Julia was the daughter of J. C. Mathews, who established the South Australian Twopenny Magazine in Plymouth, England, in 1839. During her early life Julia lived in Caen, Normandy, and she received her education in Paris. She came to Australia on the John Renwick with her husband William, who sailed as ship's surgeon, and arrived at Kangaroo Island in 1837. A letter from Thomas Prance to George Fife Angas introduced William Wyatt as "a young medical man of this town, of no ordinary merit and attainments, as a surgeon and as a man of science." His wife, Prance said, was "an accomplished and superior woman possessing considerable enterprise and energy of character." (Mortlock Library, PRG 174 Series 1, 421-424.) Their first home in Adelaide was a tent, and later they settled in what is now Wyatt St, off Grenfell St.
William Wyatt was one of the purchasers at the first Adelaide land sale in 1837. He played a number of prominent roles in the new colony. He was Protector of Aborigines 1837-9, City Coroner, Magistrate and Justice of the Peace. He was an early member of the Medical Board and was also later on the Board of Management of the Adelaide Hospital, chairing it for 16 years. He was Inspector of Schools under the first Education Act of 1852, and was one of the founders of St Peter's College. In 1843 the Wyatts bought land at Burnside and built a house which they called "Kurralta", from an Aboriginal word meaning "up there". "Kurralta Park" is now the name of the suburb. The falls at Waterfall Gully were once known as Wyatt's Falls.
The couple had four children, including twins, but only their first-born, Willie, survived childhood, and he was murdered by a drunken workman at the age of 34.
Julia supported a number of charities, including the Children's Hospital and the Children's Home at Walkerville. She was described by contemporaries as "so pretty, so Frenchified, polished and neat", and as a "colourful butterfly" in gay clothes and sparkling rings. She contributed to the local press, largely on social issues, and wrote a souvenir book for private circulation which contained translations from the French and essays of her own. As well as the book listed here she wrote The Colony We Live In (1878). She also was very musical, and modelled wax portraits (The First Hundred Years, p 73).
Julia was widowed in 1886, but was left well provided for.
