St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a cathedral church belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.
In 1848, the Augustinian friar James Goold became the very first bishop of Melbourne (the fourth bishop in the whole of Australia).
After his appointment, he began negotiations with the colonial government to gain access to five acres of land on the Eastern Hill on which to build a church. Three years later, in 1851, the Colonial Secretary of Victoria finally granted the site to the Roman Catholic Church.