of capital, worsening economic conditions and mismanagement. Recognizing their efforts, the government passed a Settlement of Lands Act (1893) to provide for future village community settlements. Horace published The New Arcadia (1894), a novel based on the ideals of the Tucker settlements, as well as a book of verse, After Many Days (1905), a study of the Christian saints, Lights for Lesser Days (1909), and articles on social issues.

 

Elected in 1894 a canon of St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, he retired from Christ Church in 1908, but continued parish work in outer suburbs until he died of a cerebral haemorrhage at Glen Iris on 22 December 1911. He was buried in St Kilda cemetery. His wife, three daughters and three sons survived him. A tall man of striking appearance—bald in later life—with a high forehead and luxuriant dark beard, Tucker was remembered by his parishioners for his good-humour, compassion and public service.

His son, Gerard Kennedy, was born on 18 February 1885 at South Yarra, Melbourne. From childhood he wanted to follow his father and grandfather into the Church. His years at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School were undistinguished; small and slight, he had a severe stammer which seemed likely to prevent him from entering the ministry. On leaving school, he worked briefly in a sugar factory and on a relation's farm, but neither experience proved successful and his father finally agreed that he should study for the priesthood. In 1908 Gerard entered St John's Theological College, Melbourne; with four other students, he approached Archbishop Henry Lowther Clarke, offering to work as celibate priests among the poor in the inner city. The idea was rejected as impractical, but it foreshadowed Tucker's later achievement.

Having failed his final examinations through extreme nervousness, in 1910 he offered his services as deacon to a parish in north-west Australia; he was totally unsuited to outback conditions and after a few months returned to Melbourne. There he was ordained priest in 1914, becoming curate of St George's, Malvern. On the outbreak of war he asked to be posted overseas as a chaplain. When this request was refused, he enlisted as a private soldier and sailed for the Middle East in December 1915. Three months later he was appointed chaplain to the Australian Imperial Force and served in Egypt and France until late 1917 when he was invalided back to Australia. In 1919 he published As Private and Padre with the A.I.F.

In 1920 Tucker was appointed to a parish near Newcastle, New South Wales, where he met Guy Colman Cox who shared his dream of a community of serving priests and in 1930 they founded the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Its four original members pledged to remain unmarried while part of the brotherhood, to live frugally and to practise an active community life. The first B.S.L. Quarterly Notes were published in 1932 for their supporters; over the next forty years they aired many important social issues.

At the invitation of Archbishop Head, in 1933 the Brotherhood of St Laurence moved to Melbourne where Tucker became curate at St Peter's Church, Eastern Hill, and missioner of St Mary's Mission, Fitzroy. In 1937-42 he was vicar of St Cuthbert's, East Brunswick. His first project was a hostel for homeless, unemployed men. In 1935 he devised a plan to move them and their families to a nearby farming community. Like his father's earlier schemes, this project was not altogether successful, but Gerard's settlement at Carrum Downs remained and by 1944 had become an effective community retirement village. It provided housing and activities for the elderly and later expanded to include self-contained flats for the infirm, as well as a cottage hospital.

Other major welfare schemes initiated by Fr Tucker included a hostel for homeless boys, a club for elderly pensioners, a seaside holiday home for poor families and an opportunity shop. His slight frame, clear blue eyes, horn-rimmed spectacles and hesitant voice became familiar to the people of Melbourne as he campaigned for the abolition of slums. He was appointed O.B.E. in 1956.

 

Gerard had moved in 1949 to Carrum Downs where he soon embarked on his new project, 'Food for Peace'. He encouraged residents at the settlement to contribute from their pensions to send a shipment of rice to India. Supporting groups formed throughout Australia and in 1961, as Community Aid Abroad, they became a national organization. Tucker published pamphlets in support of the project and, in 1954, an autobiography.

 

Another settlement for the elderly, St Laurence Park, opened at Lara, Victoria, in 1959. Tucker moved into its first cottage where he remained until his death at Geelong on 24 May 1974. He was buried in Melbourne general cemetery.

 

Source: Ruth Carter, 'Tucker, Gerard Kennedy (1885–1974)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 23 October 2018.

Link to website

This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, (MUP), 1990

 

 

War & Peace

1965

Father Tucker headed The Lara Movement a group "made up largely of lay people of various Christian denominations.  Their main object is to try to ascertain how the Christian religion can be more closely related with things of everyday life and especially in regard to the perilous state of the world at the present time."  The group launched a petition urging negotiation with North Vietnam (The Brotherhood News September 1965 (No.170) p.1; See "Church group urges Vietnam talks", The Age, 6 July 1965 p.15  8 December 2009).  

 

1966

Father Tucker wrote against conscription in his Brotherhood News editorial, "Must they be sent?", attacking it as "immoral and as such unfair and a violation of human rights (The Brotherhood News June 1966 (No.173) p.1)". 

 

Brief notes: 

 

  • Born Melbourne 1885, son of Canon Horace Tucker and Caroline Lavinia Brodribb, of Christ Church, South Yarra.  Educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, ordained in 1914.
  • Served as Private and Chaplain in AIF France (1915 - 1919) (For an appreciation of the impact on Tucker of his wartime experiences see the interview with historian Michael McKernan on "The Australian Churches and the Great War", the ABC Religion Report, 4 August 2004 at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/relrpt/stories/s1168711.html)
  • Priest in charge, then Rector of Adamstown Diocese of Newcastle (NSW), 1920 - 1933.
  • Began the Brotherhood of St Laurence on 8 December 1930.
  • Brotherhood transferred to Melbourne in 1933.
  • Appointed as missioner to St Mary’s Mission within the parish of St Peter’s, Eastern Hill in Melbourne - both he and Guy Cox licensed as curates in the same parish (1933)
  •  Moved to Carrum Downs (1948)
  • Honoured with an OBE (1956)
  • Left Carrum Downs (aged 75) and became the first resident at St Laurence Park. (1959)
  • Father Tucker's family history by Hilda Camer cousin to Father Tucker (1960), includes a family tree of the Tucker Family starting with Joseph Kidger Tucker & his wife Elizabeth Finn.
  •  Died 24 May 1974 (Brotherhood Action 1974). 
  • Ruth Carter, 'Tucker, Gerard Kennedy (1885–1974)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tucker-gerard-kennedy-9259/text15571, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 22 May 2017 

 

At the BSL's Annual General Meeting on 8 December 2010 marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a resolution was proposed and supported that Father Gerard Tucker be included as a 'Holy Person' in all appropriate Anglican Prayer calendars. 

 

Photos:

 

  

Left to right:

Fr Tucker in uniform, 1914.

Fr Tucker and his family (Horace Tucker, Lavinia, Doris and Gerard. South Yarra.)

Fr Tucker outside his cottage "Austin" at St Laurence Park.

Fr Tucker at Carrum Downs.

 


Select Bibliography

  • I. R. Carter, God and Three Shillings (Melb, 1967)
  • C. R. Badger, The Reverend Charles Strong and the Australian Church (Melb, 1971)
  • J. Handfield, Friends and Brothers (Melb, 1980)
  • People (Sydney), 20 Dec 1950, 27 Mar 1963
  • Australasian, 4 July 1896
  • Argus (Melbourne), 23 Dec 1911
  • Herald (Melbourne), 6 Sept 1947, 5 Jan 1957.

 

ALSO  


Tuxen, Thelma

1966 to 1968 Thelma worked with the Personal Canvass team of the Salvage Division.

1968 to 1985 she was the Organiser for the Auxiliaries and the fairs.

1985 she was appointed the Retail and Auxiliaries Manger.

1993 Thelma retired and the Brotherhood put on a special afternoon tea for her at the Town Hall.

1997 Thelma was nominated by the Charter Members of the Brotherhood to receive Life Membership in recognition of her many years of exceptional and untiring service.

 

 


 

Thomson, Peter Ashley (1936-2010)

Chaplain, Brotherhood of St Laurence (2001-2008)

Peter was born 19 March 1936

 

In 1959 Peter was ordained as an Anglican priest in Australia. Peter took on the creation and management of various community projects under the auspices of the Anglican Church within its parish framework.

 

In 1969 Peter was invited to become Chaplain in Australia's most exciting educational experiment this century: Timbertop. Yearly, two hundred 15 year olds took part in this educational outdoor campus. Peter stayed involved in this for 15 years, as Chaplain from 1969 to 1972, at which time he took leave to go to Oxford University, and then returned to Timbertop as Principal from 1975 to 1983.

 

In 1983 Peter was appointed Principal of a University College in Adelaide, during which time he continued to pursue his interest in community regeneration. This led him to being selected to chair the Social Justice Advisory Committee established to give independent advice to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet of the South Australian Government on Social Justice Issues.

 

In 1996, in the run up to the General Election, Peter returned to England to support Tony Blair, a close personal friend of 25 years from his Oxford days. During his time in the UK.Peter was a pioneer of the social enterprise movement and a founding member of the Social Entrepreneurs Network (SEN) in Australia, and worked closely with Andrew Mawson in the UK in establishing the Community Action Network (CAN). 

 

From 2001 on, Peter spent most of his time with his family in Melbourne, and worked as Chaplain for the Brotherhood of St Laurence until 2008.

In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Australian Honours, Peter was made a Member (AM) in the General Division for "service to the community through the support of projects to assist and improve social justice and community development".

Peter died on 16 January 2010


Memorial service will recognise a man of courage and faith (Brotherhood website March 5, 2010)

Charismatic priest who charmed a prime minister (Sydney Morning Herald February 15, 2010 )

Priest had big influence on everyone he met (The Age January 29, 2010)
The Keys of the Kingdom (Australian story transcript 29 June, 2010)

 


 

Taylor, Janet (1988 - March 2014)

Senior Researcher, Research and Policy Centre

 

Janet started work as senior research officer at the Brotherhood in 1988 when Bishop Peter Hollingworth was the Executive Director. The Brotherhood’s Research and Policy Centre (then known as the Social Policy and Research Centre) was lead by Jan Carter who had been Director since 1985. There were six research and policy staff plus several administrative staff. Two of the major focuses of SPRC's work at that time were child poverty and youth homelessness. For most of the 1990s the Brotherhood was led by Bishop Michael Challen, with the research centre renamed as ‘Social Action and Research’ headed by Alison McClelland. Janet was principal research officer or research coordinator, alongside a policy coordinator. From the early 2000s Janet chose to concentrate primarily on doing research and stepped back from the research management role. Her major projects until she retired in 2014 were: Refugees and Social Exclusion & The Life Chances Study. 

 

See also: Reflections on 26 years of research at the Brotherhood of St Laurence 

 

Publications:

1. Women’s use of community services Taylor, Janet 1990, Giving women voice: feminism and community services, Research for Action No. 1, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Melbourne.

2. Children leaving state care Taylor, Janet 1990, Leaving care and homelessness, Child Poverty Policy Review No. 5, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. 

3. Children of immigrants and poverty Taylor, Janet & MacDonald, Helen 1992, Children of immigrants: issues of poverty and disadvantage, Bureau of Immigration Research, AGPS, Canberra.

4. Poverty issues and measurement Taylor, Janet 1993, ‘Aboriginal Australians and poverty : issues of measurement’, Family Matters 35 August pp.46-47.

5. Health Care for Children Project Taylor, Janet 1994, ‘Access to health care for children in low-income families’, Australian Journal of Public Health, vol.18 no.1 pp.111-113.

6. The Life Chances Study Stages 1 to 5 Gilley, Tim & Taylor, Janet 1995, Unequal lives? Low income and life chances of three year olds, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet 1996, ‘Issues of paid employment for mothers of young children’, Women and Work (DEETYA), vol. 17, no. 3, November pp. 12-18. Taylor, Janet 1997, Kids and kindergarten: access to preschools in Victoria, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet & MacDonald, Fiona 1998, Life at six: life chances and beginning school, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Melbourne. The Life Chances Study commenced in 1990 with interviews with 167 mothers of children born in inner Melbourne. It was planned as a longitudinal study to explore poverty and disadvantage for children growing up in the 1990s. Tim Gilley was the project manager for the first three stages. Janet Taylor was involved in the initial planning of the project, ongoing advice and in the interviewing. She co-authored the report of the Stage 3. She also wrote separate reports on children of immigrants (see above) and of employment issues. She became the project manager of stage 4 and subsequent stages. (Funding (Stages 1 to 5) from Bureau of Immigration Research, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, George Adams Estate, Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services) The Life Chances film was made in 1994, an SBS documentary of seven of the families. Janet Taylor and Tim Gilley worked as consultants with the film makers.

7. Employment barriers for young people in NESB families Taylor, Janet 1995, Employment barriers for second generation young people of non-English speaking background, Report to the Victorian Department of Business and Employment. (unpublished)

8. The Understanding Poverty Project Taylor, Janet 2000, Australian conceptions of poverty: reviewing the literature, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet 2000, Poverty in Australia: listening to decision makers, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Melbourne. Johnson, Jeannette & Taylor, Janet 2000, Growing apart: a new look at poverty in Australia, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne.

9. Poverty on the fringe Taylor, Janet & Jope, Sally 2001, Poverty on the metropolitan fringe, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne.

10. Life Chances Study – Stage 6 Taylor, Janet & Fraser, Alex Fraser 2003, Eleven plus: life chances and family income, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne.

11. Refugees and social exclusion Taylor, Janet, 2004, ‘Refugees and social exclusion: what the literature says’, Migration Action, vol. 26, no. 2, pp.16-31. Taylor, Janet & Stanovic, Dayane 2004, ‘Services and entitlements: refugees, migrants and asylum seekers’, Migration Action, vol. 26, no. 2, pp.32-35. Taylor, Janet & Stanovic, Dayane 2005, Refugees and regional settlement: balancing priorities, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet & Stanovic, Dayane 2005, ‘Refugees and regional settlement: a simple equation?’, Migration Action vol 27, no. 2, pp. 15-27.

12. Life Chances stages 7 to 10 – school engagement and early school leaving Taylor, Janet & Nelms, Lucy 2006, School engagement and life chances: 15 year olds in transition, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet & Nelms, Lucy 2008, Life chances at 16, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet 2009, Stories of early school leaving: pointers for policy and practice, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet and Gee, Nina 2010, Turning 18: pathways and plans, Life Chances Study stage 9, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet, Borlagdan, J & Allan, Malita 2012, Turning 21: life chances and uncertain transitions, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne. Taylor, Janet 2014, Life Chances: stories of growing up in Australia, Federation Press, NSW.

13. Towards new indicators of disadvantage Saunders, P, Naidoo Y & Griffiths, M with the assistance of Davidson, P (ACOSS), Hampshire, A, Taylor, J, Bellamy, J & King. S 2007, Towards new indicators of disadvantage: deprivation and social exclusion in Australia, Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW, Sydney. ARC grant partnership project led by Peter Saunders, Social Policy Research Centre, exploring indicators of poverty, using focus groups, and surveys of service users and the general public. 

Various chapters:

Taylor, Janet & Challen, Michael, 1998, ‘Voices of poverty’ in Australian poverty: then and now, (eds) Ruth Fincher & John Nieuwenhuysen, Melbourne University Press. 

Taylor, Janet 2002, ‘Unemployment and family life’ in P Saunders & R Taylor (eds), The price of prosperity: the economic and social coast of unemployment, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. 

Taylor, Janet 2003, ‘The health of children’ in P Liamputtong & H Gardner (eds), Health, Social Change and Communities, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. 

 

 

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