Rosemary Wighton

Rosemary Neville Wighton was born on 6 January 1925, the third child of Arthur Seaforth and Rose Ada (née Kelly) Blackburn. Her father was the first South Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross.[1]

She was educated at the Wilderness School before attending the University of Adelaide, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (honours).[2]

Following graduation Wighton tutored in English at the University of Adelaide in 1946. After her marriage, between 1950 and 1958 she tutored part-time.[2]

Wighton married Dugald Wighton in St Peter's College Chapel, Adelaide on 22 May 1948.[3]

In 1961 she and Max Harris became founding editors of the Australian Book Review.[4] From 1971 to 1979 Wighton lectured at the Salisbury College of Advanced Education, specialising in children's literature.[2]

She was appointed to the Literature Board in 1974[5] and chaired it from 1984 to 1988.[2]

In 1979 she wrote the introduction to a facsimile edition of A mother's offering to her children by Charlotte Barton. This book is believed to be the first Australian book for children, originally published in 1841.[6]

From 1979 to 1984 she was adviser on women's affairs to the South Australian premier.[2][7] In July 1983 she was appointed member of the Family Law Council by Attorney-General Gareth Evans.[8]

• Early Australian Children's Literature, Lansdowne, 1963
• Kangaroo Tales: A Collection of Australian Stories for Children, selected by Rosemary Wighton, with illustrations by Donald Friend, Penguin, 1963
• Peeling the Onion: The Story of a Family, self-published, 1993 ISBN 0646144790

At the University of Adelaide she won the Roby Fletcher Prize for Psychology in 1942.[9] In her final year she received first-class honours in English and won the John Howard Clark prize.[10]

In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours Wighton was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "public service, to literature and to the community".[11]