By 1929 the area of Toorak in the Armadale parish was considered sufficiently strong to be created a parish in its own right.  Fr Walter Ebsworth was appointed parish priest until his retirement in 1970.

Born in Melbourne in 1895 he attended the Parade College in East Melbourne and was educated for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College Manly.  As parish priest he inherited St Stanislaus Chapel and two titles of land purchased successively by Fr Benson in 1904 and 1918.  Despite the Depression of 1929 Fr Ebsworth set about gathering support and funds for the building of a new and larger church to be dedicated under the title of St Peter.  By December 1933 Archbishop Mannix laid the foundation stone at what is now the eastern side of the now completed church building.  The architect was Otto Jorgensen who had helped to design Our Lady of Lourdes Church of 1930.  In November 1934 Archbishop Mannix blessed and opened the completed section of the church: sanctuary, top of the nave and sacristy.

In the 11 months of December 1933 – November 1934 a vigorous campaign of fund-raising had taken place.  The Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia Sir Frank Gavan Duffy and his wife, together with Miss J.F.Fisher provided £800 for the baldacchino and altar.  (The baldacchino is one of only three free-standing canopies in Melbourne; the other two are in St Mary’s Church Ascot Vale and the church of the Carmelite nuns in Kew). 

After 27 years, 1961, Archbishop Simonds laid the foundation stone at the southern end of the extended church building: the main part of the nave and the entrance porch and unfinished tower.  The builders and architects were Alexander and Thomas Lynch and the church was reopened in 1964.  The parish magazine of those years and the oral testimony of older parishioners record the activities and life of the parish over those years.  Fr Ebsworth had a life-long interest in the Church in Victoria as well as the Archdiocese.  In later years he published Pioneer Catholic Victoria and a biography of Archbishop Mannix.

Fr Brian Leonard succeeded Fr Ebsworth in 1970 and was parish priest until his own retirement in 1998.  He was a keen musician who obtained the historic organ from St Francis Church in 1973 for St Peter’s Church.  Together with the late Rev. David Hodges and the late Archdeacon Stan Moss he helped to establish the Ecumenical Movement in Toorak.  He was noted for his geniality, fine intelligence, good preaching and pastoral sense.  As noted above Fr Leonard retired in 1998.  He died in July 2005 in Macedon.  As mentioned in the  summary of Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Monsignor Cudmore became parish priest of Armadale and Toorak in 1998.  Within the short period of six years before he died in 2004 he launched a fund-raising appeal to begin the updating of the facilities of St Peter’s Church and the grounds.  Together with St Kevin’s College and Loreto Mandeville Hall, he was instrumental in the establishment of the St Peter’s Early Learning Centre which functions as a preparatory Centre for the two Colleges.  It was opened in 2002.  As mentioned above Monsignor Cudmore died suddenly in 2004 and was succeeded by Fr Brendan Hayes.

After about 5 years it became obvious to Fr Hayes that the facilities of the Toorak Parish were increasingly inadequate.  The old Presbytery was dilapidated and the stone work of the church was in poor condition.  A Committee was established under the Chairmanship of Mr John Ralph AC.  Parishioners were invited to 2 meetings to hear about the vision of a new Parish Centre, Retirement Village and renovated Church all of which would enhance the church's mission and witness to the Gospel message.