1915 - 1996

The entire life of William ‘Bondi Bill’ Jenkings – from his early school days to his long-term connection to the area via his family – was inextricably bound up with the Bondi community.

He joined Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club (BSBLSC) in 1935, at age 20, and was an active member till his death in 1996 at age 81. In recognition of his contribution to the club he’d loved, Bill was awarded Honorary Life Membership during his lifetime and was Club Patron 1994/75 and 1995/96 until his death.

Bill took great pride in his surf-club service and in February 1938 was a committee member and on patrol when the ‘Black Sunday’ rescues took place. His lifelong friend Carl ‘Jeppo’ Jeppesen was club captain at the time, and Bill often let it be known that whenever reporters had asked Jeppo who the surf club’s heroes had been during the world-famous rescues, Jeppo had responded, “There are no heroes – we were just doing what we do, and that’s saving lives on Bondi Beach.” On a personal note, Jeppo was a groomsman when Bill wed his wife Noreen, who was president of the club’s Ladies’ Committee.

During World War II, Bill put his journalistic skills to use by editing BSBLSC’s monthly newsletter The Doins and kept in touch with club members who were serving in the armed forces. After the war, he and Noreen helped the returned soldiers settle back into Australian life and organised club social activities and fundraisers for them.

Bill became one of Australia’s most respected journalists, in a six-decade career that began in Bondi. He first worked on the newspaper The Bondi Weekly and in the 1940s became press secretary to federal ministers Sir Percy Spender and Frank Forde. He then joined Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited and went on to work for it for 45 years. In the 1950s and ’60s, he covered high-profile cases such as the Graeme Thorne kidnapping (1960), the Bogle–Chandler case (1963) and the Wanda Beach murders (1965). Queen Elizabeth II awarded him a commendation medal in recognition of his contribution to journalism, and in 1992, authors Norm Lipson and Tony Barnao published As Crime Goes By: The Life and Times of ‘Bondi’ Bill Jenkings, for which Rupert Murdoch wrote the foreword.

Bill mentored various journalists during their careers, and they included Mike Munro and Gerald Stone of 60 Minutes fame. Mike commented, “Bill was one of those giants from a bygone era of journalism. He will never be replaced because I doubt there will be anyone as good.”

In accordance with Bill’s wishes for when he died, his ashes were scattered into the Bondi surf, after a moving Memorial service was delivered at his beloved Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club. His children and grandchildren are continuing his legacy in the work they do with the club.

Courtesy Terry and Patricia Jenkings.