By STEFANIE GARBER
A NEW book by local June Delbridge spans the centuries to chronicle a history of her family and life in the Yarra Ranges.
The book Red Plain – Green Valley opens with the arrival of her ancestors on the First Fleet in 1788 and traces the family through to present day.
Mrs Delbridge has called the Yarra Ranges home for the past 40 years.
When she first moved to the area, she wrote for Tirra Lirra magazine published in Mount Evelyn.
She and her husband then bought a property in Coldstream and raised Hereford cattle.
In the last decade before retirement, they ran a vineyard together.
Sadly, her husband passed away shortly before they were to move to the retirement village.
Mrs Delbridge was also a member of the Upper Yarra Valley Planning Authority, instrumental in shaping the Ranges as they are today.
“We came up with a regional strategy plan, which restricted over-subdivision and inappropriate planning that was going on,” she said.
She believes it was important to protect the rural nature of the area known as the “foodbowl of Melbourne”.
The idea to write a book came from her daughter.
“My daughter said to me ‘Mum, you could you write a bit of information about what you’ve done in your life,” she said.
The finished product was recently published by the Memoirs Foundation.
There is no denying Mrs Delbridge has had an adventurous life.
Raised in far-west New South Wales on a sheep station, Mrs Delbridge had two sisters.
With no brothers to help run the farm, Mrs Delbridge was expected to do her share.
In her early years, she studied by correspondence, mailing her lessons to teachers in Sydney.
For secondary school, Mrs Delbridge traded farm life for boarding school at Pymble Ladies College, Sydney.
From an early age, Mrs Delbridge had a strong interest in English and writing.
“I used to love composition,” she said of her early schooling.
This love for words prompted her to take courses in journalism and short story writing.
Her journalism career began at a local New South Wales newspaper.
She then moved to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, where she wrote for the North Australian Monthly.
A final move brought her to the Dandenong area, where she still resides today.
The book is now available for purchase. For further information, contact June Delbridge on 9737 0857.
