The Archer Letters – Letter Twelve
In September 1884, Fr Julian Tenison Woods writes to Sir William Archer from Perak. He has obviously received a very welcome letter from his friend, although it has been a long time coming, and he wants to reply immediately. Fr Julian has been in the Malay Peninsula for twelve months now and anticipates being able […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Eleven
In his letter of 18 October 1883, we find that Fr Julian Tenison Woods is now in Singapore, having left Brisbane three months before. He relates wonderful new experiences, including witnessing volcanic activity and declares “I shall never forget my journey!” He was, of course, a guest of the Governor, Sir Frederick Weld, a friend […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Ten
This month’s letter from Fr Julian Tenison Woods to Sir Willliam Archer was written from Bathurst at the beginning of 1878. It was written in the midst of a busy time for Fr Julian. Obviously the period between Christmas and the middle of January was a popular time for priests and religious to be on […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Nine
Fr Julian Tenison Woods wrote to Sir William Archer from Sydney on 13 February 1877. In this letter he expressed his appreciation for the enjoyable time he had spent with the Archer family the month before. He was now in Sydney en route to Bathurst.
The Archer Letters – Letters Six to Eight
This month’s presentation is a suite of three letters written from Tasmania early in 1876, their connection being Fr Julian’s anticipation of spending time with the Archer family in Melbourne. Fr Julian wrote the first of these letters, dated 6 January 1876, from the Huon district, south of Hobart, where he was giving a most […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Five
In his letter to William Archer on 12 October 1875, Fr Julian writes from Hobart where he seems to be busy about many things. It seems Fr Julian had delayed answering William Archer’s last letter and had received, with both surprise and pleasure, a second one “tumbling in on the heels of the first”. As […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Four
In a letter written from South Brisbane on 4.12.1873 we see for the first time Fr Julian Tenison Woods using the †JMJ sign at the beginning of his letters. We also learn a little more of the Archer family (both the high and low moments of their life) and of Fr Julian’s time in Northern […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Three
In this month’s letter (16.5.1865) Fr Julian Tenison Woods writes to William Archer from Penola. From it we get a glimpse into the number of people with whom Fr Julian had contact. He tells William Archer that he has responded to criticism from Fr Bleasdale, President of the Royal Society of Victoria and asks him […]
The Archer Letters – Letter Two
In a letter written from Penola on April 5, 1865, Fr Julian Tenison Woods writes to William Archer in a bantering tone… He will not be abbreviated with his words, as obviously William Archer had been in his letter of 21st! Fr Julian’s sense of humour comes through, as does his praise of the work […]
The Archer Letters – An Introduction and Letter One
An Introduction… In 1980 Sr Anne Player [1] read 33 letters representing the exchange between Fr Julian Tenison Woods (1832-1889) and William Henry Archer (1825-1909) over the years 1863 – 1889. Anne realised that these letters gave a different glimpse of Fr Julian, situating him within Australian society of the time and revealing aspects of […]