{{Short description|Australian book publisher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Rigby Limited''' was an Australian book publisher, based in Adelaide. Their output consisted largely, but not exclusively, of Australian subjects, especially non-fiction, by Australian writers and artists.
==History== ===The founder=== William Charles Rigby (March 1834 – 14 July 1913)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article210013626 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |volume=L |issue=14,967 |location=South Australia |date=15 July 1913 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> was born in London. His parents had intended for him the life of a hatter, but he was attracted to bookselling, so was apprenticed to Parker & Sons of London and Oxford,<ref name=Branson>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45711690 |author=V. M. Branson |title=Honor for booksellers |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |volume=94 |issue=28,935 |location=South Australia |date=7 July 1951 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> where George Robertson and Samuel Mullen (both became bookshop owners in Melbourne) were fellow workers.{{efn|Not to be confused with the George Robertson of Angus & Robertson fame, this George Robertson founded Robertson & Co. of Little Collins Street, and Mullen founded Mullen, Melville, and Slade, which became Melville & Mullen. Robertson and Mullen first met while working in a bookshop in Dublin; Mullen, at least, later worked for Parker and Sons.}}
Thinking to make his fortune on the goldfields of Victoria, he purchased the 48-ton lugger ''Gem'', previously associated with a yachting club at Ryde, Isle of Wight, and in 1853 set out for the colonies with his young wife Harriet and their son, her parents (Mr and Mrs Caple), sister Fanny Caple and a crew of seven, presumably including a navigator/captain; thirteen in all. A large crowd gathered at Southampton to witness the departure of the tiny craft. The voyage was long and hard, a total of 18 weeks, and at one point they were driven ashore, possibly on Kangaroo Island, but managed to get her free without damage. They entered Port Phillip Bay, sailed up the Yarra River without benefit of a pilot, and without following pratique, formalizing the voyage after the event. The crew disembarked and without waiting for their pay made off for Ballarat.
Rigby had intended the ''Gem'' for service on the Yarra, but found her unsuited to the purpose<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74022722 |title=Rigby's Business Established in 1859 |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=12 July 1933 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=18 (South Australian Register (Adelaide SA : 1839–1900)) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> (or was frustrated by years of litigation),<ref name=Branson/> and eventually the little vessel was sold by auction for a fraction of her value, perhaps ending up in the South Australian coastal shipping fleet.
Rigby spent six years at the diggings without making his fortune, then moved to Adelaide, where in 1859, with five cases of stock to a total value of £229 16 7d., he opened a book shop at 53 Hindley Street, in those days the premier shopping strip. Set into the pavement in front of his shop were blue and white tiles, proclaiming "W. C. Rigby — Bookseller, Stationer, and Newsagent".<ref name=Branson/> He had such an understanding of the literary tastes and commercial requirements of Adelaide that his business prospered and in 1875 he took the lease on vacant land at 74 King William Street,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159481868 |title=The Week's News |newspaper=Adelaide Observer |volume=XXXII |issue=1765 |location=South Australia |date=31 July 1875 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and erected a new building, artistically decorated with oil paintings which were periodically refreshed.
In 1901 he was able to purchase the King William Street property freehold from the Montefiore estate for £4,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56076186 |title=Important Land Sale |newspaper=The Register (Adelaide) |volume=LXVI |issue=16,978 |location=South Australia |date=13 April 1901 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1909, at age 75, Rigby retired, and the business was sold to a limited liability company, registered in September 1909, retaining the name of the founder.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58295388 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Register (Adelaide) |volume=LXXIV |issue=19,614 |location=South Australia |date=23 September 1909 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
He died at his home "St Heliers", 40 Third Avenue, East Adelaide, and his remains interred at the West Terrace Cemetery.
====Family==== William Rigby married Harriet Caple at Greenwich, United Kingdom in 1852. They had one child born in London, before emigrating to Australia, and a further six children born in Australia. Three children died in infancy (Harry born in 1856, Charles born in 1860 and Ada born 1863). The children to survive to adulthood were as follows:
* William James Rigby (1853–1894) was born in London. He married Laura Cutchett in 1885, but they did not have any children. William Jr worked in his father's stationery business and pre-deceased his father. * Mary Rigby (1848–1940) was born in Melbourne. She married Alexander Ringwood in 1883 and they had four children. * Ada Rigby (1866–1939) was born in Adelaide. She married Friedrich Von Einem in 1913.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article210124031 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |volume=LI |issue=15,109 |location=South Australia |date=31 December 1913 |accessdate=15 June 2025 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> They did not have any children. * Lillian Rigby (1871–1926) was born in Adelaide. She married Max Meth (c. 1862 – 11 December 1947) in 1890. They had two children, including a son, Max W. Rigby-Meth, who was an actor in England.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 July 1938 |title="Variety" Is Right |volume=27 |page=4 |newspaper=The Mail (Adelaide) |issue=1,363 |location=South Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55942471 |access-date=30 December 2022 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Harriet Rigby née Caple died on 28 November 1872.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39264044 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=South Australian Register |volume=XXXVII |issue=8124 |location=South Australia |date=29 November 1872 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===Rigby Limited=== thumb|King Wm / Grenfell streets in 1911 J. M. Bath joined the firm in September 1912, and the proprietors decided to realise its value, and sell the lease, while selling the business to George Fraser, of Sands & McDougall, with an eye to amalgamating the two companies. As a result of the Great War of 1914–18 nothing eventuated and on 1 May 1917 Fraser sold his shares to Bath, who negotiated a 30-year lease of the King William Street property, then in 1924 sold the building and lease to Army and Navy Stores, Ltd. In the meantime Bath secured the lease on Sandford's warehouse behind the shop, on Imperial Place, from which premises business continued to expand.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57471055 |title=Army and Navy Storesm |newspaper=The Register (Adelaide) |volume=LXXXIX |issue=25,926 |location=South Australia |date=31 January 1924 |accessdate=15 February 2022 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
In 1932 he purchased Herbert Small's Electrolux shop adjoining at 16 Grenfell Street,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35173394 |title=Valuable City Property Sold |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=20 October 1932 |accessdate=14 February 2022 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and the Rundle Street branch of Cole's Book Arcade.{{efn|This was long after E. W. Cole's death, and the company's only outlet in Melbourne was a modest establishment on Swanston Street, the famous Book Arcade having been liquidated around 1925.}}
Bath died in 1946 and V. M. Branson took over as managing director. The company began publishing textbooks for South Australian schools, followed by books of general interest by and for Australians. Branches were opened in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in the 1950s, with an up-to-date distribution centre in James Place, Adelaide. A Perth office opened in 1962.
In 1965 Horwitz and Rigby merged to become Australia’s largest publisher.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nicholson |first=Joyce |date=June 2000 |title=A Difficult Trade: Interview |pages=84–85 |work=Australian Bookseller & Publisher}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis |title=To Market to Market: The Development of the Australian Children's Publishing Industry |url=https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/365314 |publisher=Griffith University |date=2005 |degree=Griffith thesis |language=English |first=Robyn |last=Sheahan-Bright}}</ref>
In January 1967 Michael Page joined the company as its Publishing Manager. In 1973 the company changed owners and Branson left. During his reign the number of employees increased from 44 to over 200 and, towards the end, hundreds of new titles were published every year.<ref name="SLSA" />
In 1977 the Paul Hamlyn Group, through its Octopus Books subsidiary, purchased 10.48 per cent of Rigby's capital from "the Adelaide-based Motors Group, ... owned by entrepreneur Mr. W. H. Hayes", which was opposed by "Australia's other local publishers".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110859107 |title=Strong Opposition to Takeover Bid |newspaper=Canberra Times |volume=51 |issue=14,851 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=10 August 1977 |accessdate=15 February 2022 |page=26 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
By 1977 Rigby had become Australia's largest book publisher.<ref name=SLSA>{{cite web|url=https://archival.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/brg/BRG12_RigbyLimited_serieslist.pdf |title=Rigby Limited, publishers BRG 12 |publisher=State Library of South Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214135613/https://archival.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/brg/BRG12_RigbyLimited_serieslist.pdf |access-date=15 February 2022|archive-date=14 February 2022 }} This document has not been used for early history of the business.</ref>
In 1978-79 Hamlyn Group RCI (James Hardie) took over Rigby.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haye |first=Valerie |title=The Impact of Foreign Ownership on Australian Publishing in the 1970s |publisher=La Trobe University School of Social Sciences, Department of Politics |year=1981 |edition=MA Thesis}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Branson |first=Vern |date=October 1986 |title=Rigby Remembered |pages=38–41 |work=Australian Bookseller & Publisher}}</ref><ref>Andrew Urban, [https://www.afr.com/politics/rising-star-19951006-k6mmg "Rising star"], ''Australian Financial Review'', 8 October 1995. Retrieved 17 June 2023.</ref><ref>Glen Lewis, [https://fremantlestuff.info/readingroom/4.1/Lewis.html "It's Academic: Imperialism and the Australian Tertiary Book Industry"], in: Albert Moran, ed., "The Art of Media Publishing", ''Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture'', Vol. 4, No. 1, 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2023.</ref> By 1984 all Rigby staff had been dismissed. It survived "for a while" as a subdivision of Reed Elsevier.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Austlit |title=Rigby {{!}} AustLit: Discover Australian Stories |url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A36934 |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=www.austlit.edu.au |language=en}}</ref>
====People==== '''John Morley Bath''' (c. 1880 – 3 June 1946) became company secretary around 1917 and managing director from c. 1934.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74622088 |title=Death of Mr J. Morley Bath |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=5 June 1946 |accessdate=15 February 2022 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
'''Vernon Mostyn Branson''' (1908 – 21 June 1992) was manager from 1946, managing director from 1950<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45664007 |title=Director |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |volume=93 |issue=28,693 |location=South Australia |date=26 September 1950 |accessdate=15 February 2022 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> to 1973. He was author of *V. M. Branson (1966) ''The Art of Ivor Hele'' *V. M. Branson (1976) ''The Rigby Saga'' *V. M. Branson (1981) ''The Golden Years of Apex 1956–1981'' {{isbn|9780909854102}} *V. M. Branson, Bevan Rutt (1982) ''Lead with a Watchful Eye: The Silver Jubilee of Guide Dogs in Australia'' {{isbn|9780867700244}} *V. M. Branson (1983) ''Kooyonga 1923–1983, the Story of a Golf Club'' {{isbn|9780959115208}} *Trevor Goulding, V. M. Branson (1988) ''Landmarks of Adelaide, A Sketchbook'' {{isbn|9780867700558}} *Douglas Luck, V. M. Branson (1979) ''Sketches of Murray Bridge'' {{isbn|9780959465204}} :also ''Clare and District Sketchbook'' (1974), ''Victor Harbor and District Sketchbook'' (1974), ''Southern Vales Sketchbook'' (1977), . . .
==Book series== {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * Alcheringa Series<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3AAlcheringa%20series se:Alcheringa series], worldcat.org. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref> - published in association with Bill Onus's 1962 television series on ABC Television * Australian Men of Letters<ref>[https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C240357 Henry Kendall : A Critical Appreciation with Brief Chronology and a Bibliography by Thomas Thornton Reid], austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 13 March 2023.</ref> * Australian Pocket Books<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6IaSzgEACAAJ Australian One-act Plays: Edited by Greg Branson. Book two], books.google.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.</ref> * Colourful Australia Series<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3AColourful%20Australia%20series se:Colourful Australia Series], worldcat.org. Retrieved 17 June 2023.</ref> * Fast Tracks<ref>[https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3082775 Fast tracks II teacher's ideas book / Jan Pritchett, Sue Corish and Catherine Kennedy-Parker], nla.gov.au. Retrieved 13 March 2023.</ref> * Humphrey B. Bear Book<ref>[https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2737952 Humphrey's visit to the zoo / [by] Gordon A. Rule], nla.gov.au. Retrieved 13 March 2023.</ref> * Opal Young<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3AOpal%20young se:Opal young], worldcat.org. Retrieved 16 March 2023.</ref> * Reading Rigby * Rigby Books of Australia<ref>[https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3ARigby%20books%20of%20Australia se:Rigby books of Australia], worldcat.org. Retrieved 18 December 2024.</ref> * Rigby Field Guide Series * Rigby Instant Books<ref>[https://www.publishinghistory.com/rigby-instant-books.html Rigby Instant Books (Rigby Limited - Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3ARigby%20instant%20book se:Rigby instant book], worldcat.org. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref> * Rigby Jumbo Instant Books * Rigby Moving Into Maths * Rigby Opal Books<ref>[https://www.publishinghistory.com/rigby-opal-books.html Rigby Opal Books (Rigby Ltd.) - Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 16 March 2023.</ref><ref>[https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?1585+0 Publication Series: Rigby Opal Books], isfdb.org. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref> * Rigby Sketchbook Series<ref>[http://www.hibeach.net/sketchbooks.html The Rigby Sketchbook Series], hibeach.net. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref> * Rigby Social Studies Series * Rigby's Pageant of Australia<ref>[https://www.publishinghistory.com/rigbys-pageant-of-australia.html Rigby's Pageant of Australia - Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref> * Rigby's Reading Development Series * Rigby Study Guide Series<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3ARigby%20study%20guide%20series se:Rigby Study Guide Series], worldcat.org. Retrieved 20 May 2023.</ref> * Seal Books<ref>[https://www.publishinghistory.com/seal-books-rigby.html Seal Books (Rigby Limited) - Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=%22Seal+Books%22+%2B+Rigby Seal Books+ Rigby], worldcat.org. Retrieved 12 March 2023.</ref> }}
== Notes == {{Notelist}} == References == {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Michael Page,[https://books.google.com/books?id=VRM7i0OhEIkC&pg=PA41 "Case-study: Rigby Limited"], in: Craig Munro and Robyn Sheahan-Bright, eds., ''Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia, 1946-2005'', University of Queensland Press, 2006, pp. 41-43.
==External links== * [https://archival.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/brg/BRG12_RigbyLimited_serieslist.pdf Rigby Limited, Publishers - BRG 12 Series List] at State Library of South Australia archival collections
Category:1859 establishments in Australia Category:Bookshops of Australia Category:Book publishing companies of Australia Category:Australian booksellers Category:Australian companies established in 1884 Category:History of Adelaide