Rev Jeremiah Sullivan SJ
Title:
Rev
First Name:
Jeremiah
Middle Names:
Preferred Name:
Surname:
Sullivan
Order:
SJ
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Preston, Melbourne VIC
Country of Birth:
Australia
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Innsbruck
Country of Ordination:
Austria
Ordination Diocese:
Seminary:
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Fitzroy, Melbourne VIC
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Boroondara, Kew VIC
Country of Burial:
Australia
Find A Grave URL:
Appointments Table
Diocese | Place | Role | Start Day | Start Month | Start Year | End Day | End Month | End Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | Riverview | Prefect of Studies, St Ignatius College | 1913 | 1917 | ADB | ||||
| Melbourne | Melbourne | Rector, Xavier College | 1917 | 1923 | ADB | ||||
| Australia | National | Jesuit Superior | 1923 | 1931 | ADB | ||||
| Melbourne | Melbourne | Headmaster, Xavier College | 1931 | 1931 | ADB | ||||
| Melbourne | Hawthorn | Jesuit Superior | 1931 | 1934 | ADB | ||||
| Melbourne | Werribee | Administrator, Corpus Christi College | 1935 | 1946 | ADB | ||||
| Melbourne | Melbourne | Rector, Loyola College | 1946 | 1952 | ADB |
Biographical Notes
Australian Dictionary of Biography entry: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sullivan-jeremiah-11800
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Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Sullivan, Jeremiah
Mission superior, administrator, teacher, philosopher; born Preston, Victoria, 31 December 1877; died Melbourne, 17 February 1960, aged 82.
Jeremiah Sullivan, one of fourteen children, attended school in Heidelberg and St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, and entered the Society, 8 September 1894, at Loyola College, Greenwich. After his juniorate at the same place, 1897-98, he did regency for six years at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, before leaving Australia for Stonyhurst, where he studied philosophy, 1905-08. He studied theology, first, for one year at Milltown Park, Dublin, then two years in Innsbruck, Austria, and one year at Posilipo, Naples. Tertianship was at Tullabeg.
He returned to Australia in 1913, and was appointed prefect of studies at Riverview until 1917, before becoming the first Australian born rector of Xavier College, Melbourne, until 1923. It was during this time that the college won the football premiership, two cricket premierships and a dead heat at the head of the river. Burke Hall was also acquired.
Sullivan was afterwards appointed superior of the mission until 1931. He was later superior of the parish of Hawthorn till 1934, then professor of classics and church history at the regional seminary, Werribee. His final appointment was to Loyola College, Watsonia, where he was rector, 1946-50, and lectured the juniors in Latin.
Commonly called 'Spot', he was a very handsome and striking-looking man with a stately walk and rich, sonorous voice. He had a remarkable memory and was a prodigious reader. He was capable intellectually, a good superior with sound judgment, mild and generous, but firm when necessary. The province liked him more than either his predecessor, William Lockington, or his successor, John Fahy. He had a great capacity for work, 'was a gentleman in every sense of the word' and a deeply spiritual man.
He did everything in a big way; he was a man who was never narrow or petty in any of his actions. He was always kind, understanding and sincere, judicial and courageous in all his dealings, and one who was accepted by his peers as a good leader. As rector of Xavier College, his wisdom and understanding were much appreciated.
He was a learned priest, historian, classicist, and mathematician. He was also a reserved person who spent little time in strictly pastoral work. His end came suddenly, but he had been in poor and declining health for his last four years.
(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)