The Archer Letters – Letter Twenty-Four
The last letter in this series was dictated by Fr Julian Tenison Woods on 13 March 1889. It reads as if maybe he knew it would probably be his last effort to his dear friend, William Archer. The tone of the letter is one of resignation to his state of health with little hope of […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Twenty-Three
This short letter, written on 22 March 1888 from Fr Julian Tenison Woods in Sydney to William Archer in Melbourne is not in his handwriting. Anne Bulger has penned his words, although Fr Julian did attach his signature and love and blessings to Mrs Archer and Gracie. The letter is accompanied by the first instalment […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Twenty-Two
Fr Julian Tenison Woods’ letter to William Archer on 3 January 1888 from his home in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, was probably not penned by himself. However, he did add his own signature. The reason for his not writing himself was that a serious deterioration in his health had left him an invalid, unable to use […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Twenty-One
This month’s letter is the only one in this collection that is from William Archer to Fr Julian Tenison Woods. In it Archer welcomes Fr Woods back to Australia after his sojourn in the Far East. It was written from his home in Melbourne on the feast of Corpus Christi, 1886, and his words are […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Twenty
This letter, dated 2 November 1885, from “Father Julian” to “My dear Sir William”, was written from the mountains behind Osaka in Japan. Fr Julian Tenison Woods had retreated here to indulge his love of botany, geology and solitude. He seemed to be quite intrigued with Japan, its houses and people and was only too […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Nineteen
This month we read the letter that Fr Julian Tenison Woods wrote to William Archer from Hong Kong on 9 February 1885. Wherever Fr Julian went he found people who had connections to Australia. In this letter he mentions that he was staying with Sir George Bowen, a former Governor of Victoria (1872-1879). It seems […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Eighteen
Fr Julian is now some months into his travels in Asia. It seems that his health had been good from August 1883 until the beginning of January 1884, despite the fact that he had endured uncomfortable boat trips while others around him were succumbing to jungle fever. However, he did get fever in due course […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Seventeen
The letter written by Fr Julian to his friend, William Archer, on 20 June 1878, tells the reader much about the place of science in the life of this priest. He loves all things scientific but he is always a priest first, attending to his many ecclesiastical duties before spending time pursuing scientific interests – […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Sixteen
This month we read a letter written from Fr Julian Tenison Woods while he is giving a mission at Forbes in May 1878. There has been a delay in Fr Julian receiving Sir William Archer’s letters due mainly to confusion over the address at which Fr Julian’s mail is held, while he is absent from […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Fifteen
The letter written by Fr Julian to William Archer from Penola on 5 September 1865 merits more than a cursory glance. It is, once again, full of questions and demands of his good friend but, as he says, “Who have I to look but you?” He is grateful that William has recommended a microscope that […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Fourteen
On 1 June 1865, Fr Julian Tenison Woods wrote to his friend, W H Archer Esq, from Penola. This letter perhaps proves what good friends these two really were because anyone else might have taken umbrage at receiving a letter in which most of the sentences are questions!
The Archer Letters – Letter Thirteen
This month’s letter from Fr Julian Tenison Woods to “My dear Sir”, William Archer, is rather a long one with a considerable number of explanatory endnotes. However, it is far from a tedious read! Written from Penola towards the end of 1863, it is a good example of Fr Julian’s command of the English language, […]