The red plaque stands mounted on a granite slab at the corner of the Glebe House, while two more plaques affixed to the building itself attest to its status as a City of Halifax Heritage Property. One plaque refers to the building simply as the "
Glebe House 1888 while the other names it "
St. Mary's Glebe 1891". St. Mary's University itself claims it to have been built in 1891.
The original building on the site was also a "Glebe House", built in 1802, in which the Reverend Edmund Burke, later Bishop Burke, taught young men.
The boys’ school grew first into a college and then into a university. In 1841 St. Mary's received degree-granting status. Twenty seven years later, in 1868, the Christian Brothers of Saint John the Baptiste de la Salle took over teaching duties and moved Saint Mary's to the Belle Aire Terrace off Agricola Street. In 1876 the Archdiocese took over from the Christian Brothers and moved the school to Barrington Street. In 1952 Saint Mary’s was granted university status and in 1970 the university became a public institution.
Probably out of the necessity for larger, more modern premises, possibly as the result of fire (of which Halifax experienced many in the nineteenth century), the present Glebe House was built here, adjacent to St. Mary's Basilica Cathedral. It is a large, three storey Victorian edifice of brick and stone, standing directly east of St. Mary's Basilica Cathedral.
Since built in 1888-91 St. Mary's Glebe House has been used continuously as a priest's residence and for some time as a boys' school. More recently the building housed some offices for the diocese, as well as priest's residence. In 2010 the building received $2.3 million worth of upgrades, particularly to its plumbing and electrical systems, after which it was slated to house priests, retired priests and the Archbishop.
This is one of the many City of Halifax Heritage Properties which has not yet made an appearance in the Historic Places Canada database. It is, however, listed on the
Halifax Regional Municipality Heritage Registry as "
St. Mary’s Manse".
On this site in 1802 was erected the school building which became the forerunner of Saint Mary's University.
Edmund Burke, newly appointed as Roman Catholic Vicar General in Nova Scotia, had the two-storey structure built in the hope of extending educational opportunities for Catholic young people and training candidates for the clergy. Burke's initiative encountered repeated delays caused by opposition from the political establishment of the day and by the scarcity of qualified teachers, but he ultimately prevailed.
Burke took up residence in the schoolhouse, also known as the Glebe House, and began to instruct young men for the priesthood. A school for boys was established in the same building and prospered. Appointed Vicar Apostolic in 1817 and consecrated Bishop in 1818, Burke was a strong and skillful advocate for Catholic education. Although Burke's death in 1820 brought further interruptions to the educational work he had set in motion, degree granting status was conferred upon Saint Mary's in 1841.
From the Red Plaque