A Catholic priest of the religious congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), Francis Xavier Gsell spent over 40 years in the Northern Territory. He served for many years as head of the Aboriginal mission on Bathurst Island, and later as Bishop of Darwin. Born in the French province of Alsace in 1872, Gsell trained for the priesthood in France and Italy and was ordained in 1896. He arrived in Australia soon afterwards and, following periods in Sydney and MSC missions in Papua, he was appointed as apostolic administrator for the Catholic Church in Darwin in 1906.
He gained government approval for the establishment of a mission on Bathurst Island in 1911, and lived on the island as head of the mission from that time until 1938. Attempts to introduce Christianity to the Aboriginal residents of the island were only moderately successful, but Gsell did influence a modification to the local culture by intervening in the practice of young teenage girls being sold into marriages with the old men of the community. He did this by buying the girls himself and freeing them to receive schooling at the mission school and, in time, become partners to men of their own ages. Gsell was also influential in the establishment of missions at Port Keats (1935) and Arltunga (1943).
In 1938 Gsell returned to the mainland to take up an appointment as Bishop of Darwin, a post he held until 1949. During the years 1942–45, when Darwin was under military administration, Gsell ran the diocese from Alice Springs. On retirement in 1949 he moved to the MSC monastery at Kensington, Sydney where he prepared his memoirs, published in 1956 under the title The Bishop with One Hundred and Fifty Wives (Angus and Robertson, London).
Francis Xavier Gsell became a naturalised Australian in 1909. He received the OBE in 1935 and the French Legion of Honour in 1951. He died in 1960. The Gsell Aboriginal Hostel in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff is named after Bishop Gsell.
As both an individual and in the roles he fulfilled, Gsell had a number of dealings with the Australian government or the Northern Territory administration, and many records resulting from these dealings are now held by the National Archives. These include the file relating to his naturalisation and files relating to the honours he received later in life, as well as records on the establishment and management of the Catholic missions at Bathurst Island, Port Keats and the Little Flower Mission at Arltunga. Many of these are listed below.
All records listed below are held by the Archives in Canberra. Where indicated, photocopies are held in Darwin.
 | Francis Xavier Gsell – Naturalisation | 1909–20 | A1, 1920/21513 | ||
| Birthday Honours, 1935 – publication of | 1935 | A2924, 1935 File 1 | ||
| Birthday Honours, 1935 – sounding recipients | 1935 | A2924, 1935 File 5 | ||
| Honours bestowed on Australian citizens by foreign government – Chisholm, Professor; Gelle, Mr; Gsell, Bishop | 1951 | A462, 829/1/7 | ||
| Monsignor Francis Xavier Gsell – Honours | 1951 | A463, 60/3088 | ||
| Decorations – French awards – Chisholm, Professor; Gelle, Mr; Gsell, Bishop | 1951–52 | A1838, 1535/5/4 | ||
| 1. Bathurst Island to be reserved for Aboriginal purposes. * 2. Asking permission to establish Roman Catholic Mission on the Island. * | 1894–1910 | A1640, 1910/570 | ||
| Bathurst Island – Reserve for Aborigines * | 1904–39 | A1, 1938/33126 | ||
| Bathurst Island Mission Reports – Northern Territory * | 1910–52 | A431, 1951/1294 | ||
| Report by TJ Beckett on visit made to Anson Bay District, Melville, Bathurst and Indian Island re Aborigines * | 1916 | A3, NT1916/2359 | ||
| FX Gsell – town lands lease No. 346 | 1930 | A1, 1930/7309 | ||
| JA Carrodus – report on Northern Territory * | 1934 | A1, 1934/10021 | ||
| Port Keats – Catholic Mission, Northern Territory * | 1934–55 | A452, 1955/98 | ||
| Cape Fourcroy, Bathurst Island, NT Landing Ground | 1935–36 | A1, 1936/2800 | ||
| Little Flower Mission (Arltunga), NT | 1942–1952 | A431, 1951/418 | ||
| Conference with Missionary Authorities, Darwin, August 1948 | 1948–1949 | A431, 1948/1670 | ||
* copy held in Darwin
For further information on personalities of the Northern Territory see Fact Sheet 145 – Albert Namatjira and Fact Sheet 146 – Jessie Sinclair Litchfield.
You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) from RecordSearch, the Archives database. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. You can also use RecordSearch to find out about the agencies that created the records and to locate more records on your subject. You might also explore PhotoSearch to find out if there are photos pertaining to your subject.
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updated December 2004