Ms Bruford said her memories of Baron von Frankenberg, who led the Sufi movement from his home in Camden, are hazy but she recalled he visited her parents' home in Melbourne many times until his death in 1950.

Ms Bruford's parents were members of the Baron's Sufi order that she described as a ``philosophical offshoot of Islam''. It attracted more than 100 members from Sydney and Melbourne.

``He stayed with us when he would come down from Camden,'' Ms Bruford said, describing the Baron as ``enigmatic''. ``I do have one very vivid memory and that is when my brother and I were summoned to the sitting room and we stood there like two good children,'' she said.

``Mr Uncle, as we called him because we had respect for him but loved him too, gave us each a torch and he said something about light in the darkness. I felt it to be a really significant moment.''

Asked whether it seemed odd growing up in a home with a photo of Sufi founder Inayat Khan on the mantelpiece and people coming and going for religious meetings, Ms Bruford replied:

``Absolutely not.

``I felt comfortable in my difference but in a country town like Camden it would have been entirely different.''

Ms Bruford's sister-in-law, Jo-Anne Bruford, agrees. She is married to Joanna's brother Bernard and has long been fascinated by the religious order her husband's family once belonged to.

In mid-1990 while on a drive from Canberra to Sydney, Jo-Anne Bruford visited Camden and spoke to elderly locals who remembered the Baron. She located the Baron's ``small hamlet'' at The Oaks and visited his grave.

She said she thought he was a ``dictatorial guru'' but one local she spoke to described the Baron as a ``lovely man''.

``He was very active in the show society and the Masonic lodge,'' Mrs Bruford said.

A few years later, Mrs Bruford discovered the Baron's security file held by the National Archives of Australia and described its contents as ``an absolute goldmine''.