Left: Gardening duties. Lyster (right) and Lyster Junior (middle) in later times. Below: Lyster Junior (in vehicle on left) at the start of the 1936 Australian Grand Prix. Right: “Morning Star” in its days as a boys home.
MORNING STAR-THREE “LIVES” 1.TRAINING FARM FOR BOYS. Following the death of the matriarch, Alice, in 1909 “Sunnyside” was administered by the Trustees/Executors Agency until 1921 when it was purchased by a branch of the Syme family. When it was auctioned on 21 November, 1931 the advertisement stated that the sale was on account of the late G.F.E.Syme. In fact George Francis Ebenezer Syme was a son of David Syme and died in Mornington in 1931 at the age of 70. At this sale the property was purchased by the Catholic Church using funds from a bequest by Elizabeth Hannon and Patrick Lawler. Between 1936 and 1975 it was run by the Franciscan Brothers as a training centre for young offending boys and was known as the “Morning Star Boys’ Home” or, alternatively, the “Morning Star Reformatory School” or the “Morning Star Youth Training Centre”. While an extensive building programme took place during this time, the mansion remained the dominant architectural feature. When enlarging the chapel in 1944-1946 the Franciscans made some effort to follow the lead of the mansion with the external Tudor/Gothic detailing. They also built a dormitory wing (1936), a summer school (1944-46), gymnasium and priests’ quarters. “Greyfriars” student house, closer to the bay, was added in 1949. A number of courtyards were formed by the new buildings, including a large courtyard which was used for sports and later enclosed. The remains of the football field lie to the south of the building complex, and a tall angular concrete pillar, located near the Nepean Highway, originally carried a statue of the Virgin Mary sculpted by one of the brothers.
E ssence
122 | PENINSULA
Spring 2015