The early years are widely recognised to be the most important years of a child’s life. From all accounts, real love between parents and children was shown in the Tenison Woods family.
As Sr Isabel Hepburn recalls in No Ordinary Man, Julian Tenison Woods ‘mostly remembers himself as very happy in a world very bright without any dull days. All his memories of the earliest stages of life are those of a golden summertime, the horizon bounded by sunlight’. (p. 15) Noting also that the country enchanted Julian. ‘The fields, the trees, the sheep, the cattle were simply delightful to me. I thought the sight of green trees, the blossom of springtime, or the smell of new mown hay were amongst the most enjoyable things in life.“ (p. 14) From this rich foundation, the rest, as is said, is history.
That history became very much alive for me on a 2009 pilgrimage, In the Footsteps of Blessed Mary MacKillop. Sharing my experience with the Whanganui Sisters through anecdotes and a contemplative photographic compilation, I recalled the surprise feeling at the end of the pilgrimage of coming to know and love both Mary MacKillop and Julian as part of my extended family.
Penola (South Australia) was my favourite stop and remember being particularly captivated by Julian’s time there. With the late Sr Marie Foale’s expert storytelling and Margaret, a volunteer at the Interpretive Centre, I learned that Julian’s ten years spent in Penola were among the happiest of his life. Those long rides on horse-back across the miles of bush, the hospitality of the Scottish Catholics and the company and friendship of people like renowned poet Adam Lyndsay Gordon bringing shades of the happy times in his childhood home, as well as being able to further his celebrated work in botany and geology. His expert identification of the land around Penola being a seabed millions of years ago was eventually confirmed and his extensive findings recognised during his lifetime with the prestigious scientific Clarke Award. In modern times, it is the struggle of the vines in the area to grow through the limestone soil that causes the intensity of flavour in the Coonawarra grapes, producing some of the best Cabinet Sauvignon and Merlot in the world. Speaking also to the struggles with good health, and other challenges that characterised Julian’s own blooming.
The sentiments in Carrie Newcomer’s song, On the day that You were Born, echoes our heartfelt gratitude for this welcome arrival into the Tenison Woods household on 15 November 1832, at 13 West St, West Square, Southwark, London.
On the day that you were born.
And love will always welcome you
On the day that you were born…
Adrienne Gallie rsj
[1] Fr Julian’s drawings of Malaysian views and natural history (ca. 1883-1884). Obtained from the State Library of NSW here.