A history of a 'history buff': what led Bungonian resident Moira McGinity back home

Moira is a self-confessed history buff and was named a Goulburn Mulwaree Award winner earlier this year for her efforts in researching the history of Bungonia, which led to sourcing names for 200 unmarked graves and providing the information for 27 signs that now adorn a historic walk.

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Born in Goulburn, Moira has re-settled in the tiny Tablelands community after spending years travelling the country and abroad.

Moira recalls growing up in the town that still homes just 367 residents.

"When I went to school there was no bus into town so you either got a bursary, your parents could afford to send you to high school, or you did correspondence," she said.

She said her studies were by correspondence through Black Friars and she dubbed it a "silent education".

"You didn't mix with other students or anything, there were other children but they were all much younger."

However, Moira has not hesitated to expand her horizons and connect with others.

Founder of the Bungonia and District Historical Society, a degree in library studies equipped her with skills in historical fact-checking, research and knowledge of how to publish books.

After graduating high school, Moira quickly swapped the small town for the big city, securing a job at the MLC building in Sydney's Martin Place.

Moira spent her days walking along Macquarie street picking up medical certificates for insurance policies.

"I was discovering Sydney and my boss said, 'hey, have a milkshake while you're out', or in other words, there was no time limit," she said.

"It was great because I'd walk down Macquarie Street then around Circular Quay and back up to the MLC building."

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It was here Moira took her first steps into the world of research, starting as a librarian at the City of Sydney Public Library.

She then rotated through a range of libraries in Paddington, Newtown and Alexandria before setting off for a year of travel.

She went from Sydney, to Melbourne, to Perth, stopping to work in different libraries across the country before discovering her true passion.

"I started a job with the Commonwealth Public Service in Canberra in the library of the Bureau of Agriculture and Economics, and that's where I stayed, in speciality libraries, because that's what I really liked."

Having married her husband Frank at St Michael's Church in Bungonia, upon his retirement the couple decided to move permanently back to the village.

Not quite rid of the travel bug, Ms McGinity travelled broadly throughout Europe staying with family relatives in Scotland and Ireland.

"We did quite a bit of travel in Europe but we were always involved in things here," she said.

One thing became clear however to Ms McGinity, "you can't live in two places."

Fully embracing life in Bungonia, Ms McGinity started up the historical society.

"I formed the historical society because there's a lot of history here, it's a very early settlement," she said.

One of her first projects was to help local woman Margaret Burkitt with her historical book on the village, "The Spot on the Creek".

"A lot of people then started looking for their family history and that sort of spilt over into local history," she said.

"So we started taking people on little tours of the village and that's when I started to develop my notes."

With the plaques and historical signs now complete, the Bungonia and District Historical Society is working on correcting a book written by ex-Bungonian Gretyl Ayre.

"She wrote a biography of all the service personnel who enlisted in the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War," Ms McGinity said.

"She's given it to us and we're trying to do the corrections and then have it printed."

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Ms McGinity hopes to see space dedicated to Bungonia at the Goulburn District Historical and Genealogical Society inc. headquarters.

"I think a lot of things from Bungonia should go into the Goulburn library or to the museum," she said.

"For example, I have a letter written in pencil from one of the local men to my uncle from the trenches in France.

"I can keep a copy but the original should go to the War Memorial."

With plenty more stories to tell, Ms McGinity's efforts are sure to help preserve Bungonia's history for generations to come.

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