Sydney; Ballarat, Vic

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Shipping Intelligence. Arrivals, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 February 1848, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12901814:

February 6. - St. Vincent, ship, 629 tons, Captain Young, from Liverpool the 7th October. Passengers - Most Rev. John Bede Polding, D.D., Roman Catholic Archbishop, Rev. Peter Magagnotto, Rev. John Gowrbeillon, Rev. Ruggiero Emanuele, Roman Catholic Priests ; Rev. Mr. Luckie, Rev. Mr. P. Ryan, Deacons; Messrs. E. Caldwell, B. Caldwell, and E. Moore, Sub-Deacons; Messrs. Counery, Sheridan, Neville, and Morin; Mrs. Mary Magdalen Leclerc, Miss Mary Scholastica Gregory, George and Henry Thurkell, and William Tyrer.

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The Fine Arts— Father John Gourbeillon, Freeman's Journal, Sydney, 24 May 1856, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115563028:

[...] It is pretty generally known that there is in Sydney, one, who although a humble missionary, is, nevertheless, a glorious artist — one who belongs to that pure and ideal school we have alluded to — one who although he does not exhibit the most rigid knowledge of anatomy — and who never deals in nude figures ; nevertheless to some extent realizes your ideal of heavenly faces — one who although he has concealed himself for Christ's sake, is notwithstanding sure to win a splendid immortality. We mean Father John Gourbeillon.

Lest we should be accused of exaggeration, we shall give the views of the most rigid e---ical journal in the world, on Father John's Australian contribution to the Paris Exhibition. The Univers in an able article, of which a translation has been handed to us for insertion, says:—

"Among those Christian artists whom the Church will never fail to produce, but who at the present day are few in number, and whose humble virtues and chaste talent seem to belong to a bygone age, there is one who, eight years ago, quitted the Abbey of Solesmes for the Australian mission. We witnessed his departure with a deep regret, not only on account of the brotherly affection we all entertained for that excellent man, Dom J. Gourbeillon, but because we lost in him one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Christian art. We were afraid that, when arrived in Australia, the duties of a missionary, and the noble struggles which his faith ambitioned, would have served to put an end to his career as an artist. Almighty God has not permitted it. This very year, in the midst of the splendours of the universal Exhibition, we have been enabled to admire the humble but magnificent contribution of our missionary-artist. In Sydney he was furnished with neither clay nor marble, but out of the wax gathered for him by the bees of Australia, he has modelled an angel bearing in its veiled hands the Holy Crown of Thorns. Several pearls from Moreton Bay adorn the tunic of the angel, whilst the Holy Crown is made of massive gold — of that Australian gold which is so much coveted by all Europe. Many persons who have minutely regarded the pure features and the noble naive attitude of the angel of Dom Gourbeillon, have inquired why it had not a place in the Exhibition of Fine Arts. The juries of art thought proper to class it among the specimens of merely industrial art, yet could not avoid making honourable mention of it. Nevertheless this statuette has fulfilled its mission. In dependently of the pleasing recollection it awakened in us, it seemed to us that this sweet and holy figure would be a mute enigma for those eyes that are only dazzled by material splendour. As it is, we are about to send it to its proper destination, and if the intention of the author be realized, another angel bearing the Lance and Nails, symbols of our Lord's Passion, will soon be added as a companion to it, on the altar of the Benedictines of Solesmes."

We fully concur in these remarks; and we fervently hope, that there is public spirit enough in Australia, and adequate appreciation of the Beautiful and the True, to encourage Father John Gourbeillon to prosecute his divine work, and give us additional manifestations, of his pure, lofty, and unmistakeable genius.

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"Where is Father John?", Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 5 July 1859, p 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18656224:

Where is "Father John?" — In the Freeman's Journal, of Saturday last, appeared the following mysteriously worded paragraph, which could scarcely fail from its singularity to have attracted attention:—
"The Rev. J. Gourbeillon. — Just before going to press, the melancholy intelligence reached us that Father John Gourbeillon, O.S.B., has taken his passage to London on board the Viscount Canning. We regret that both time and space are not allowed us to give the public a satisfactory solution of his almost mysterious disappearance. His amiability and many excellent qualities, both as a clergyman and a man, were universally attested by every class in the community." We have ascertained that the name of the Reverend John Gourbeillon does not appear in the passenger list of the Viscount Canning, filed at the Water Police Office; neither is it discoverable in the list of any other vessel which sailed hence contemporaneously. Truly, the Rev. Father would appear to have been "spirited away" in a marvellous manner ; but a statement which has during the week been made to us by a Miss Mary Theresa Scott, purports to throw a strange light upon his Reverence's disappearance. The explanation of the matter, as afforded by this young woman, demands the most rigid inquiry and confirmation before publicity be given to it; and such inquiry is now being vigilantly prosecuted. It involves interests so momentous, and compromises personages so exalted, that its truth or falsehood for the sake of all parties must be established. The young woman in question is at present prostrated on a bed of sickness, from which, we have the authority of her medical attendant for stating, it is extremely doubtful whether she will ever arise. The patient may possibly, and we trust it may be so, be suffering under some hallucination, though no symptom of aberration of intellect is perceptible either in her demeanour or conversation. As the subject is one in which the highest interests of the community are concerned, we shall lend our utmost aid towards its full and satisfactory development.—Bell's Life in Sydney, July 2.

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Miscellaneous, Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 6 July 1859, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118247408:

The Rev. Mr. Gourbeillon, generally known as Father John, has taken his departure for England rather hurriedly. There are some scandalous whispers as to the cause.

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Mary Peter Damian McKinley and M. Xavier Compton, eds., The Letters of John Bede Polding OSB, Volume 2: 1844-1860, Glebe Point NSW, 1994-, pp 300-301:

To: [Bishop Elect] P.B. Geoghegan [OFM]
Sydney
9 July 1859

My ever dear Lord
I have often written to you with a heavy heart, but never so oppressed with bitter grief as at present. Shame casts me down and if duty permitted, never again should the world know of my existence. I hinted to you in my last that I dreaded a coming storm. It has come. The sad career of guilt which F. John [D. Jean Gourbeillon, the French sculptor-monk] has been pursuing has become the subject of public scandal. The wicked woman by whom he has been seduced into sin has fallen into the hands of a party who determined to make money of her vile revelations and fictions either by extorting an enormous sum for silence or by the sale of the detailed account she gives of her infamy. It would be well you should know the truth so far as I can give it. There is no doubt of his wickedness and carried on in his own room and for a length of time — and this will have the worst effect, I fear, on those who do not know how we were situated. Of course I need not say that no one did or could suspect anything of the kind. He was attentive to his sacerdotal and missionary duties, attended assiduously to the sick and the Conf. I shudder whilst I write this. He had two rooms in the passage to the Church from the House, and it was chiefly by the windows, which are very low that the wicked creature came in. Suspicions were raised in F Austin's mind by a cough which he heard. This did not lead to detection but some days after the woman came to me and made a declaration of what had taken place. She supposed that F.A. had seen her for he went out and tried to look into the room. Oh horrible! horrible! To palliate his own guilt he has told, she states, infamous things about his Br Priests — about the Priesthood. I have reason to know that he has been one of the principal suppliers to the Journal of the calumnies against the V.G. Before he embarked, in the presence of Messrs Ellis and Faucett he retracted certain assertions about tyranny and charges against the Clergy. Others he declared he had never uttered. In the hope that the Journal would not notice his absence Ellis waited upon Heydon, and intimated sufficient of this sad case to induce him to pass it by. Heydon promised this and we comforted ourselves that the thing would die away peaceably when Alas! six or eight lines drew public attention to his departure! Heydon says this was put in without his knowledge. Be it as it may, this is the cause of our present calamity. I have written so far anticipating that after the flourishing advts inserted in the Herald yesterday that this day's print of Bell [Bell's Life in Sydney] would have had her infamous statements whether certain intimations of libel or what other may be the cause — only some twenty lines refer to F. John. Bad enough — shocking — still not the filthy thing we had reason to expect. It is however to be published they say. [...]

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"Father John", Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 12 July 1859, p 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18653759:

"Father John."—The accuracy of the announcement which appeared in our last, respecting a statement made by a Miss Scott, purporting to be explanatory of the late mysterious disappearance, and alleged departure from the colony, of the Reverend John Gourbeillon, O.S.B., we are now prepared to confirm. It is beyond question that an improper intimacy, extending over a period of eighteen months, existed between our informant and the reverend gentleman, and that this intimacy commenced in his own room, and was continued until a revelation was made, in a moment of exasperation, by the young woman herself. Father John was immediately removed, and she, in her endeavours to discover his place of concealment, lost her way in the vicinity of a certain conventual establishment, and was discovered in a state of insensibility from fatigue and exposure, having passed the night in the bush. According to her statement, she was tended by some persons who implied to her feet bricks heated to such an excessive degree as to cause most serious injury, and incapacitate her from walking. She subsequently contrived to reach Sydney, after inexpressible suffering, and has since been confined to her bed. Symptoms of mortification have appeared in her right foot, a portion, if not the whole, of which she is likely to lose, and she remains in a most critical state. She has submitted to writing the details of her acquaintance with Father John, and its lamentable results, and purposes as soon as convalescent to make affidavit of their truth, when publicity will be given to them.—Bell's Life in Sydney, July 9.

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Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 9 August 1859, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18649117:

We learn from a reliable source that the Rev. John Gourbeillon, O.S.B., commonly termed "Father John," is at present a resident of New Caledonia. He is said to be in the enjoyment of his usual excellent health and spirits.—Era, Aug. 6.

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Le R.P. Jean. Vétéran de la Congrégation Bénédictine de France, La Croix, Paris, 9 March 1895, p 3, retronews.fr:

Le Révérendissime Abbé de Ligugé, dom Bourigaud, vient d'écrire une touchante notice nécrologique sur le R.P Jean. Nous sommes heureux d'en publier quelques extraits, et nous nous faisons un devoir de recommander très spécialement aux prières le vénéré défunt.

Une des plus attachantes figures de moine vient de disparaître de l'abbaye de Saint-Martin.

Le P. dom Eugène Gourbeillon, plus connu sous le nom de Père Jean, s'est éteint doucement vendredi 1er mars. C'était le dernier survivant des quatre premiers compagnons de dom Guéranger à Solesmes. Ceux-ci avaient fait profession ensemble, sous les auspices de la Vierge Marie, le 21 novembre 1837, entre les mains de leur jeune abbé.

Dom Eugène Gourbeillon était né à Chaumont (Maine-et-Loire), le 8 aout 1814. It fit ses études dans le diocèse d'Angers, ou il eut pour condisciple et pour émule le jeune Charles Couturier, qui fut le premier successeur de dom Guéranger.

Dom Gourbeillon avait 19 ans lorsqu'il vint se mettre sous la direction de l'illustre abbé.

Dans cet asile, la vue des Saints de Solesmes éveilla dans le jeune moine un gout inné pour la sculpture.

Dom Gueranger encouragea les heureuses dispositions de son disciple, qui, après sa profession, fut envoyé à Paris, étudier dans un atelier chrétien, sous la direction d'un maître habile, M. Bion, tertiaire de Saint-Dominique.

Il ne faut pas chercher dans les œuvres du Père Jehan de Solesmes les qualités dont l'auteur avait peu souci.

Le bon Père n'a jamais eu l'ambition d'arriver a l'Institut, non plus qu'a la fortune, quoiqu'il eut souvent a souffrir de sa pauvreté monastique, qui entravait l'exercice de son art, comme il s'en plaignait, parfois, doucement et naïvement.

Dom Gourbeillon était dominé exclusivement par le sentiment chrétien. Aussi ses figures en sont tout imprégnées. C'était un artiste d'un autre âge. La Sainte-Famille était son sujet privilégié.

Il voulait que ses statues inspirassent avant tout la piété, et fissent prier. Lui-même disait avec simplicité que ses meilleures prières étaient celles qu'il faisait devant ses chers Saints, même encore sur le chevalet.

Le R.P. Dom Gourbeillon considérait la pratique de son art comme un apostolat. C'est dans ces sentiments qu'il suivit bien volontiers, en Australie, Mgr Polding, Bénédictin anglais et premier évêque-missionnaire de Sydney, près duquel il sut allier les travaux artistiques à la vie de missionnaire pendant un douzaine d'années.

En 1881, après l'expulsion des moines de Ligugé et leur refuge sur la terre hospitalière de l'Espagne, abbaye de Saint-Dominique de Silos, le P. Jean partagea courageusement l'exil volontaire de ses confrères. Il reprit l'exercice de son art favori, malgré des difficultés matérielles de tout genre, pendant l'espace de huit ans environ.

Là s'arrête la carrière artistique du Père.

Il revint de Silos, déjà cassé par l'âge et les infirmités, aussi pauvre d'argent qu'à son départ de Ligugé, comme il le disait agréablement; mais, riche de merites devant Dieu par le bon emploi de son art; conservant dans sa vieillesse un esprit et une imagination toujours jeunes, qui lui représentaient, comme possibles, mille projets qu'il n'avait pu encore réaliser.

Le feu sacré de l'art ne s'est éteint, chez lui, qu'avec la vie. Le Père Jean lui donna, à Ligugé, ses dernières forces, et il ne céda que devant l'impuissance qu'il eut peine a reconnaitre. Ce n'est que lorsque les yeux presque éteints et les mains débiles vinrent a refuser leur service à l'énergique vieillard, que celui-ci dut, avec une amère tristesse, rendre les armes, c'est-à-dire déposer pour toujours ses instruments de travail.

Ce fut un dur sacrifice !

Il ne devait pas survivre longtemps à sa mort artistique.

Mais le moine sculpteur demande surtout aujourd'hui, à la place d'éloges inutiles, les prières de ses frères et de ses amis, afin que son Sauveur Jesus, qu'il a si souvent et si suavement représenté, ne lui montre pas un visage sévère; et que la Vierge Marie, saint Joseph et autres Saints qu'il a glorifiés dans ses œuvres, lui obtiennent promptement la récompense du bon et fidèle serviteur, dans le "lieu du rafraîchissement, de la lumière et de la paix."

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Death of a Sculptor Priest. He Carved the Statues of Old St. Mary's, Freeman's Journal, Sydney, 15 June 1895, p 17, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111111418:

Of the thousands who pass every day what remains of old St. Mary's Cathedral, probably not half a dozen know the history of those two stone statues which still stand as sentinels over the spot consecrated by memories of Father Therry and so many other pioneers of the Australian mission. The front of the old cathedral was barely touched by the memorable fire of 1865. The stained glass, of course, was smashed, but the massive stonework with the graceful Gothic window and the statues of Our Lady and St. Joseph remain as reminders of the good old days when Archbishop Polding gave his blessing from the art-enriched sanctuary, when the Benedictines sang the Vespers, and William Cordner sat in the organ-gallery.

Who carved these statues? A few old Catholic citizens will be able to answer, "Father John." He was called Father John in Sydney, but his name was Dom Eugene Gourbeillon, of the Order of St. Benedict, otherwise plain Père Jean. Only in March last this priest-sculptor passed away in France. His history is interesting.

He was the last survivor of the four companions who joined Dom Gueranger at Solesmes in 1837, who made their profession together under the auspices of the Blessed Virgin. Pere Jean was born in 1814, and in him the religious and the artistic feeling bore very early fruit. As soon as he entered the monastery he devoted his leisure to sacred sculpture, like so many other Benedictines in previous centuries. His talent being undoubted, he was, soon after his profession, sent to Paris to study in a studio the art which he had embraced with so much fervour "for the greater glory of God."

A curious chance brought him to Australia. Archbishop (then Bishop) Polding was abroad searching for recruits. The zealous prelate induced Pere Jean to accompanying him to Sydney, and Father Peter— an Italian priest—also came as a volunteer. This must have been in the forties. For some twelve years Pere Jean united in Sydney the life of a priest and a sculptor. While attached to St. Mary's and St. Benedict's he modelled many statues and carved most of them with his own hands. There are some still living who can recall his figure on the scaffold outside old St. Mary's working away with his apron on like an ordinary workman. Fortune did not favour him on his re- turn to France, for he was expelled from Ligugé in 1881. After remaining eight years in Spain, where he continued to work industriously as an ecclesiastical sculptor, he returned to Ligugé, where he recently died. He used the mallet and the chisel almost to the last, and when he was obliged to lay them down it was a sign that the end was near.

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The Sculptor Priest, Freeman's Journal, Sydney, 29 June 1895, p 17, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111107061:

In connection with the death in France of Dom Eugene Gourbeillon, better known while in Sydney many long years ago as "Father John," a correspondent writes to say that "Pere Jean carved many statues here besides the figures of Our Lady and St. Joseph, which still remain on the front of old St. Mary's. He designed and executed the two statues for the front of St. Patrick's, which still occupy their old places. The good priest was loved by all the Catholics of Sydney, and many who were either married or baptized by him revere his memory."

In the account of "Father John" published in our issue of the 15th inst., there was an allusion which, being open to misconstruction, we wish to explain. The sentence "for he was expelled from Ligugé in 1881" should have read "for he was with the monks who were expelled," etc. The sculptor monk returned from Spain with his brethren, and he died a peaceful and holy death in his monastery.

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Anne Mclay ESM, James Quinn: First Catholic Bishop of Brisbane, Toowoomba, 1989, p 149:

The value he put on frankness and truthfulness is seen in an enlightening incident in 1860 where he befriended a French Benedictine priest, Jean Gourbeillon, who had been dismissed from St. Mary's Monastery, Sydney, by Archbishop Polding for a supposed sexual misdemeanour. Quinn met Gourbeillon in Paris at the house of the Assumptionist Fathers. "The good bishop", wrote Gourbeillon "a very friendly person, and a thorough gentleman, was very pleased with my visit. After dinner I took him aside and could not very well hide from him the information which he would certainly have learnt when he got to Australia. He was pleased with the sincerity of my admission." Quinn invited the priest to travel with him to Munich and proved "excellent company". The exiled priest appreciated his kindness, especially in contrast with "the uncharitable bureaucrats in high places" who presumed him "evil".