 The square had originally been named "Church Square", and had been set aside for the construction of a Church of England cathedral.However, the early Anglicans in the colony considered the location to be too far from the centre of the fledgling colony, and instead constructed St George's Cathedral on what is now St Georges Terrace.Bishop Serra therefore applied to the Governor of the colony to cede the land in Victoria Square to the Roman Catholic Church, which occurred on 13 August 1859.