The Rev’d Gerard Kennedy Tucker, was born on the 18th February 1885 at South Yarra, Melbourne. Educated at the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, he was a student of small and slight stature – impeded by a severe stammer – but enormous of heart. He would go on to achieve so very much during his lifetime.
Once his school years were completed he worked various jobs until 1908, when he entered St John’s Theological College in Melbourne with four other students. He had already shown an extreme interest in working with the disadvantaged at this time. The Rev’d Tucker was ordained as a priest in 1914, becoming the curate of St George’s in Malvern. With the outbreak of World War I he enlisted as a private soldier and sailed for the Middle East in the December of 1915. Three months later he was appointed the chaplain to the Australian Imperial Force and served in Egypt and France until late 1917. In 1919 he published ‘As Private and Padre’.
The Rev’d Tucker was appointed to a parish near Newcastle, New South Wales in 1920. There he would happen upon Guy Colman Cox – one who also shared The Rev’d Tucker’s vision of a community of serving priests. In 1930 they founded the ‘Brotherhood of St Laurence’. The four original members of the Brotherhood pledged to remain unmarried, to live frugally, and to maintain an active life for the community whilst in the service of the brotherhood.
The ‘Brotherhood of St Laurence’ would accomplish much over the years and continues its quest until this very day. With the vision of an Australia free of poverty, the Brotherhood continues to conduct research, deliver aid and assistance, as well as advocate on behalf of those experiencing difficulties. The Brotherhood undertakes to support:
- Children & Families;
- Children, Teenagers & Young Adults as they progress through school, further education, & into workforce;
- The Unemployed – seeking jobs &/or training
- The Older Generation who face the challenges of retirement & ageing . . .
The ‘Brotherhood of St Laurence’ moved to Melbourne in 1933 where The Rev’d Tucker became the curate at St Peter’s Church, Eastern Hill, as well as the missioner of St Mary’s Mission in Fitzroy. From 1937 to 1942 he was appointed vicar of St Cuthbert’s of East Brunswick.
But he had a dream – a dream to relocate the unemployed men and their families from the terrible slums of the city to a place where they might find some self respect and dignity. A place where, for the cost of low rent, they could occupy a small cottage on a piece of land large enough to raise vegetables together with a few chickens … He fought persistently to rid Melbourne of the disease ridden slums – to improve life for the disadvantaged – be it men, women, or children as well as the sick or elderly – aiming to bring hope and happiness back into their lives …
The Rev’d Tucker’s first project for the disadvantaged would be a hostel for homeless and unemployed men which he opened in Fitzroy, Melbourne, in 1934. By 1935 he planned to move some of these men and their families to a 45 acre allotment he had purchased in Carrum Downs situate on the outskirts of Melbourne, for the sum of £1,200. Interestingly, a chance meeting with GJ Coles (the founder of Coles Supermarkets) would lead to a donation of £1,000 to the venture – an initial sum of £500 and if The Rev’d Tucker proved its success, another £500 six months later – which was honoured by GJ Coles to the day. The land at Carrum Downs was intentioned to become a self-sustaining community whereby the inhabitants would grow their own food, use their talents to sustain and maintain the community as well as guide and help each other … The Rev’d Tucker’s concern for the elderly would lead to the evolution of this new community to become housing for the aged. By 1945 he had organised for two cottages to be built for the elderly at Carrum Downs. They were very small – consisting of a bed sitting room, kitchen and bathroom, noting that at this time the village had no sewer system – only reservoir water – and no electricity or gas . . . The village had, however, already grown to include a Chapel, meeting hall, shop, welfare centre, eighteen houses and five bungalows. Over the years, the transformation continued and the village for the aged would ultimately become a community for the elderly i.e. a retirement village – it would be one of the first such establishments in Australia, providing housing, community, activities and support for the elderly. It later expanded to include self-contained units for the frail and unwell, as well as providing a cottage hospital.
Other major welfare initiatives instigated by The Rev’d Tucker included:
- an opportunity shop;
- a hostel for homeless boys;
- a club for elderly pensioners;
- a seaside holiday home for poor families
- constant campaigning to eradicate the slums of Melbourne
- ‘Food for Peace’ began in 1949 – it would become the national charity ‘Community Aid Abroad’ in 1961 – it is now known as ‘Oxfam Australia’
- the foundation of another village for the aged at St. Laurence Park, at Lara, Geelong:
” . . . The Geelong Council for St. Laurence Park which is responsible for the management and development of St. Laurence Park, was founded at a public meeting held in Geelong on 29th January 1958.
The foundation chairman was The Rev’d G.K. Tucker founder of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence.
St. Laurence Park was officially opened by the then Governor of Victoria General Sir Dallas Brooks on 3rd October 1959. At the time of the opening there were only four cottages completed . . . “
Source: Exerpt “Some Interesting Facts about St. Laurence Park, Lara” – published August 1980
The Rev’d Tucker wrote an autobiography in 1954. In 1959 he moved into the first cottage built at St Laurence Park where he remained until his death on the 24th May 1974.
He was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery.
