GEM OF TIME RECIPIENT - William (Bill) Hedley Richardson Bunbury - 2023

Bill Bunbury has been a familiar face and voice in Australian broadcasting for decades. He is a renowned oral historian whose collection of interviews in the Battye Library has been described as ‘a priceless archive of the State’s rich oral history’. He has also published widely on Western Australian History with his book, Many Maps: Charting Two Cultures,
written in collaboration with his wife Jenny, winning the RWAHS Williams Lee Steere Prize 2021 and the Oral History Australia 2021 Book Award.
Born in Somerset, England of a Busselton-born father and English mother, Bill was curious to explore his father’s homeland and contact his paternal relations. After completing an honours degree at the University of Durham in 1963, he came to WA, completed a DipEd., and eventually taught at Guildford Grammar School. Assisting with an ABC television broadcast at the school sent Bill into a whole new career. In 1969 he joined the ABC’s education section and some years later took on a leading role in the newly established Social History Unit and hosting popular programs like Hindsight.
Bill’s interest in people’s stories, his empathy and his abiding curiosity infuses all his interviews and is clear from his
broadcasts and written works ranging from the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, Group Settlers in Denmark, Vietnam War veterans, the memories of residents of Meckering after the 1968 earthquake, to the many discussions he has had with First Nations people about their experiences of life in WA, that he has helped make us think more critically about our recent past. He describes 'the experience of broadcasting’ as being ‘a widening experience’ in a process of ‘life-long
learning’.
As well as being one of our leading historians, Bill is a generous mentor and community worker, with an inspiring enthusiasm for history. He and Jenny are members of the Friends and have presented talks on some fascinating topics at our general meetings over the years.
Amongst other awards and public tributes, in 2017 Bill was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for his services to the broadcast media and the Indigenous people of Australia. Working closely with Professor Geoffrey Bolton, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature for work with students at Murdoch University in 2008, and was appointed as Adjunct Professor of Media and Communications in 2019.
The Friends of the Battye Library (Inc.) would like show our appreciation of Bill’s commitment and support by listing him as a Gem of Time – a list that will last to acknowledge the contribution of outstanding men and women to the recording, collection, and preservation of Western Australia’s history.