The historian diving into the Yarra’s rich past

Since the mid-1990s, acclaimed historian Judith Buckrich has dedicated much of her time to detailing the history of the City of Melbourne.

She has written about everything from Port Melbourne to Greville St in Prahran, seeking to unearth the untold history of Melbourne’s streets and explore the significance of its landmarks and buildings.

As part of her latest work, Yarra Birrarung: Artists, Writers and the River, Ms Buckrich examined the Yarra River’s cultural and historical significance from Mount Baw Baw to Docklands.

Having worked at the Docklands Authority as a historian in the early 2000s, Judith has witnessed the area transform from a barren, industrial-centric precinct into the thriving suburb the city has grown to love.

In the book, she touches on Docklands being home to some of the city’s biggest raves throughout the 1990s, with its abandoned warehouses becoming the pulse of the city for techno-fiends.

However, with the construction of the stadium and the Bolte Bridge in the late ‘90s, and the formation of the Docklands Authority, the area said goodbye to the raves and hello to urban renewal.

The idea to explore the significance of the Yarra came to Ms Buckrich while she was researching the history of Greville St in Prahran.

“In the early part of my research, I realised that the very first Aboriginal mission in Melbourne was on the Yarra River,” she said.

She was astonished that this fact was so seldom known and decided to embark on a project that put the Yarra River under the microscope to uncover its unique history.

Ms Buckrich, now in her 70s, began writing 34 years ago. The moment everything changed was when she was standing on St Kilda Rd and thought someone needed to write a book about its history.

That someone was her, and she hasn’t looked back since.

Originally from Hungary, she emigrated to Australia in 1958 and has lived both abroad and in Melbourne throughout her eventful career, working as an arts officer before making the switch to becoming a revered historian.

For anyone wanting to learn more about the history of the Yarra, Yarra Birrarung: Artists, Writers and the River is the perfect place to start. •