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Julia Bradley
Biography
BiographyJulia Bradley, née Whiteman, was a great-granddaughter of Francis Whiteman, who arrived in New Zealand in 1841 and subsequently farmed a large tract in the Upper Valley.
The following is mainly taken from the August 16, 1993 'Leader' obituary.
Julia Bradley was a woman ahead of her times, mourners at her funeral in Auckland last week were told.
She combined raising a family and her passion for words, art, music, singing and drama with being a working mother, totally supported by her husband Dick.
Funeral celebrant Rhys Bean, Julia's daughters Angela Bradley and Dinah Morrison and Brian Moss who worked with her in an advertising agency painted a colourful tribute to her life.
Julia died peacefully but unexpectedly on August 8, aged 82, in the Northcote rest home where she and Dick had been living for the past few months
One of the three daughters of Francis and Ellen Whiteman, she grew up in the family farm where Totara Park is today. Missing school due to childhood asthma, she developed a special love for words and became an accomplished singer and public speaker. She became involved in repertory and strove for excellence in all that she did.
With a mind of her own, she was the first to wear shorts, and learned to drive before she was 15.
Later on Dick Bradley came to Upper Hutt from Suffolk, England and farmed nearby. He proposed seven times before she accepted when they were riding out together. After the marriage he managed the Whiteman family farm.
Julia won the 'Dominion' (the Wellington morning newapaper) Aria Contest, and represented New Zealand in the Sun Aria competition in Sydney. She turned down the opportunity to go to the Juillard School of Music in the States. Julia and Dick became involved in repertory together, acting and producing plays. She began writing a newspaper column about family life for the ‘Upper Hutt Times’ up to 1952, worked on the Wellington daily ‘Dominion’, became involved in book reviews on the radio, and worked for advertising agency Carlton-Carruthers in Wellington.
In 1964 she became the first woman to edit the "Upper Hutt Leader" and it was also the first time someone outside the co-founding families had been put in charge.
A March 22, 1967 Hazelwoods advertisement named her as compere for two sportswear parades.
She was editor until 1968 and during that time the paper celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The July 8, 1970 'Leader' wrote an article about her travels after she and her husband returned from touring in Europe; she had also represented the New Zealand women Writers' Society at the triennial Katherine Mansfield Literature Award ceremony in Menton, France.
The Bradleys moved to Paihia in 1971; the March 24 'Leader' covered their departure, a mayoral farewell, and a donation to the city of 100 acres of bushclad hills on the western side of the Hutt River; to be known as the Whiteman Reserve.
At her funeral Julia's daughters spoke of their happy family life, her well-known hospitality to their friends and neighbours, her support of her family as they grew up, her interest in the feminist movement and her suffering burn out and seeking help from Alcoholics Anonymous. She later became a tireless worker for the organisation. She took up yoga and became a teacher of it and she also discovered she had a flair for painting. She was a woman ahead of her time in both her thinking and her actions.
The Bradleys moved to Paihia in March 1971, where Richard managed a community library; they later moved to Northcote to be nearer their daughters.
Julia's funeral included poetry, some of her favourite music, a reading from the work of James K Baxter and the last poem she wrote only recently, about growing old in body but not in mind. Her casket was covered with a purple pall, the colour representing women's suffrage.
Her ashes were interred at Akatarawa on August 13, 1994 (it was initially planned for August 14).
Richard died in October 1994; his ashes were interred with Julia's.
Her last poem:-
I want to walk
on high heels – feel tall and light
wear slender shoes, gold-painted
straight from New York
I want to swan down stairs
walk straight unaided down the middle
to swiftly skim round corners
I want to walk at speed
through streets and parks
Kneel down to the lower
shelves in bookshops
and read even the
smallest print on French perfume
I want I want I want
I don’t want this careful
creeping gait on legs
still slim but unreliable.
From the Upper Hutt Male Choir records:-
As 'Mrs Richard Bradley' she sang solos in their concerts from 1934 to 1939, when the Bradleys moved to Hamilton.
The Dominion newspaper's 1938 Grand Opera Contest prize included 45 pounds to cover travel to Melbourne and Ballarat; more money came from a benefit concert. She did not win, but on her return Upper Hutt presented her with an illuminated address acknowledging her Dominion Aria win and her willing assistance at al times to local organisations and concerts.
She was an alto soloist with the choir in December 1948.
This "Journalist's Lament" was printed in the August 11, 1999 60th-anniversary issue.
I've written words enough for
forty books - reported facts
spun funny fiction
interviewed the traveller or
returning son; obits by the score
feature articles and many more
topics that might titillate or hit the raw.
Roused readers to malicious ire
or true remorse
(ephemeral, of course)
loathed the trashy newsprint but
loved the smell of printer's ink
the promise of the grumbling presses
sent me into excesses
of passionate anticipation.
What an occupation!
My heart's blood (well, some of it) lies spread
in black and white (not red)
on fish-shop counters;
I'm like those star-crossed lovers
Never ... EVER ...have I had a single word between hard covers.
The following is mainly taken from the August 16, 1993 'Leader' obituary.
Julia Bradley was a woman ahead of her times, mourners at her funeral in Auckland last week were told.
She combined raising a family and her passion for words, art, music, singing and drama with being a working mother, totally supported by her husband Dick.
Funeral celebrant Rhys Bean, Julia's daughters Angela Bradley and Dinah Morrison and Brian Moss who worked with her in an advertising agency painted a colourful tribute to her life.
Julia died peacefully but unexpectedly on August 8, aged 82, in the Northcote rest home where she and Dick had been living for the past few months
One of the three daughters of Francis and Ellen Whiteman, she grew up in the family farm where Totara Park is today. Missing school due to childhood asthma, she developed a special love for words and became an accomplished singer and public speaker. She became involved in repertory and strove for excellence in all that she did.
With a mind of her own, she was the first to wear shorts, and learned to drive before she was 15.
Later on Dick Bradley came to Upper Hutt from Suffolk, England and farmed nearby. He proposed seven times before she accepted when they were riding out together. After the marriage he managed the Whiteman family farm.
Julia won the 'Dominion' (the Wellington morning newapaper) Aria Contest, and represented New Zealand in the Sun Aria competition in Sydney. She turned down the opportunity to go to the Juillard School of Music in the States. Julia and Dick became involved in repertory together, acting and producing plays. She began writing a newspaper column about family life for the ‘Upper Hutt Times’ up to 1952, worked on the Wellington daily ‘Dominion’, became involved in book reviews on the radio, and worked for advertising agency Carlton-Carruthers in Wellington.
In 1964 she became the first woman to edit the "Upper Hutt Leader" and it was also the first time someone outside the co-founding families had been put in charge.
A March 22, 1967 Hazelwoods advertisement named her as compere for two sportswear parades.
She was editor until 1968 and during that time the paper celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The July 8, 1970 'Leader' wrote an article about her travels after she and her husband returned from touring in Europe; she had also represented the New Zealand women Writers' Society at the triennial Katherine Mansfield Literature Award ceremony in Menton, France.
The Bradleys moved to Paihia in 1971; the March 24 'Leader' covered their departure, a mayoral farewell, and a donation to the city of 100 acres of bushclad hills on the western side of the Hutt River; to be known as the Whiteman Reserve.
At her funeral Julia's daughters spoke of their happy family life, her well-known hospitality to their friends and neighbours, her support of her family as they grew up, her interest in the feminist movement and her suffering burn out and seeking help from Alcoholics Anonymous. She later became a tireless worker for the organisation. She took up yoga and became a teacher of it and she also discovered she had a flair for painting. She was a woman ahead of her time in both her thinking and her actions.
The Bradleys moved to Paihia in March 1971, where Richard managed a community library; they later moved to Northcote to be nearer their daughters.
Julia's funeral included poetry, some of her favourite music, a reading from the work of James K Baxter and the last poem she wrote only recently, about growing old in body but not in mind. Her casket was covered with a purple pall, the colour representing women's suffrage.
Her ashes were interred at Akatarawa on August 13, 1994 (it was initially planned for August 14).
Richard died in October 1994; his ashes were interred with Julia's.
Her last poem:-
I want to walk
on high heels – feel tall and light
wear slender shoes, gold-painted
straight from New York
I want to swan down stairs
walk straight unaided down the middle
to swiftly skim round corners
I want to walk at speed
through streets and parks
Kneel down to the lower
shelves in bookshops
and read even the
smallest print on French perfume
I want I want I want
I don’t want this careful
creeping gait on legs
still slim but unreliable.
From the Upper Hutt Male Choir records:-
As 'Mrs Richard Bradley' she sang solos in their concerts from 1934 to 1939, when the Bradleys moved to Hamilton.
The Dominion newspaper's 1938 Grand Opera Contest prize included 45 pounds to cover travel to Melbourne and Ballarat; more money came from a benefit concert. She did not win, but on her return Upper Hutt presented her with an illuminated address acknowledging her Dominion Aria win and her willing assistance at al times to local organisations and concerts.
She was an alto soloist with the choir in December 1948.
This "Journalist's Lament" was printed in the August 11, 1999 60th-anniversary issue.
I've written words enough for
forty books - reported facts
spun funny fiction
interviewed the traveller or
returning son; obits by the score
feature articles and many more
topics that might titillate or hit the raw.
Roused readers to malicious ire
or true remorse
(ephemeral, of course)
loathed the trashy newsprint but
loved the smell of printer's ink
the promise of the grumbling presses
sent me into excesses
of passionate anticipation.
What an occupation!
My heart's blood (well, some of it) lies spread
in black and white (not red)
on fish-shop counters;
I'm like those star-crossed lovers
Never ... EVER ...have I had a single word between hard covers.
Photos
Details
Marriage
HusbandWalter Richard Bradley
Family
Connections
OrganisationUpper Hutt Leader
Julia Bradley. Upper Hutt Libraries, accessed 03/05/2026, https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/21851