New Norcia
In 1846 Bishop Brady returned to Western Australia with a party of volunteers including six Sisters of Mercy (who would begin Mercedes College) and a postulant, 13 catechists and two Spanish Benedictine monks. Bishop Brady sent the Benedictine monks Doms Salvado and Serra to the Victoria Plains region (82 miles north of Perth) to establish an Aboriginal mission.
The first mass was celebrated at New Norcia on 1 March 1846. A party of Aborigines armed with spears and other weapons gathered at the site. The missionaries approached them, offering gifts of sugar, tea and bread. Aboriginal curiosity overcame suspicion and hostility, and friendly relations were established. A permanent settlement ministering to both the bodily and spiritual needs of Aboriginal people was established.
New Norcia plays a part in the history of both the Lagana and Reilly family. Several of the children of Giovanni Lagana attended New Norcia when it was later used as a boarding school. Also, the daughter of Geoffrey Reilly, Clare, married at New Norcia in 2004.