Tribute and Testimony

to the Life of
Julian Charles Bradley
1951 – 2007
(Compiled from contributions offered from friends and family)

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 Tribute and Testimony to the Life of Julian Charles Bradley, 1951 – 2007
(Compiled from contributions offered from friends and family)

Just before Julian finished full-time working 10 years ago, when aged only 46, his company arranged for
him to see a Counsellor to help him explore what he wanted to do next. The Counsellor was taken aback
when Julian told him matter-of-factly that he did not want to do anything or, rather, that he wanted to do
nothing. Further counselling and tests were offered in an attempt to rectify this ‘problem’, but Julian would
not budge from his position.

Later, he told friends that all that was important was to have enough free time to explore great thoughts and
experiences, shared through books, teachers, friends and other practices and activities, which deepen and
make a fuller living reality of our understanding of the meaning and experience of life.

This might seem a long way from the more traditional Christian tradition Julian had been raised in.
However, Julian was a man of both profound insight and broad understanding of numerous traditions, and
would only mark progress on his own journey through his personal experience and understanding, rather
than from blindly accepting others’ opinions and beliefs.

Julian was raised in a north London suburb, where

he developed a life-long passion for books, music
and high performance cars. His schooldays were
uneventful, although he did play in the same
football team as a boy who subsequently became a
professional footballer and later a manager. He
was able to achieve good academic results without
exerting himself unduly, and his reports were full
of comments such as ‘ could do better’ – the
school syllabus was just not challenging enough
for Julian.

On completing secondary school, he won a scholarship for university from the ancient Drapers’ Guild. He
chose the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, at which to study economics. He
later said the choice of UBC was because it was the farthest one possible to go to on the scholarship.

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During his four years at UBC, Julian made many
good friends, and was popular with a number of
the fairer gender. He was noted by fellow
students, because of his different accent,
contagious happy-go-lucky, care-free, attitude and
long flowing hair. He was also remarkable for his
intelligence and instant grasp of the underlying
principles and their ramifications in his courses
(he would later be accepted into Mensa
membership).

This allowed him to help other student friends in

their own work. It also meant that he was able to
miss a significant number of lectures, as they
interfered with what he considered to be his more
important sleep periods.

After graduation, Julian spent some months in both Mexico and Ontario. He harvested tobacco leaves in the
latter to pay for his return flight back to his parents’ home in Stowting. He secured a position in accounting
in London with Gallaher Tobacco, and moved to live in a rented flat in Maida Vale.

Important aspects of his life for many of these

years were the cars he was able to acquire and
drive. A light blue Sunbeam Alpine was a mid-
70’s favourite. He attempted, usually successfully,
to do most required mechanical work himself, and
commented to a friend that a weekend was not
complete if he had not crawled under his car at
least once.

One Irish friend writes of a memory from the late
70’s:
“While driving back from a party in his
Alpine at 3 am one Sunday morning, we
were stopped by the police. I recognised the
nearest building as Paddington Green
Police Station, the place where terrorist
suspects were interrogated.
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 I staggered out to take the heat off Julian, while he composed himself before trusting his feet after a
night of drinking. The police asked me to open the boot, and I warned them it was a dangerous place
to mess with, because it was full of parts of the motor wrapped in oil-soaked newspapers. It was then
they told me they were hunting down members of the IRA. And here they had two men, Julian and I,
with Irish surnames just outside their number one torture chamber! The police could have had us up
on a number of charges, I suppose, but they didn’t seem interested in putting their hands in the boot.
It would probably have been more dangerous than finding bombs.”

In 1980, in order to be nearer to his then office in Northolt, Julian

bought a flat in Ruislip. This was finally taking life a little more
seriously, owning his own place. This flat became his permanent
home, when not visiting Stowting.

A little later into the 80’s, he bought a rather dubious tenants, before finally selling it a few
isolated and derelict farmhouse with some years ago.
grounds in County Clare, Ireland. This was not
for investment purposes, but more as a meaningful
and important bolthole at which to go to ground, if
and when that might be required. It had no
running water or electricity, but he did
occasionally manage to let it to travellers (the first
tenant’s family had lived in a horse-drawn caravan
before they moved in) and other somewhat

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Julian’s work with Gallaher took him to various company locations and subsidiaries throughout the UK and
to others on the Continent. Latterly, mostly as an internal computer auditor, he was responsible for
managing both staff and significant projects for the firm at the head office in Surrey.

During all of this time, he had frequent

communication with – and visits to - his parents at
their retirement home in rural Stowting. He also
kept in regular contact with his brother Chris and
sister Carole and their families, and invariably
joined family for Christmas, Easter and other
occasions.

Throughout his working life, Julian maintained a keen interest in philosophical, metaphysical and spiritual
matters, using his spare time to explore different traditions and teachers, as well as to keep abreast of
advances in science – particularly quantum physics. Along with different friends, he formed a society called
‘The Escape Committee’, which met at various frequencies over many years to discuss and share insights on
life’s meaning and purpose. Its only rule was that there are no rules.

He continued with his metaphysical interests after

stopping work in 1997, and also spent large
amounts of time with his father, until the latter’s
death in 2002. Soon after, he was very pleased to
be able to purchase a part-share of Stowting’s
Tiger Inn, so he could maintain a connection with
his parents’ home village.

About the same time, he bought an Italian sports
car and, together with two friends, acquired a
sailboat they renamed “Enigma of Beaulieu”. He
had first sailed on this boat in about 1984, when
he had joined a friend “one very stormy weekend
and impressed everyone with his fearlessness in
extreme conditions and willingness to exert
himself and do what he was told. What was even
more extraordinary was that he so obviously
enjoyed it!”

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 When he learned many years later that the boat
had come up for sale, Julian said, “Well then, let’s
buy it!” He and a friend did a lot of work on her at
West Mersea on the Essex coast, and then sailed
her round to the Solent in what transpired to be an
epic voyage

.
This friend writes:
“We battled through a gale past the Goodwin Sands, with constant foulings of gear and just managed
to get into Dover. From there, we had an easier time to Eastbourne. The next day rounding Beachy
Head, the shackle holding the mainsail up parted, the sail came down and the mainsail halyard was
stuck at the top of the mast. We motored into Brighton Marina, where I winched Julian, him being
lighter than I, up to the top of the mast to retrieve the halyard – a precarious undertaking which he
took in his stride and with the most amazing humour. The next day we carried on and, as we entered
the Solent, a dolphin came and played with us.”

Julian joined the Royal Southampton Yacht Club, where he studied for and passed his R.Y.A. Day Skipper
theory and practical exams and made several new friends. He enjoyed going out sailing periodically, and
both fun and disasters were experienced. On one of these occasions, Julian and a friend sailed Enigma out
to see H.M. the Queen’s Golden Jubilee International Naval Review.

Only a year ago, his interest in the sea, sailing and

reaching out to others led him to volunteer on a
tall-masted/square-rigger ship, helping give a
crew of disabled people the adventure of sailing
from Portugal to the Canaries. Had he not had
other commitments then, he would have continued
with them from the Canaries across the Atlantic to
the New World. He planned to make that fuller
trip with them one year later, but his illness did
not permit that.
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 Julian appreciated how precious true friendship is,
and cared deeply about his friends and family. He
was always there for friends when they needed
help. Although he applied the strict thrift he had
learned from his parents in most of his spending
on himself, he was, at the same time,
exceptionally generous in helping a number of
friends with loans, or with gifts of money, when
they were going through hard times. He was a
cautious investor, and took a keen interest in the
stock market, even asking to be read the latest
share prices from the Telegraph on his last day
alive.

Julian was thoughtful, kind, remarkably undemanding and very profound. He was also a law unto himself,
often living life with a devil-may-care reckless abandon. Friends have commented that he was never
judgmental of theirs or others’ lifestyles, and he, in turn, expected to be given the same consideration from
others. He wanted to be accepted on his own terms, or not at all.

His intelligence and depth of insight allowed him to see beyond the veil of what most consider everyday
normal life. He realised that many live their lives doing the right things for the wrong reasons – conforming
and living the way they think others feel they should live -, and he refused to do this, to compromise being
true to himself. He was legendary for preferring to leave things undone, rather than to do them for the
wrong reasons.

He was well known, too, for his wit, wisdom, wry reflections and dry humour. A few examples:
- “Weather and nature are things one encounters between the front door and the car.”
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 - “No man is so short that his feet don’t touch the ground.”
- “A wedding is the retirement party for the bride.”
- “I didn’t like them then, and I don’t like them now.” (following a school reunion)
- “Avoid all scales and mirrors, and buy trousers with elastic waistbands.”

Julian’s last illness and the manner of his dying exemplified what he had sought to learn in his spiritual
studies. One friend writes, “He became so much just his true self when he was ill, and it really showed.
Sometimes, I'd look at him and think how majestic he was. It really showed through in his face; huge blue
eyes and chiselled features. People usually say they want to remember someone as they were before they
became ill, but I want to remember Julian as he was then, because he showed a subtle, but rather
magnificent, part of himself.”
He endured the 7.5 months of illness that followed
his major operation on Easter Sunday, 2007, with
extraordinary courage and dignity, patiently
braving the gravity of his situation with
equanimity and calm, and seemed to draw upon a
deep reserve of strength he himself may not even
have known he had. He rarely lost his humour
and, not until his final hours, did he ever truly
give up. Despite countless formidable physical
challenges and trials, he was uncomplaining.

He told friends that, although he had a body, he did not identify with that body being who he essentially is,
and that his body might well make decisions on its own, requiring him to let go of it.

Those who visited him in these last months were privileged to witness a Mastery level teaching and model.
As one friend says, “He was an old soul, who taught more through his beingness than by example.”

Friends from Vancouver sent the following tribute:

“Julian left a light footprint. He asked for little but gave much; he delighted in small things, yet never lost
sight of the important ones - friendships, family, and the ineffable mystery of life. His mantle of self-
deprecation robed an incisive intellect, yet also a clear and simple humility. And his dry quirky wit will
always be a reminder for us that nothing on this plane of existence can ever be taken seriously, except the
love that joins us all, in time …and out. He was a generous man, who blessed us with his strength of
character. We shall miss him.
Thank you for sharing your time with us, old friend. We look forward to seeing you after closing time.”

While Julian’s physical presence will be sorely - and always - missed, his spirit, love, humour and unique
character remain in the hearts of family, friends and others who knew him. He left our lives richer for
having known him, and the love shared will always remain.

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One friend has contributed this poem:

“In a time of pain,

Julian helped me gain
A renewed sense
Of life.

His irony, wit and wryness,

Hid a rather bright shyness.

My life is richer for

The opening door
To his friendship.

The world is bereft

Of a kind man who left,
Pipe in hand,
To meet an angelic band.”