Person

Bradley, Joan Burton (1916 - 1982)

Born: 2 September 1916
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died: 18 May 1982
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: bush regenerator

Summary

Joan Burton Bradley graduated from the University of Sydney in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science and worked for an industrial chemist. With a keen interest in observing the natural environment the sisters studied the habits of the Superb Fairy-wren and their notes were published in Emu in 1958. Joan and her sister Eileen were instrumental in the development of bush regeneration, particularly in removing weeds and promoting natural regeneration. They opposed the use of chemicals and promoted the use of only small hand-tools. The sisters starting recording their work in 1962 and published a book called "Weeds and their Control" in 1967 which developed the three principles of the Bradley method of bush regeneration. Their restoration and landscaping of bushland project in North Sydney was funded as a National Estate project. In 1988 their book "Bringing back the bush. The Bradley method of bush regeneration" edited by Shirley Jones was first published. It has been re-published many times since and has become a major reference for bush regeneration across Australia.

Sibling

Bradley, Eileen Burton (1911 - 1976)

Published resources

Books

Bradley, Joan, Bringing back the bush : The Bradley method of bush regeneration (Willoughby, NSW: Lansdowne-Rigby, 1988), 111 pp. Details

Book Sections

Radi, Heather, 'Bradley, Eileen Burton (1911-1976), and Joan Burton (1916-1982), bush regenerators' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 244-245. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bradley-eileen-burton-9566. Details

Resources

Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21535142. Details
VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/19259853. Details
'Bradley, Joan Burton (19160902-19820518)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1465079. Details

Tom Hyde

Created: 2 May 2013, Last modified: 4 August 2026

EOAS ID: biogs/P005396b.htm

This Edition: 2026 August - Bibliographies
Larneuk - Gariwerd calendar - Pre-spring: late July to August - season of nesting birds
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