Every rock, every leaf, every insect has something beautiful, nay, wonderful to tell… a perfect fairyland of beauty will open to the gaze at every step.
Julian Edmund Tenison Woods (1832-1889), was born on 15 November 1832 in Southwark, England, the fifth surviving child of James Dominick Woods and Henrietta Maria St Eloy Tenison.
From his family, Julian developed a great love of learning, nature and the outdoors. As a young man, he felt a strong call to serve God. At 18, he joined the Passionists in England, entered their novitiate in February 1851 and was professed there in February 1852. He left this congregation in March 1853 and subsequently travelled extensively in France.
In 1855 at the age of 23, Julian arrived in Tasmania where he worked as a chaplain to the convicts and as a teacher. After three months, he left Hobart, travelled to Adelaide and there resumed his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by Bishop Francis Murphy on 4 January 1857.
Julian’s first parish, Penola in South Australia, had an area of 57,000 square kilometres. In this vast landscape, the young priest travelled on horseback to visit his parishioners, meeting many interesting people on his journeys.
One was young Mary MacKillop, who arrived just as he was struggling to obey his bishop’s command to establish schools for the Catholic children of his parish. As Catholic teachers were unavailable, he decided to establish a new religious order of teaching Sisters to bring Catholic education to the children of poor families. In 1866, Mary willingly accepted his invitation to become one of its first members — and so began the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
During the years 1874-1876, Father Woods worked as a scientist and missionary priest in NSW, Tasmania and Queensland. In 1883, he spent three years travelling through Asia, exploring and reporting on the mineral and coal deposits of the Malayan Peninsula and other nearby countries. He returned to Sydney in 1886 and was later awarded the prestigious Clarke Medal for ‘distinguished service to science’. Father Woods died in Sydney on 7 October 1889.
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