Tenison - The Green House
Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods was a priest and scientist who worked closely with Mary MacKillop, encouraging her to set up the first Josephite school. At the age of just twenty-four, he was appointed as priest of the south eastern district of South Australia, with Penola as its centre. It was here that he met Mary MacKillop and together they founded the Sisters of St Joseph in 1866.
His scientific interests were many and varied. He was concerned with the geology of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. He wrote about fossils, glaciation, shells, corals and fungi. He reported on the goldfields of South Australia and Queensland as well as on coal and the geography of Borneo, Java, Malaysia and Japan. He even wrote a 'History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia', which was published in 1865. During 1883 he visited Singapore, Malacca, Japan, China, Java and Siam. England, which also had several colonies besides Australia, asked him to investigate the occurrence of coal in some of its territories. On his return to Australia he thoroughly explored the mineral districts of the Northern Territory. In 1885 Woods stated that the Peninsula of Arnhem Land would one day become one of the greatest mining centres in Australia. He died relatively young, just a few weeks short of fifty-seven and was buried at Waverly Cemetery, Sydney.
During his life he was bestowed many honours. Among them were a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia. He was also an Honorary Member Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Royal Geographical Society of Queensland and New South Wales and the New Zealand Institute.