Bill Bunbury
Encyclopedia
Bill Bunbury is a former radio broadcaster and producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
, and an accomplished historian and writer.
, England in 1940, to an Australian father and an English mother. He graduated with an honours degree from the University of Durham in 1963, then decided to visit his father's homeland, Australia. He worked on his cousin's farm and bed and breakfast in Broomehill for a few months before moving to Perth
, where he taught English at Guildford Grammar School
. A visit to the school by an ABC
television crew introduced Bunbury to ABC worker Roger Penny. Assisted by Penny's connections, Bunbury gave up teaching to join the education unit of the ABC in May 1969.
consisted of radio work. He moved to television shortly afterwards to present a children's program called Here in the West. While filming this show, he was inspired to record a 30 minute documentary about settlers in Denmark
. The documentary's unexpected popularity prompted Bunbury to continue this work, and he travelled around Western Australia recording programs on the state's history.
In 1985, historian and broadcaster Tim Bowden
founded a social history unit, with Bunbury's support in lobbying the ABC. Bunbury had seen from his previous work there was a large potential audience for history topics, and he signed on as the host of Talking History. He then worked on the programmes Hindsight, Verbatim, Street Stories and Encounter. He retired from the ABC in 2007. Bunbury said, "I wanted to go while I was still doing good work. I think I've quit while I was, hopefully, still winning races. I think maybe some [journalists] retire too early. Perhaps some go on [working] too long. You try to pick the right time."
Bunbury's documentary series covered such topics as Cyclone Tracy
, Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War
, and the granting of equal wages to Aboriginal stockmen in 1966. His work had a strong focus on Indigenous Australian history. Bunbury won awards for his radio programmes and series, including a gold medal from the New York Radio Festival for "Timber for Gold", a look at gold mining
in Kalgoorlie, and a UN Australia Peace Prize for "The War Rages On", about Australians in Vietnam.
His interest in oral history and recording of people's memories has created a vast resource in the Western Australian state library, Battye Library, of recorded interviews with people from various documentaries and programmes. Journalist Andre Malan has described this as Bunbury's legacy, "a priceless archive of the State's rich oral history that would otherwise have been lost forever".
Bunbury has published extensively with the Fremantle Press, and is currently Adjunct Professor of History and Media at Murdoch University] where he was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature in 2008 for services to broadcasting and history].
ISBN 978-1-921 789-38-0 A HISTORY OF HYDROGRAPHY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2010
(2006). Caught in time: talking Australian history Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1921064846
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, and an accomplished historian and writer.
Early life
Bunbury was born in GlastonburyGlastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
, England in 1940, to an Australian father and an English mother. He graduated with an honours degree from the University of Durham in 1963, then decided to visit his father's homeland, Australia. He worked on his cousin's farm and bed and breakfast in Broomehill for a few months before moving to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, where he taught English at Guildford Grammar School
Guildford Grammar School
Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an independent, day and boarding school for boys situated in Guildford, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia....
. A visit to the school by an ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
television crew introduced Bunbury to ABC worker Roger Penny. Assisted by Penny's connections, Bunbury gave up teaching to join the education unit of the ABC in May 1969.
Career
Bunbury's first couple of years at the ABCAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
consisted of radio work. He moved to television shortly afterwards to present a children's program called Here in the West. While filming this show, he was inspired to record a 30 minute documentary about settlers in Denmark
Denmark, Western Australia
Denmark is a town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-south-east of the state capital of Perth. At the 2006 census, Denmark had a population of 2,732.-History:...
. The documentary's unexpected popularity prompted Bunbury to continue this work, and he travelled around Western Australia recording programs on the state's history.
In 1985, historian and broadcaster Tim Bowden
Tim Bowden
Tim Bowden , is an author, radio and television broadcaster and producer, and oral historian. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania....
founded a social history unit, with Bunbury's support in lobbying the ABC. Bunbury had seen from his previous work there was a large potential audience for history topics, and he signed on as the host of Talking History. He then worked on the programmes Hindsight, Verbatim, Street Stories and Encounter. He retired from the ABC in 2007. Bunbury said, "I wanted to go while I was still doing good work. I think I've quit while I was, hopefully, still winning races. I think maybe some [journalists] retire too early. Perhaps some go on [working] too long. You try to pick the right time."
Bunbury's documentary series covered such topics as Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974...
, Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and the granting of equal wages to Aboriginal stockmen in 1966. His work had a strong focus on Indigenous Australian history. Bunbury won awards for his radio programmes and series, including a gold medal from the New York Radio Festival for "Timber for Gold", a look at gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
in Kalgoorlie, and a UN Australia Peace Prize for "The War Rages On", about Australians in Vietnam.
His interest in oral history and recording of people's memories has created a vast resource in the Western Australian state library, Battye Library, of recorded interviews with people from various documentaries and programmes. Journalist Andre Malan has described this as Bunbury's legacy, "a priceless archive of the State's rich oral history that would otherwise have been lost forever".
Bunbury has published extensively with the Fremantle Press, and is currently Adjunct Professor of History and Media at Murdoch University] where he was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature in 2008 for services to broadcasting and history].
Personal life
Bunbury and his wife,Jenny now live in Margaret River. They have two daughters, Alison and Kate and two grandsons, Sam and Jack.Works
- Bunbury, Bill. (2010) TILL THE STREAM RUNS DRY Department of Water WA
ISBN 978-1-921 789-38-0 A HISTORY OF HYDROGRAPHY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2010
(2006). Caught in time: talking Australian history Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1921064846
- Bunbury, Bill. (2002). It's not the money it's the land: Aboriginal stockmen and the equal wages case / talking history with Bill Bunbury. North Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1863683666
- Bunbury, Bill. (2002). Timber for gold: life on the Goldfields woodlines / talking history with Bill Bunbury. North Fremantle, WA : Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1863683720
- Bunbury, Bill. (1998). Unfinished business: reconciliation, the republic and the constitution Sydney: ABC Books. ISBN 0733306500
- Bunbury, Bill. (1995). Rabbits & spaghetti: captives and comrades, Australians, Italians and the war, 1939-1945 / talking history with Bill Bunbury. Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1863681221
- Bunbury, Bill. (1994). Cyclone Tracy: picking up the pieces / talking history with Bill Bunbury. South Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1863681124
- Bunbury, Bill. (1993). Rag, sticks & wire: Australians taking to the air Sydney: ABC Books. ISBN 0733302734
- Bunbury, Bill. (1993). Reading labels on jam tins: living through difficult times South Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1863680314
- Bowden, Ros, & Bunbury, Bill. (1990) Being Aboriginal : comments, observations and stories from Aboriginal Australians / from the ABC Radio programs by Ros Bowden and Bill Bunbury. Sydney: ABC Enterprises. ISBN 0733300235