Sister Julian: A life of faith and service

By Annette Carter, College Historian

“Oh how wonderful to dwell with all the Saints in glory, but to dwell with some of them on earth is quite another story” – Sister Julian.

As is the case with many children, Margaret Radford ended up following in her father’s footsteps. She was born in 1897, in England, and was the eldest child of Lewis and Maud Radford. The family migrated to Australia in 1909 so that her father could take up a position at the University of Sydney. Margaret excelled at school, winning prizes—much as her father had done—in divinity, the classic languages, French and mathematics.

During the First World War, and after her father had been enthroned as Bishop of the Goulburn Diocese, Margaret graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and taught French at Goulburn Girls’ Grammar School (the school ran into financial difficulty and eventually closed in 1920). Her mother died on 21 November 1929 and Margaret was instrumental in the family's home life while also working as the Commissioner for Training for the Girl Guides Association. She was heavily involved with the Girl Guides for a long time, having established the 1st Goulburn Company in 1922. So much so that a recreation hut at the Guides' permanent camp in Glengarry was named after her. Archival material suggests she was the only child still living in Bishopthorpe, the Bishop's residence in Goulburn, with her father in 1930 when it had extensive renovations.

Margaret trained at the University of Melbourne as a social worker before joining the Community of the Holy Name, an Anglican sisterhood founded in Melbourne in 1889. Their aim was to “serve God under religious vows by active mission work”. The Mother House was (and is) in Cheltenham, Victoria and there were branch houses in Goulburn and Papua New Guinea.

From the point that she joined the Community of Holy Name, she was known as Sister Julian CHN. During her time at this religious order, she wrote books including Joy Cometh and This is the Victory. Much as her father had been a huge advocate for religious education and instrumental in the foundation and growth of the Church Mail Bag School that delivered religious material to remote and regional locations, Sister Julian disseminated religious education through the airwaves. Her publications are a series of broadcasts made on ABC radio. The supervisor of religious broadcasts for the ABC said, “She has been given … a lively awareness of mind, a gift of humorously watching what is going on around her”. Sister Julian CHN was highly educated and clearly inherited her father's gifts for writing and communication. In 1945 when a new Diocesan Mission House opened in Adelaide, she went there as Sister Superior.

Sister Julian CHN also played a big part in the community, opening garden fetes for the Women’s Guild of St Augustine’s; as the speaker at the Women’s World Day of Prayer; giving an address at the Girls’ Friendly Society, telling attendees that “Each person is a thought of God expressed in a life and for each personality He speaks individually”; and appearing on other radio broadcasts as a guest speaker.

Sister Julian CHN died at the age of 67.

The Community of the Holy Name has donated Sister Julian CHN’s two publications to Radford College.