Mary MacKillop always called Julian Tenison Woods "Father Founder". Even though it was she who went on to make their project a reality, their collaboration gave to Australia a new form of religious life entrusted with a special care for the underprivileged.
From the London circles of 'The Times', Daniel O'Connell and John Henry Newman, to the prisons of Van Dieman's Land; from scientists' gatherings in Australian cities, to the outback of the eastern states in goldrush days; and through his travels in Java, Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines, Julian Tenison Wood's lifetime of fifty-seven years provided adventure and variety enough to satisfy the most restless spirit. Yet his work for the Australian church of the nineteenth century in education-planning and in establishing two religious orders of women could also have been a lifetime's work for someone less energetic.
Revised for this edition, Margaret Press' acclaimed biography of Julian Tenison Woods shows him as a man of many gifts and unswerving dedication, "for many an enigma, sign of contradiction, a non-conformist, never a force to be ignored".
