Stella Maris
On 30 September 1852, only a few weeks after land allotments in North Melbourne became available, the Very Rev Patrick Geoghegan OSF, Melbourne's first vicar general, secured two acres, on the highest point within the block formed by Victoria, William and Chetwynd streets. A foundation stone was laid two years later, on 14 May 1854, and within six months a modest cruciform stone church was erected. Melbourne's port lay in the church's shadow, and so the church was dedicated to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, patroness of seafarers. Priests from St Francis', Melbourne's proto-cathedral, served the mission.