Tasmanian Forests: Their Botany and Economic Value [i] was the title that Father Julian Tenison Woods gave the paper he read at the meeting of the Royal Society of NSW on 5 June 1878. In the paper Father Julian presented his observations of the forests he found in Tasmania from 1874-1876. He described various types […]

This month we look at the plan for Catholic Education in South Australia that Father Julian Tenison Woods had the task of implementing when he became the first Director General of Catholic Education in Australia. In 1867 Bishop Laurence Sheil appointed Father Julian Tenison Woods as his Secretary and asked him to leave Penola and […]

130 years ago, on 7 October 1889 Father Julian Tenison Woods died at 561 Elizabeth Street, Sydney. He was only 56 years old. This month we provide opportunity to explore some of the articles that appeared in newspapers across Australia at that time. WOODS – October 7, at his residence, 561 Elizabeth-street, the Very Rev […]

Despite all his other commitments, Father Julian Tenison Woods wanted people in the Catholic community to be aware of what was concerning and influencing the Catholic Church in the 1860s. This month we explore his role as editor of the first Catholic journal in South Australia. In the 21st century there are multiple ways for […]

Have you ever been into a large underground cave? This month Father Julian invites us to share his experience of exploring the caves of Mosquito Plains, near Naracoorte, South Australia in 1857. Of all the natural curiosities a country can possess, none tend so much to render it famous as the existence of large caves. […]

Father Julian Tenison Woods wrote many articles on scientific subjects. This month I present an example of the detailed research and time that must have gone into his writing: Palaeontology of New Zealand Part 4, Corals and Bryozoa of the Neozoic period in New Zealand. [i] This is not a paper that I expect too […]

This month’s contribution is a tribute to the friendship between Father Julian Tenison Woods and Adam Lindsay Gordon, Australian poet, jockey, police officer and politician. Gordon died, at the age of 36, on 24 June 1870 in Melbourne. Father Julian Tenison Woods met Adam Lindsay Gordon in 1857 on one of his first trips out […]

On 2 February 1874, Father Julian Tenison Woods gave a lecture in Melbourne entitled How Australia was discovered and explored. A large number of people attended with Mr William Archer in the chair for the evening. The following day an extensive summary of the lecture was published in the Melbourne Argus [i] and the article […]

On 21 May 1887, the Sydney Morning Herald [i] published an article by Fr Julian Tenison Woods on his trip to the Victoria River. This river (named for Queen Victoria) runs from the northern edge of the Tanami Desert to the coast near the Western Australian-Northern Territory border. Father Julian obviously enjoyed his trip in […]